I am curious exactly how the author intends to bring about "economic security and dignity for all women and their families,"

This is the kind of rhetorical nonsense that is usually limited to political campaign speeches.

Equally ridiculous is the author's implication that she was forced onto welfare. I don't know the particulars of her situation, but perhaps having three children with no means of supporting them led to a very predictable financial crisis that shouldn't be blamed on everyone else but herself.

So young women can fight & die in an unjust and useless war - just like men!

So a woman can run for U.S. President - just like a man!

BIG DEAL!!!

I'm a feminist from way back, and I say to you - WAKE UP! Feminism asks more of women than just doing the same things (good, bad, or ugly) that men do. It asks us to improve on that, heal the world. We should all aspire to possess greater courage and harness the power within us. And that means not enabling men in their violent excesses. It means not positioning ourselves in the middle of the wars and other messes men make. It means voting for our highest ethical values, instead of the same corrupt individual in women's clothing. And it means that our ideal candidate is the one we can trust - to end these terrible, deadly wars right now, and putting the money where it will do some good - feeding the hungry, healing the sick, helping the victims of natural disasters, jobs and education for our children.

Didn't anyone learn from Ronald Reagan's campaign? It takes more that an attractive appearance coupled with pretty speeches delivered by an actor to change this country. It takes more to influence my vote than the wrapping on a politician; whether that wrapping is gender, color of skin, religeon, or the American flag.

Actions speak louder than words. Where is the proof that these candidates ever served anyone other than themselves? I look for conviction and strength and an ability to really lend a helping hand before I will vote for someone. And any candidate who can't or won't deliver isn't worth spitting on.

Chris Matthews is rude and often engages tongue before brain. He interrupts his guests and frequently they are unable to give satisfactory answers to his questions, as idiotic as some of them may be.

I think Darrel Hammond does a great Matthews on SNL.

Chris does have a fine wife, though.
Wonder how she puts up with him.

riverman101 and wishfullthinker,

how sad for you

riverman101: psychotic troll, drunk, or off his meds.
Let's ignore and let the CD editors deal with him.

Chris Matthews is a tool? GASP!!! Who knew! Kate why not go for the throat on these jokers? I get tired of people getting man handled by the Chris Matthews of the world because they didn't want to actually debate someone on tv. Come on Kate, next time you're on Matthews show go after him!

I always cringe when I hear a feminist being proud of the fact that women are fighting in wars. I personally don't think that feminism really means that women become as men. That women get the 'opportunity' to be part of the souless machine. That women become CEOs, etc. Then nothing really changes in the long run.

Yes, it is a reaction to organized religious underpinnings, which believe in wearing a woman down through multiple childbirths and keeping them at bay, where their 'emotionality' and 'intuitive visions' don't interfere with patriarchal dominance and control. The emotions, and the feminine, must be repressed.

But Hillary Clinton represents the masculinization of feminism to my mind.

I think of feminism as bringing a deeper balance to a society that is completely out of balance. I think of environmentalism as a 'feminist' current, for example. And I am not talking about gender per se. But it is balanced living- as opposed to women being allowed to be in the men's club.

Yeah,Matthews is just another overgrown manchild
Republican crybaby talking head who has a primal
fear of mommy abandonment.Cut the balls off all these
cowardly freaks unless they grow a pair and enlist in
Bush and Cheney's Massacre Party In Iraq and Afghanistan
and let our brave duped boys who want to come home do so...
When are Matthews and the rest of these clowns going to
engage in substantive policy discussion on the election
and the issues facing this nation?

Conservatives only understand conservative issues! They don't understand giving or taking on issues. That's why politics in this country has become a blood sport. They think they are right and no one else in this country has any rights but them! So to expect a guy like Chris Matthews to 'live and let live' is expecting way to much. I think I can safely say that's the biggest thing I loathe about conservatives. They dwell in issues that are not really important to the national interests (like abortion, gay right and sex out of marriage) and ignore what is of interest to the nation. Like a infrastructure that is falling apart, unnecessary wars, deficit's and etc. Conservatives are in a league all their own. I will be glad when American's grow tired of their costly affair with conservatives!

I've always thought that Chris Matthews is a good guy at heart who somehow permanently lost his bearings after MSNBC assigned him too many nights of covering the Bill Clinton / Monica thing back in the nineties.
I think it shaped him in ways he cannot shake.

riverman101, (re John Edwards)

I think I liked John Edwards' speech message better than I would have liked John Edwards up close and personal. Evidently South Carolinians figured that out too. He's smart enough to know the difference between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. But, like a trial lawyer, he may not be willing to "advocate" without a fee.

Chris Matthews is a smug, disgusting, sell out know-it-all who loves to stir the pot in identity politics. That was the point of his first question to you. You're a women, so you must vote for one. Well Chris, let me tell you something, it doesn't work that way anymore. We're tired of that approach. It doesn't work. It's divisive. And you're not helping.

Chris Matthews is exactly the type of guy who John Stewart so accurately said is hurting America. Chris traded his soul in long ago for whatever ratings he can whip up with his divisive, demagogic, Bush-crush circus he ringleads every night. I say enough already.

Let's talk about substance for once. And here it is.

The more people get to know Obama, the more they like him. The polls continue to reflect that America wants a real change, and a leader who can inspire us and bring us together to do it. Identity politics is proving not to be as powerful as the desire of Americans to move forward. White, black, women, men want to come together.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/9/0719/10743/479/453121

Absolutely a valid and thoughful article. I agree that although Hillary Clinton would be a good choice, Barack Obama is an outstanding one. His vision and leadership are crucial for todays needs. I would not feel elevated if Clinton was elected because she is our first chance for a woman in the white house. That would translate into a step backwards for women in general.

Barack has the ability to unite and organize people into one voice with one message. We are the change that we have been asking for. If this nation speaks with one voice, there is nothing we cannot accomplish together. We would have the chance to begin to work on solving the real issues that affect our daily lives. And we can do it. That is the message. He has been asking us do we want it? Count me in.

Chris Matthews is a boot licker plain and simple.

This is a video of Chris Matthews' last appearance on the Daily Show. Jon Stewart makes mincemeat out of him. It's all you'll ever need to know about Chris Matthews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sddRviP8-do&NR=1

DD, it's nice to hear your other thoughts (besides the usual...you know).
Please continue to share them.

Q: "How does it feel to have abandoned the cause of your life?"

A: "What a stupid question. Is that your stupid question, Chris, or did someone write it down for you to ask?"

Q: "How can you pass, Kate, on the opportunity to support a woman for president when this may be the last chance for that to happen in your lifetime?"

A: "Chris, how can you waste the last opportunity in your lifetime to ask an intelligent question?"

And that's probably why locust never gets asked to be on Hardball.
locust would be a pest.

Wow, this vitriol against Chris Matthews is amazingly short-sighted. Chris Matthews is into politics. He tends to ask questions in that context. Hardball is not a show about intellectual exploration within an egalitarian context.

"How does it feel to have abandoned the cause of your life?" From an intellectual perspective the question is silly however, it is a legitimate question in the current political scenario. There are women who will ask Kate this question. A good answer helps address/forestall that issue.

"How can you pass, Kate, on the opportunity to support a woman for president when this may be the last chance for that to happen in your lifetime?" Similar to the previous question, but this time from a male perspective. There are males who will ask Kate this question. Again, a good answer will put things in perspective for men who are trying to make a choice on who to support.

Hillary is nothing but a right royal calculating bitch, plain and simple...so whats new! No wonder Bill was banging Monica under the desk...

All this feminism discussion is just a bloody distraction from the real truth...
Hillary [not unlike Mr 100 years War] is full of the Military Industrial Media Corporatist agenda and definitely not for average Americans.

Matthews is a boorish oaf, a pompous cur, a loutish yob, an arrogant hack, and an ill-suited authority on nonsense. His show is based on political nonsense – the 'what ifs' of a thousand nobodies. He never questioned fearless leader's motives and now he says he's pissed because he was lied to by the Bush regime in the lead up to the war and occupation of Iraq. He deserves minimal respect on his perception of policy and reality. Idiot.

Thanks WmC for the link to Jon Stewart's exchange. Chris Matthew's is a pathetic figure: success over substance, success above all else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sddRviP8-do&NR=1

Riverman, isn't there another forum for you? Surely there must be a male-supremacist site out there for you? Try a google search. You need to find other people just like you, find some companionship with others that will agree that you are in the top 1%. I know it can happen for you. I've got my fingers crossed.

Oh please Daniel David, blaming Bill Clinton for Chris Matthews' overt open sexisum and hostility towards women in prominent public positions pushes the limits of credibility! That is just silly. The fact is that he is being allowed to get away with his views just because he is a white male abusing women; if he said even half of those things about black people, he would have been canned long ago. Just proves my theory that sexism is OK in media circles, but not racist.

Feminism means lots of different things to differen people; I to used to have the same thoughs as Ms. Michelman, but over the years, I have learned that when women stick together and support other women, we can make all kinds of positive changes. Leaving the protection and advancement of women's right to men, in this case, Senator Obama, is folly.

If men had done such a good job in the past, we would now have an ERA and protections for health decisions only a women with her doctor can really make. But, leaving our rights to men has led us to the current political situation and to the daily onslaught of sexism in the media. And for those of you, the Human Life Amendment has resurfaced big time, especially in Georgia and the south; another battle to subjugate women of childbearing age. Ms. Michelman is foolhardy if she thinks Obama is going to give her "greatness". He like most members of the boys' club will say and do what is necessary to get ahead. . .she's the one who doesn't "get it".

Amos on Matthews: "He never questioned fearless leader's motives and now he says he's pissed because he was lied to by the Bush regime in the lead up to the war and occupation of Iraq."

Huh? Did you watch his show before the Iraq Invasion? He may be boorish, but he was against the war. He had several anti-war segments on his show.

riverman101-

"Require all voters to be in the top 1% of logic intellect?" What on earth does that even mean? Have you ever heard of democracy? And "science says nearly all men are in the top 1%?" What science? Have you ever heard of mathematics? Only if the world was >98% women could all men be in the top 1% of anything. For someone championing "Logic Intellect" you sure seem to be lacking in both. Maybe you should be a guest on Hardball, you'd fit right in. Heck, maybe you and your fake inane pseudo-science facts (not to mention your inability to communicate and articulate your thoughts/opinions coherently) could get your own show on Fox! If anything is contributing to the demise of our culture it's the masses of people like yourself who lack the ability for critical thinking who have been emotionally manipulated and programmed by television (brainwashing!) to actually believe such irrational jingoism contains some kind of objective truth.

Musta missed that...

I seem to remember Chris Matthews fawning all over John McCain, kissing his ass and openly offering empty platitudes. Matthews is a chameleon who changes colors with the directional shifts of the political winds.

Will someone please tell us just where we can find the research about the "higher" and "lower" logic types? Never heard of it -

so riverman 101, would you, with your firm grasp on the english language, consider yourself to be high, or extremely low, logic? let me guess for you, just to save yourself the confusion. every once in a while, a member of your ilk appears on this site. but like the shit, each morning in the toilet bowl, you get flushed away. i only lower myself to your level so you can grasp the situation. perhaps you'd be better off by taking your sick, pompous, arrogant, supremacist beliefs, along with your pathetic attempt at grammar, to say, maybe the white house. there, i am quite certain, you would have a most captive audience.

daniel david, matthews may indeed be the good guy you think he is, but eyes say a lot about a person and their soul. his beady little eyes say everything. i believe, perhaps wrongly, that a person with integrity, with high moral values, cannot have his/her core shaken. matthews is what he is: a beady-eyed media whore.

rockerbabe, i believe ms. michelman said obama "could be truly great".

misopretty and mouse, thank you. well said.

Hillary isn't a woman...just George Bush in drag.

Jrainwater: Barack has the ability to unite and organize people into one voice with one message.

That's what makes O'Bama so dangerous. He threatens to round up and herd the cattle into the corporatocracy corral where the capitalists want them after they dealt the fascists the lowest approval ratings in the history of the ratings, and threaten revolt.

But even if O'Bama had a plan, which he doesn't, and even if that (non-existing) plan were populist, we still do not want/need any "dear leader" herding us into any goddamned corral. We do not need one voice. We do not need one message. The will of the people is articulated on the street and there is no question, there is no confusion about it.

And thanks to Kate for championing the principle of universality, even if she went and dumped herself into O'Bama's hands too, for no apparent reason. Try writing in the candidate who represents your principles - most people embrace the Green Party platform. Stick it to the corporatocracy for a change - wanna repeat of 2004, 2006? That's what you'll get with O'Bama and Clintok!

Matthews and Kerry are examples of devolution among those who, despite promising starts, drift out of one current as it flags rather than taking the initiative and maintaining course.

Obama's absence of a plan and his appeal to improvisation is a political advantage, not only for him but for the left; this incalculability allows for maneuverability that can disarm reactionaries while giving greater volume to progressive voices. The Smirk, remember, campaigned as a "uniter" and as someone who would never ever attempt "nation-building", and progressives did, severely, underestimate him. Now many are underestimating someone with finer qualities and far greater abilities, including daring -- IF Obama were just another stealth corporatist, a malleable figurehead, he would have waited his turn in the queue; he would not have launched this challenge so early, but would have spent time in the Senate accumulating his political credits & chits to cash in at a later date. His cutting to the front of the line out of conviction rather than hanging back from scheming ambition is the move of someone who is not hobbled by habits or by ideological fetters. In terms of the environment in which he's been immersed in the last three years, his gesture-action is radical, even though his rhetoric is not.

I would love to vote for a woman for President, just not this woman; and I'd love to vote for an african-american candidate; just not this person of color.

Damn, I sure miss Barbara Jordan!!!

I shall grant to Obama the benefit of the doubt, but I am highly skeptical when it comes to his policies. I do think he can inspire young people and the grass roots, which is crucial, and very important for the longer term. I just wish he would provide some vision too. He could start by reading bob Herbert's OpEd in truthout.org yesterday. Herbert lays out jobs programs that rebuild our infrastructure and open the door to middle class existence, after all the outsourcing and job flight. Yes, we can WHAT? Change, HOW? (and from what to what? And BO should nominate Edwards to make the two Americas case, while he can stand above the fray as the great unifier.

Didn't you all have to laugh when Hillary (stealing a line from Edwards) spoke of her "life work"?

Pleez. I wish I could loan my campaign $5 million! Sure, she understand the plight of the 100 million poor and missing classes!

Yep, musta missed that Matthews was anti-war so if you're right and I can't find any evidence to say that you are I stand corrected. Everything I see now through Google is his view after the war started where he cops to the "This is a bullshit war" stance. I don't remember anyone of his ilk saying anything much different than 'let's go do it,' 9/11 and WMD. But then again I'm addled with myelin deficiencies and I may just have turned off Matthews before his "anti-war" stance could sink in to my memory. I'd love to see or read one pre-war item where Matthews said we should not go into Iraq or there were no WMD's or shock and awe is bullshit. I'd rather see him take his blinders off and hear what the other person on his show is actually saying but that's asking a bit much I suppose.

Amos

The reason I believe so many women ended up in the military fighting was because they joined the Army National Guard. The reason so many women joined the Army National Guard was because for one week end a month they could supplement their low income. In previous times, the Army National Guard was not used to fight in foreign lands. Presently, we are being conditioned to our brave men and "women" fighting in battles over seas. Our we really making progress here? What's next, mandatory registration of all women at the age of 18?

"I think of feminism as bringing a deeper balance to a society that is completely out of balance. I think of environmentalism as a 'feminist' current, for example. And I am not talking about gender per se. But it is balanced living- as opposed to women being allowed to be in the men's club."

amen, my sister.

What's all the buzz about older white women all voting for Hillary?

Gee, I must be some kind of anomaly. But surprise, surprise! We too can think outside the box.

I think Hillary should continue in the Senate where she is doing a good job for the country and the citizens of New York. She is brave and smart and tough, a senator and a citizen to be admired.

But I think this moment in history belongs to Barack. He offers a vision that is so inclusive, intelligent, and respectful of differences that it gives new meaning to the phrase "big tent". I have never felt so focused and excited about a political campaign in my life.

Signed,
Another white grandmother for Obama

Theleveller wonders:

Chris Matthews is a tool? GASP!!! Who knew! Kate why not go for the throat on these jokers?

*******************

Because both Kate and Chris are at their core birds of the same feather--hustling opportunists making hay off of controversy.

The point is the controversy and not the resolution of any impasse. As the name of Chris Matthews show "Hardball" infers, this is all a game designed to produce heat and smoke but not any light.

"Hardball" with Chris Matthews is Jerry Springer/Maury Povich for a slightly more intelligent crowd. Nothing more nothing less.

This is funny reading this article. I don't watch TV except for watching DVD movies on it. Chris Matthews...isn't he like an NBC equivalent of Fox News? And if yes, then who really cares? Why patronize the corporate media with your attention? Just turn it off. It all gets weird: sometimes I think GW Bush/Cheney are the best things to happen to both left and right wing media: look at all the effin' books written about Bush! Mostly by left-wingers! Chomsky, Klein, Tomas Frank, et al. They have all made millions writing about Bush and Cheney. Personally I cannot fathom wasting precious money, then actually spending even more precious free time reading a book about Bush! Holy fuck. Do you actually need to read an effin'book about this asshole to know he completely terrible in every imaginable way? Come on. Same goes for wating time filling your head with kaka such as Fox News--or Chris Matthews--pure masochism. Life's too short to waste your time on filling your head with this crap. Unless you want to end up on prozac!

There is no Right media and Left media. There is just the robber barons who own the media sending one message out to the masses and then sending the OPPOSITE side of that message out to the masses in an attempt to get us fighting amongst ourselves. When we are fighting amongst ourselves, we are powerless. Then we do stupid things like 60,000,000 people voting for a baby killer, when they KNEW he was a baby killer.

Chris now owns a mansion on Cape Cod and he wants to keep it. Now do you understand why he still has Tom DeLay as a guest?