The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

I Hope It's a Hoax

If heretofore silent Chelsea really forwarded this semi-demented rant from Robin Morgan, then her mother's campaign should cut her Internet connection. The campaign probably doesn't want to have to explain it, doesn't endorse sentiments in Morgan's essay such as: "Personally, I’m unimpressed with Caroline’s longing for the Return of the Fathers ... I still recall Marilyn Monroe’s suicide, and a dead girl named Mary Jo Kopechne in Chappaquiddick." And if Chelsea really wrote: "I confess that I didn't entirely get 'it' until not only guys stood up and shouted 'iron my shirts' but the media reacted with amusement, not outrage ... " then she needs a better Internet connection. The "Iron my shirts" business was a prank by a couple of stupid radio guys. But let's say it hadn't been—I would still hope Chelsea would have seen it as a moment of meaningless idiocy and not as the voice of patriarchy trying to keep her mother from the presidency. But I hope that this letter from Chelsea itself turns out to be a prank.