I RESENT YOU, MRS. CLINTON: So Hillary Clinton says she "resents" the prospect of inheriting the mess in Iraq if Bush doesn't clean it up before she becomes President. Well Mrs. Clinton, I resent your saying this.I resent it as a woman, because I know you're cynically using the word "resent" to appeal to me because I'm a woman, because men rarely use the word "resent" to describe how they feel about something they don't like, especially matters of public policy discussed in public in particular. And to those who accuse me of being sexist for saying so, all I can say is, show me just one more example of a high-profile male politician using the word "resent" to describe how he feels about President Bush's policies, just one. No, I think Hillary was—as usual—choosing the word in a calculated way, to evoke a negative emotion in women, in particular women who've ever had to clean up after a man (in other words, most women who have a pulse—sorry guys!). The problem is, while most women have at one time cleaned up after a guy, only those who are completely irrational (or just plain stupid) would ever analogize dishes in the sink or wet towels on the floor with an ongoing WAR against violent extremism in a pivotal region of the world. I also resent what Mrs. Clinton is saying because she very well might be our next President, and given that possibility, she has no business whining about what problems she might face. As Lee Harris says, much better than I ever could:No one is under any obligation to run as a candidate for the Presidency; but those who elect to do so are under a high and serious obligation to understand the nature of the office to which they are aspiring. If, like Lincoln, a future President Clinton finds herself confronted with a mess made by her predecessor in office, it will not be enough for her to blame Mr. Bush for his incompetence and mismanagement. It will avail her naught to continue to declare that Iraq is Bush's responsibility. By then, whether she likes it or not, Iraq will be her responsibility, and no one else's. If she refuses to recognize this unpleasant truth now, while still a candidate, how prepared will she be to recognize it when she is President and it is too late to throw the responsibility on someone else?
Frankly, I don't care to find out the answer to this question from another "President Clinton," but since Mrs. Clinton insists she plans to win I resent the all-too-obvious fact that she has no interest in even addressing it NOW, before anyone casts a single vote. Oh, and as long as I'm setting out my laundry list of resentments about you, for you, can we talk about the "mess" your husband created? You know the one don't you? Those pesky terrorists he left lying around all over the world? In your words, "Osama bin Laden comes to mind." Posted by Deb on
