THIS for POTUS?
Posted on 11/02/2007 2:28:15 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
I have lots of experience with women. Not what you’re thinking. I mean experience in living around a variety of women. Most of those have been extremely strong and accomplished women.
My Mother and her two sisters all had college educations at a time when Southern women were often expected to run the kitchen, clean the house, knit and sew, and play hostess. My grandfather was well educated, and insisted that all his daughters attend the strongest women’s college which was also south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Thus, they attended Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. (One met and married a Johns Hopkins man, created my branch of the family. That’s a story for another day.)
My Uncle Johnny used to say that when his three sisters got rolling, they’d conduct three monologues at the same time in the same room. He described them as “three-masted frigates under full sail, with all guns blazing.” The point is, they were all feminine, but none of them could ever, even on a real bad day, be called a shrinking violet.
I looked for women who were able, smart and strong to marry. I raised my two daughters to be the same. (I’m very proud of both of them. Both have it all – husbands, children, careers, and a wicked sense of humor which they got from me and I got from my parents. That’s also a story for another day.)
The subject for today’s sermon, if you hadn’t guessed before now, is women in politics generally, and Hillary Clinton specifically. Mrs. Clinton has actually produced a commercial claiming that the male Democrats are picking on her.
To whom is she complaining in that commercial? Does she want her Mother to come out on the porch with her broom and chase away the nasty boys who are picking on her little girl?
If we have another version of the Cuban Missile Crisis and are nose-to-nose with another world power (probably lead by a male), is she going to whine and complain? Or, is she going to suck it up, make the right decision, and then act decisively, like Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did regarding the Falkland Islands crisis?
Or, further back in history, it was Queen Elizabeth I who faced and defeated the Spanish Armada which had the ships and the troops to overwhelm England if they landed.
Or, in Italy, it was Lucrezia Borgia who poisoned her way to the top of her family and political power in the early Renaissance. (Maybe Lucrezia is the wrong example to apply to Hillary. Murder as a public policy would rule out Lady Macbeth as well.)
Any women who would be successful while holding great power has to be strong and self-confident, among other qualities. Furthermore, such a woman has to know her own mind and have the courage of her convictions. Think Golda Meir in Israel, Indira Gandhi in India, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, to name a few modern examples beyond that of Lady Thatcher.
Ask yourself whether any of these women would have stumbled and fallen over such a simple question as whether they agreed with the policy of Governor Spitzer of New York, to give drivers licenses to illegal aliens. And, if any of these women HAD fumbled over such a simple, yes-no question, would they have sought to deflect attention by saying that people were picking on them? Or, would they have acknowledged their mistake, reached a decision, and carried it out?
Can you imagine any of these extraordinary women falling back on the cover story that “the boys were picking on them”?
Let’s consider a male President who’s contemporaries thought he wasn’t up for the job. Long after he left office, the verdict of history concluded that Harry Truman was a strong, decisive, and good President. What was Harry’s advice about politics that Hillary should follow today, if she can? If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
My Mother, her sisters, some of my wives, and both of my daughters all demonstrated that they can stand the heat. Maybe one of them should run for President....
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About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu He lives in the 11th District of North Carolina.
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John / Billybob
They never heard of Newcomb?
Thanks John
My mother was a Goucher graduate in 1929.
Hillary at her best is shrill. I s'pect her character in this "debate" will manifest more than once in the coming year.
One additional point: a President these days can be a target for our enemies (as well as by random crazies). Would she have the courage to oppose an enemy that would respond by trying to target her personally?
How many wives do you have? Are you a Mormon? lol
John / Billybob
The lucky or unlucky ones?
She would make a fine public official, if she ever ran for office. But she won’t. At least she’d not leary about my running for office.
John / Billybob
Thank you. I really didn't want you to.
,-D
Ping for later.
THIS for POTUS?
My father is a Hopkins graduate of ‘52 and tells stories of dating Goucher girls - he ended up marrying a Penn State girl from Monroe, NC.
Congratulations on your wedding, John.
Congrats and may this marriage be your last... and best!
It’s tough to make eyes at medusa, John. (Good article, thanks)
Great essay, John. “If we have another version of the Cuban Missile Crisis and are nose-to-nose with another world power (probably lead by a male), is she going to whine and complain?” Look for the DNC goon squad to play bait and switch, inferring that instead of the goblin, her degenerate husband would be the one negotiating in foreign affairs.
Best of luck in your run for congress, John.
Wasn't Sophie Newcomb mainly for the Jewish girls?
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