Sexist Comments from NOW Chapter President in Support of Clinton

by slenderdog | January 31, 2008 at 02:52 pm

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Marcia Pappas, the President of the New York State chapter of the National Organization of Women, gained a bit of notoriety on Monday when she called Sen. Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama the "ultimate betrayal" of women. The logic went something like this: Kennedy's endorsement was driven not by shared political beliefs but rather a patriarchal mentality that women like Sen. Hillary Clinton should not, be president.

Provocative, to be sure. But, it turns out, not the first (or perhaps most) controversial statement made by the NOW head in the 2008 campaign. Weeks earlier, in a organizational press release, Pappas described the reaction to Clinton's now famous "crying" moment in New Hampshire as a "psychological gang bang" -- similar to the raping of Jodi Foster's character in The Accused...

The press release,
titled "Psychological Gang Bang of Hillary is Proof We Need a Woman
President," was released on January 11. In it, Pappas offered scathing
criticism of Sen. John Kerry - much in the way she did Kennedy - for
choosing to endorse Obama. The former Democratic presidential nominee,
she penned, was joining the "playground gang."

Outrageous nonsense. It's politics. If people don't like a candidate, man or woman, they are perfectly free to say so, and perfectly free to endorse the candidates they do like.

Hillary Clinton is running for President and many people oppose her. Maybe some oppose her because she is a woman. That is their right. Others may oppose her because she is a phony. That is their right. Others may oppose her because of her inexperience. That is their right. But in no way is opposing a candidate for President even remotely similar to participation in gang rape.

There are people who want Mrs Clinton to be President because they think she would be a good President. Then there are people who want her to be President because she is a woman. The latter group are not very bright. Though it is their right to choose a President on the basis of gender, it is just as legitimate to choose to vote for a male President. Or does gender equality only apply to women? You can't vote on the basis of gender and deny other voters the same choice. Well, you can try, but you look awfully stupid.

By the way, if you have to have a woman President, you could do a whole lot better than Mrs Clinton. She even makes Ann Coulter look appealing.