Gloria Steinem Attacks McCain on War Record
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=66&id=18352
03/03/2008
By Angela D'Amboise
Noted feminist Gloria Steinem took John McCain to task over the
weekend when she belittled the likely Republican presidential
nominee's five-and-a-half years as a POW, saying the media would
treat it differently were it a female veteran's record.
ABC News reported that Steinem took to task the years of torture
McCain endured at the hands of the North Vietnamese during the
Vietnam war while stumping for Hillary Clinton in Texas over the weekend.
"Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got
captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years?" Steinem asked,
suggesting the media would ask "'What did you do wrong to get
captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a
captive for eight years?"
Steinem went on to say, "I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a
qualification to be president? I don't think so."
McCain has been regularly under fire for the past few weeks, and with
Steinem's attack it seems no topic is off limits.
Earlier this week, democrats raised questions as to whether McCain's
birthplace in a former U.S. Territory in Panama qualified him for a
presidential bid.
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Stumping for Clinton, Steinem Says McCain's POW Cred Is Overrated
http://www.observer.com/2008/stumping-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-p-o-w-cred-overrated
by Niall Stanage
March 2, 2008
AUSTIN, TexasFeminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on
Hillary Clinton's behalf here last night and quickly proved that she
has lost none of her taste for provocation.
From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance
of John McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an
interview with The Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack
Obama benefitsand Clinton suffersbecause Americans view racism more
seriously than sexism.
Steinem also told the crowd that one reason to back Clinton was
because "she actually enjoys conflict."
And she claimed that if Clinton's experience as first lady were taken
seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might "finally
admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your
boss's job and take it over."
Steinem raised McCain's Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to
highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton.
"Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got
captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would
ask], 'What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things
did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?'"
Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five and a half
years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his
time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, "I mean, hello?
This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don't think so."
Steinem's broader argument was that the media and the political world
are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.
"I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn't been trained to kill
anybody. And she probably didn't even play war games as a kid. It's a
great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting."
To The Observer, Steinem insisted that "from George Washington to
Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a
qualification for ruling people."
Other Clinton proxies, notably Black Entertainment Television founder
Bob Johnson and a New Hampshire campaign chair, Billy Shaheen, have
generated controversies with their criticisms of Obama. By contrast,
Steinem told me the Illinois senator was "an intelligent,
well-intentioned person." She added: "I would like very much to see
him be president for eight years after Hillary has been president for
eight years."
But she also opined that "a majority of Americans want redemption for
racism, for our terrible destructive racist past and so see a vote
for Obama as redemptive." Then, using a term for the mass killing of
women, she added, "I don't think as many want redemption for the gynocide."
"They acknowledge racismnot enough, but somewhat," Steinem
continued. "They would probably be less likely to acknowledge that
the most likely way a pregnant woman is to die is murder from her
male partner. There are six million female lives lost in the world
every year simply because they are female."
Steinem has been a Clinton supporter for several yearseven though,
as she reminded me, she protested against Bill Clinton's welfare
reforms outside the White House. Her support for the former first
lady has become more high-profile of late. She penned a January op-ed
for The New York Times backing Clinton and asserting that "gender is
probably the most restricting force in American life." She was also
one of the women's rights activists who signed a Feb. 15 letter
published on the Huffington Post that insisted, "It's time for
feminists to say that Senator Obama has no monopoly on inspiration."
Yesterday's event, billed by the Clinton campaign as "One Million for
Hillary with Gloria Steinem," was one of several appearances
scheduled for the veteran feminist across Texas as Tuesday's primary
looms. It was held in a downtown music venue and was attended by
around 200 people, the vast majority of whom were women. Before
Steinem spoke, two Clinton campaign ads focusing on female support
were shown, to applause.
In her speech, Steinem argued that there was a major sexist component
to the murmurs from some quarters suggesting Clinton should abandon
her presidential quest.
There is, she said, "a great deal of pressure at play for her to act
like her gender and give in." Several shouts of "No!" came from the
crowd. Steinem went on: "It's a way of reinforcing the gender roles,
right? Men are loved if they win and Hillary is loved if she loses. …
But maybe we shouldn't be so afraid of an open convention that
actually decides something. After all, it was an open convention in
New York City that gave us Abraham Lincoln."
Steinem's speech offered, Letterman-style, 10 reasons why she was
supporting Hillary. Most were serious, though one of the more
flippant was "We get Bill Clinton as Eleanor Roosevelt."
Steinem, like any good politician, also made sure to praise her
surroundings. True to her own spirit, though, she did so in less
decorous terms than any candidate for office would dare.
Other than Austin, she said, "there is no community in the whole
world that understands how to include everybody, how to be serious
and have a good time at the same time, how to be fan-fucking-tastic"
quite so well.
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign sends over the following statement from
Howard Wolfson: "Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator
McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly
do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to
have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."
.
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