John McCain, Shame on You

Quote of the day:
“If you can’t remember anything, you’re not there.”
--Anonymous, from radioio

“How do we beat the (insert sexist epithet)?

At a campaign event, a woman asked John McCain this question, referring to Hillary Clinton. He laughed it off.

Two ugly points about this.

1. Americans, especially women, do not like strong women--that is, women who demonstrate leadership qualities that are never questioned in men. We reserve a special loathing for women who have these qualities and have succeeded.

2. It is appalling that so many of us dismiss this as no big deal. Some say that the word is not that bad. Well, they’re wrong. It is every bit as bad as any racial or ethnic slur.

Columnist Leonard Pitts is no Hillary Clinton fan, but he has an excellent commentary on this here.

This should be a source of reflection for all of us. And a source of shame for many of us. Who are we?