HOME / chatterbox: Gossip, speculation, and scuttlebutt about politics.
First-Lady Extinction?If it's imminent, hallelujah.
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, at 1:38 AM ET
PRINT
DISCUSS
E-MAIL
RSS
RECOMMEND...
Facebook
MySpace
Mixx
Digg
Reddit
del.icio.us
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Sphere
StumbleUponAs presidential spouse, Bill Clinton might end up assuming a governmental role, but it wouldn't be anything like the procession of ceremonial drudgery required of first ladies down the centuries. And he would be free to decline any governmental role, in the unlikely event that he preferred it that way. The Berlin Wall would come down, and the catalyzing event—irony of ironies—would be the election of a former first lady, an alumnus of the very institution, retrograde and preposterous, that was finally being put out of its misery.
E-mail Timothy Noah at .
What did you think of this article?
Join The Fray: Our Reader Discussion Forum
More Chatterbox columns
TODAY'S PICTURES
TODAY'S CARTOONS
TODAY'S DOONESBURY
TODAY'S VIDEO
Logging.
Cartoonists' take on entertainment.
Where's Wali?
featured advertiser links
The Least Fun Thing About Video Games: Friendly Fire
Why Is It Such a Big Deal That We Found Water on the Moon?
A Place So Beautifully Sad, It Makes Me Want To Paint
Help! I Got My Co-Worker's Sister Pregnant!
So Will Harry Reid's Health Reform Bill Ruin Medicare or Not?
The Obama Administration Is Giving This Gitmo Detainee a Raw Deal
Remarks from the Fray:
Did Hillary Clinton sit in the situation room and approve the bombing of Sadaam in 1998? Did she participate in the last-ditch effort at a Mid-East settlement? Did she go fist to fist with Newt and the Republicans over Medicare reform? Did she plan out the strategy that put the Republicans on the defensive when the government ran out of money during a budget fight?
What about Sandy Berger? Rahm Emmanuel? Madelaine Albright? They had high level executive, decision-making positions. Maybe they should all run for president, too.
Let Hillary run on her Senate experience. I find it extremely anti-feminist and condescending that she claims First Lady experience as preparation for the presidency, and shocking that people take the claim seriously. Even more condescending was Bill taking blame for the failure of Hillary's health care initiative. A woman should stand on her own and fall on her own. Anything less is not equality.
--Squeek
(To reply, click here.)
It's not just that she was first lady for 8 years. She was active politically alongside her husband the whole time. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like, and that is what she is saying. Sure, she COULD have taken been an apolitical matron of the arts and manners, but in fact, she wasn't. It was and is apparent that during those 8 years or Clinton presidency, she delved into all the machinations of her husband's job, also learning plenty when she attempted the healthcare reform. So the experience argument is cogent--who really doubts that she knows more than most people in the world about White House politics?
--exaspero
(To reply, click here.)
(12/20)