Schoolyard Bully Boys Test a New Taunt

Interesting to see Republican party chairman Ken Mehlman trying out what some are calling "the shrew narrative" on Hillary Clinton, saying she is "too angry" to be president. Funny . . . wasn't it just the other day that the Republicans were denouncing John Kerry for being too dispassionate about terrorism when he said it could be reduced to just "a nuisance"--in other words, that Kerry was unqualified to be president because he wasn't angry enough? And if you go back a few years, do you recall how Michael Dukakis was trashed by both his opponents and the main stream media for not responding with sufficient anger to Bernard Shaw's hypothetical question about Kitty Dukakis being raped?

Back then, we were supposed to reject the Democrats because they were bloodless wimps; now, between Hillary's "anger" and Howard Dean's "insane" yawps, we're supposed to reject them because they're wild and out of control.

The point is obvious: Like the schoolyard bullies they are, the Republicans will mock their opponents for anything and everything, whether it's logical, relevant, self-contradictory or not. Under the circumstances, Hillary's calm, topic-changing response strikes me as about right. Above all, the Democrats must avoid getting tied up in knots defending themself against the Republican "charges," which are no more meaningful than a bully's taunts.

Tags: Ken Mehlman, Hillary Clinton