Arkansas Blog

It's interesting how many men would buy and display an item that declares that they are intimidated by and feel inferior to Hillary.

You can't expect our media to focus on sexism, when they are being sexist repeatedly.

Can you imagine if a product had been made in reference to Obama's race? This is something that our country needs to face, and something that Obama needs to address in his campaign.

>>Does the fact that a similarly racist Obama doll couldn't be sold without massive public outrage mean that casual sexism is more tolerated than casual racism? Would any woman running for president be subject to the same mockery, or is Hillary somehow more susceptible than other female politicians?<<

I'm glad this article was posted. I've removed the Kos from my list of reads because it is so offensive to my sense of decency - but this article was needed and is refreshing. I'm trying hard to move forward, but the above statement from the article says it all. From the very first hateful email or statement I heard about Obama being a Muslim, or his preacher, I came out hard and defended him, and to later learn that fellow Democrats - admittedly mostly hard left - would stand quiet or even laugh and cheer at this treatment of Hillary Clinton really made me question the caliber of the party I've supported for so many years.

But.......that was before, and as has been suggested.......I'm now trying to put the Obama pin on my Hillary t-shirt.

muleboy, you are hereby officially outed.

According to one of your many blogs, you are a Republican (even praises William F. Buckley) and you don't even live in Arkansas. Care to explain why your blog (click on name for link) has links to PAT BUCHANNON an RON PAUL???

Now it makes perfect sense why you constantly post trying to stir up anti-Clinton hatred.

I hope, CiCi, it's not the caliber of the party, but the caliber of those snickering men, and a few women, in general. I hope.
Still, it would be refreshing to hear a candidate nail the more offensive spoutings from their "supporters" -- whether it be about "nutcrackers" or Muslim.
Sigh. I know. Too much to ask.

The Hillary Nutcracker will be a great collector's item.

By the way, George Bush toilet paper is available at The Dem Store -

www.demstore.com/scstore/DemStore/bush-toilet.html

These political novelties are tasteless, but still kind of funny.

Honestly, I don't even get it. What is "nutcracker" supposed to mean? Is it supposed to be the same thing as "ball buster?"

You are right Ark Blogger, they are hilarious and I for one would have no real problem with the nutcracker if Democrats hadn't treated Hillary so badly. It's not much fun when a party turns on one of its own.

There's a difference between tasteless and sexist.

It's as old as American politics and is not a recent political phenomena.

Best quote on the back of the box: "You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to use it" - George Bush.

"It's interesting how many men would buy and display an item that declares that they are intimidated by and feel inferior to Hillary."--Pavel

And therein lies the rub...one of the ways inadequate men tend to deal with a threatening woman, like Hillary (usually means smarter, stronger, funnier, anything the man is not) is to demonize the woman, or otherwise make her unavailable...thus the commonly used lesbian stuff. 'Why, no heterosexual woman could possible resist such manliness...' In his fantasies his balls remain intact.

Literally, there is no constructive/viable way for Hillary to neuter every mans' inadequacies...real or imagined. So...she should tell them to shove off or ignore the ball-less ones altogether. Of course, she should probably get out of politics before trying my suggestions.

Misogyny is absolutely lethal.

But decrying it does nothing to stop it.

And when those doing the decrying seem oblivious to the ways in which they are willfully enmeshed in misogyny, then their protests aren't very convincing.

How many of the ponderous circles of political commentators in Arkansas EVER include even a single female voice? Who calls the shots? Who sits around the table and predicts oh so soberly who will and will not win the political game?

To be given a voice in the "official" media (as opposed to being allowed to participate in blog discussions sponsored by said media) is to have arrived.

How many women have arrived, when it comes to making power decisions and stating official viewpoints, in our "official" media?

I will believe the Arkansas media's commitment (left and right) to opposing racism, misogyny, and homophobia when I see new faces and hear new voices in "official" news outlets.

Otherwise, same old white boys continuing to say the same old things over and over, to each other.

And we wonder why we don't move ahead? Why we don't keep businesses? Why we don't attract new ones?

is the nutcracker also not indicative of, to borrow a cigarette ad from the '70's, "you've come a long way, baby"? as it lampoons a globally known politician for a character trait that was nurtured and relished (to some extent) during their entire public career, and yet was still so successful?

hopefully, the day will come (looking forward to 2012) when a President Obama doll with big ears, a latte' in one hand and a bowling ball held limply in the other, will be similarly displayed and laughed at by all. (except by the, hopefully very small, minority of those who wish to take personal offense or ill-hearted assertion, whichever the case may be)

I have one of those nutcrackers. It's hilarious. I suspect that if Hillary had won it would be toasted and lauded by the same people who find it utterly sexist.

If the market were not so limited I would do a similar line of Arkansas Blog toys. For example, the Max doll would do nothing but shout "Sexism!" every time it was in contact with the Hillary nutcracker. The DBI doll would deliver long, boring diatribes about how awful America is. Etc. etc.

And hey, what about the Prouster doll. It masturbates to the lastest issue of The Economist.

The thing that troubles me about the doll is that its different from, say, a leering Bill Clinton doll that winks and carries a huge cigar, or a George W. Bush doll that says dumb things when you pull a strong, or an Al Gore doll made of concrete. All those are addressed to individual characteristics -- peculiarities, if you will -- of those men. And so, too, would be a latte-toting Obama doll.

I'll admit that some of what I'm about to say is in the eye of the beholder, but it seems to me somebody could pull that same doll out and paint over the face with a different image the *next* time a woman makes a serious run for the presidency (hopefully, it will be Hillary eight years hence, but that's another thread) -- and the same folk will find it aptly captures the idea of a what *any* woman is like who has had the courage and tenacity to be more than a water carrier while rising to the top levels of government.

What worries me is that the "nut-cracking" (nee "ball-breaking") woman candidate is the equivalent of the Uppity Negro candidate -- won't matter who's running, some are going to slap the label on anyway.

Muleboy,
Don't worry about being outted. It makes no difference to most of us which party you belong to, as long as you're not just here to flame (and yes, that's a comment alluding to ArkRed, Chasv, and their gang of troll henchmen). I used to be a Republican, and I still occassionally vote for them. Wear your ex-Republicanism as a badge of honor. Nothing pisses off a neocon more than telling him that HE'S the reason you left the Republican Party. And nevermind the accusation that you're just a Repub henchman sent to bash Hillary. Some of her supporters are still a little jaded, and refuse to believe that she got beat fair and square. They'll come around...

"And hey, what about the Prouster doll. It masturbates to the lastest issue of The Economist."

Oh what a picture you've painted, GUMM...LOL!

I agree, TAP, 'those' dolls would be funny and apt...like a good Saturday Night Live/Daily Show. The Hillary stuff, like all the other sexist/racist stuff, is not from a place of humor. It's a completely different animal than the levity that we all enjoy. It's main purpose is to undermine those who step outside of boundaries established by those in power...to cut down rather than share humor. How many Clinton/Bush/Reagan jokes question their balls...their penises, in the same manner that 'jokes' reference Hillary's sexuality, ball-breaking, big butt, blah blah.

Since being a 'real' manly man is so important in our presidential candidates, I think we should have a penis-off rather than any more boring debates. The biggest wins...and, I guess if Hillary breaks all of em, she wins.

tyvm mmar,

i've been wrong before and doubtless i will be again, but at my age, were i not a "former" something i fear it would be indicative of an incapacity to learn from my mistakes or history. i was most fortunate to have a History teacher in Ft. Smith in 1977 who got me addicted to learning.

and it may be an apples/oranges analogy, considering the distinct lack of machismo in English male politicians, and the different times/circumstances, but i have to wonder if such similar assertions or products/gimmicks were prevalent in the UK with regard to Thatcher? (Madame, Dame, Lady... i can never remember)

I had already seen this, I read Daily Kos, well...daily, I just don't read everything.
I think what surprised me most was the the inability of some of those "progressive" folks in the comments who just could not "get it". Who still want to say that there was no sexism displayed in this primary, they sound just like the people who yell loudly from the other side that there was no racist overtones.

Is anyone out there surprised to learn that Prouster owns one of the Hillary as Nutcracker "novelties"?

Meet John Doe must have purchased a box of Wheaties on sale this weekend..

First of all, muleboy303 has been linking to his blog for months (if not longer).. And pointing a finger shouting out HE LINKS TO PAT BUCHANON.. without expressing one reason why it might be a negative... is simply fact free childishness.. elementary school yard style. I for one appreciate much of his research and his willingness to look at the mess both the GOP and DLC style of governance has done to America.

AS for the doll .. the weird American speculative collectors market will insure these things are always around... looking for the next beanie boom. Nobody collects old blackface stuff more than African Americans.. Wouldn't surprise me in the least to discover bull dikes collect these nut crackin' joke dolls more than anyone else.

I started to give a few examples of an offensive Obama toy and McCain is such an easy target, but I decided that's some more of that not moving forward stuff Hillary was talking about.

See...Prouster gives a perfect clue as to what's wrong with Republicans. His take on my long boring diatribes is that I HATE America...which is positively untrue. I HATE our current government and that's a giant difference. I think the majority of the people in the US are good and kind...same as the people in any other country in the world. It's the governments that turn horrible, not the people. The trick is for these evil governments to persuade their population into agreeing with their criminal policies. That's exactly what's happened in America.

A tasteless Hillary nut cracker isn't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about murder, aggression, torture, robbery and warmongering. This is the legacy of Cheney-Bush. Shame on the Americans who went along with them, but they're trusting and dumb, not criminal like their leaders. We have all the proof we need to send most of the Bush administration to the gallows, yet nothing happens. That sorta proves the American people are too nice and too forgiving, but I'll take too nice and too forgiving over murderous any ole time.

You're probably not a bad person either, Prouster. You're just misguided. Like the rest of us, you were raised to respect your government and the office of the President. That's a good thing, unless it makes you blind....then you're just another Hitler Youth, a part of the problem, not the solution. That can be forgiven, but you need to start waking up and entering the adult world where actions are to be judged, not mere words and false flag waving. Cheney-Bush is your enemy too, you just don't know it yet. Your government has failed you too.

You know, the Howler piece should really make every red blooded American furious. I guess I always knew these guys KNEW they were spewing ish about Gore, but I let myself hope they were not sure and were just trying to be "fair and balanced", but it was ish and they knew it and I knew it and most of you knew it, but we let it happen and we paid for it by living with a raving lunatic in the WH and his puppet master, Dr. Death. Bad things happen when the press doesn't do its job. We are each only one individual and we can only make so much noise, but the media has the microphone and they need to use it correctly or get off the stage.

We let them say over and over that crap about Gore and the snake slithered into the most powerful job in the world and hundreds of thousands of people are dead and things are a mess. I think we should demand some heads roll. Gore was stiff and not much fun and old GWB was a back slapper and gave them all pet names - what a load!

They've done it again this year, but maybe we will be lucky. There was this doddering old man, a young charismatic adonis, and the woman with thick ankles, so you can guess who they chose. Now don't get me wrong - the young charismatic adonis will probably be a fantastic president and we may be very lucky - BUT they STILL made the choice no matter how much they scoff or deny - they talk up the one they like and they belittle the ones they don't. Busy voters are too busy to see this crap for what it is, so they believe the implied lie and then vote as predicted.

We have to be sure they don't decide in a few weeks that its their old friend John they really like and trust, because if that happens, the rumors, emails and ugly innuendo will make its way onto the cable 24/7 and eventually, since the cable is running with it - we'll hear it on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and even PBS and NPR may drink the koolaid. Don't say it's impossible because it just happened and we hardly noticed.

We have to be sure they don't decide in a few weeks that its their old friend John they really like and trust, because if that happens, the rumors, emails and ugly innuendo will make its way onto the cable 24/7 and eventually, since the cable is running with it - we'll hear it on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and even PBS and NPR may drink the koolaid. Don't say it's impossible because it just happened and we hardly noticed.
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For the most part "they don't like McCain".. but that makes little difference... their paychecks depend on the GOP wing-nut welfare circuit.. And it goes against human nature to admit they have been duping us and each other all along.

They will and are using slimy tactics.. because it's all they have and know.