Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Hillary's girly-men: An exchange
Without passing judgment on any of the facts adduced in this exchange between Camille Paglia and one of her readers, you have to admire the artful visciousness. Excerpts:
Reader Chris Richard:I would like to get your feedback on the subject of those who end up in Hillary's orbit. Can you conceive of a strong, leader-type male ever working under her? An alpha, if you will. And if the answer is no, then why do you think that is?
The men you always see under her are to a person passive-aggressive, sadistic, mean, little, petty beta-male pieces of work who would not naturally succeed in a common male-type hierarchy. By that I mean an environment that values straightforward achievement rather than the darker political arts.
Camille Paglia's response:You have succinctly expressed one of the most unsettling aspects of Hillary Clinton's character and modus operandi. There is a strangely static and claustrophobic quality to the fiercely loyal cult she has gathered around her since her first lady years. Postmortem analysts of this presidential campaign will have a field day ferreting out all the cringe-making blunders made by her clique of tired, aging courtiers who couldn't adjust to changing political realities. Hillary's forces have acted like the heavy, pompous galleons of the imperial Spanish Armada, outmaneuvered by the quick, bold, entrepreneurial ships of the English fleet.
I agree that the male staff who Hillary attracts are slick, geeky weasels or rancid, asexual cream puffs. (One of the latter, the insufferable Mark Penn, just got the heave-ho after he played Hillary for a patsy with the Colombian government.) If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say Hillary is reconstituting the toxic hierarchy of her childhood household, with her on top instead of her drill-sergeant father. All those seething beta males (as you so aptly describe them) are versions of her sad-sack brothers, who got the short end of the Rodham DNA stick.
I'm sore just having read that. Ann Coulter (latest column here) can only dream of being that harsh.
[Scheduled]
1 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Apr 10, 11:47:00 AM:
Funny as it is, this analysis does perhaps provide insight into why Hillary seemed so intent on having that little pissing contest with the Pentagon awhile back when she demanded to know what the plan was for skeedadling out of Iraq.
