OK, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I left this story percolating for a long time before posting here about it. By now everyone knows what this picture is about and who is in it. Part of the reason it hasn’t appeared in this very appropriate blog is because Hillary’s own response to the “affair” was so typically succinct and pithy that I could never have done better. But while I let the pot simmer, pressure cookers were exploding all over Hillaryland. Here is some of the fallout, or should I call it “shootout”?
1. Barack Obama should have jumped on this issue. Agreed. But then, we should know by now that his modus operandi is to sit tight, do nothing, and hope it all goes away – that hopey/changey posture. When the hurricanes were hitting the Gulf this season and Obama was scheduled to appear on SNL, he cancelled his appearance due to a hurricane and hurried home to Chicago and took the weekend off. That was his chance to high-tail it to the Gulf and fill sandbags with “the folks” as McCain had for the previous hurricane (you remember – the one when Obama sent you 3 or 4 emails from his Blackberry asking you to donate to the Red Cross – through HIS WEBSITE). But he did not visit the Gulf that weekend. He stayed home. We know this about him, he lets his chances go by. The Hillgrope Affair was his chance to make a statement against sexism. Of course he blew it because uh -uh he really isn’t against sexism, aaaaaaannndd um the new SoS is hot. You can’t blame “the boys,” can you?!
2. Jon Favreau should be fired. Well, if he didn’t do #1, he was not about to do this. Case closed.
3. It’s not the real Hillary, y’all! She’s only cardboard! I might mention that it’s a very cute likeness of a very cute Hillary. One of the many disadvantages of being female is the male misconception that physical attractiveness is the equivalent of an invitation or permission. But the larger issue is that of symbolism. To many, the image of Hillary represents Hillary, therefore groping the image approaches molesting the person. (And we Homegirls are dedicated to protecting her from such invasions. These Hillary cutouts lack Secret Service Details so the job falls to us.) If a picture (image, graphic) is worth a thousand words, lets look at a few other image-related incidents.
There’s this: 
Well we all know what THIS means, don’t we? Anti-noose sentiments were so strong after the Jena, Louisiana incidents that at Halloween this year, there were serious objections to decorations involving “ghosts” made of sheets hanging from trees. Now one would think that if there were retribution in this world it might take the form of sheeted figures hanging from nooses, but even these free-form figures of white were somehow considered racist and offensive.
Meanwhile in LA (the CA one) we encountered this Halloween “decoration.”
Unlike “ghosts” which cannot be identified as personalities, this figure was highly identifiable. And I ask you, is she not hanging from a noose? I heard, and you might have also, that a similar display involving Obama had been erected somewhere else. I could not find a photo of that probably because it was taken down under public pressure very quickly. This one was allowed to remain for days “because it’s LA!” Well, I don’t know. I think, even in LA, had it been Obama hanging there I might not have found the picture. So hang her high! And hang her why? Well, she’s Republican, and LA is historically Democrat. She has five kids (at least three of whom have seen this display) – she’s overpopulating the planet – and she’s not pro-choice! Aaaaannnnndddd. She’s only a woman. It’s just a joke, folks! Have a sense of humor.
Well the Jon Favreau Hillarygrope was also supposed to be a joke (actually, I think he’s hot for Hill). Some jokes are insulting, offensive, and should be self-censored. Some of us remember the cock-fight joke of Reagan’s that Nancy inadvertently leaked to the press and caused a mild dust-up in the 70’s. Everybody let it slide. They still loved Reagan and voted for him nonetheless. In hindsight, we have seen Solidarnosc, lived through a brilliant and much-loved Polish Pope, and come to feel our families are not that different from that of Tony Soprano (even Bill and Hill identified).
If it were not for thousands of years of subjugation and mistreatment of women in societies and cultures the world over from which some of us had hope our own country might finally be emerging, I might laugh too and say “How cute!” But it isn’t cute, Jon. Not cute, Barack. Offensive and threatening to many women who in the past week have attested to their own reactions to this photo. Some of these women were molested in scenes very similar to this. The picture did not bring happy memories. I have to agree with them. Letting this go encourages this behavior by not condemning it.
So I stand with my sisters who say, “Barack, please fire him before he ever attends a staff meeting where Hillary is present.”
As for Hillary, here’s how she handles “bad and evil men” and “men who are obsessed with her.”
Fishslapped!!! (For you Monty Python fans).
The Department of Homegirl Security 