It's not about the Middle East

But I think Juan Cole is right on this. What Clinton did yesterday is a mistake she should be criticized for (as I said yesterday) but it is getting way too much attention and it is systematic of the system we have for electing Presidents.

I don't think it is healthy that the information age causes such memes to circulate with such velocity that they are given far more significance than they deserve. Seeing Hillary abjectly and in a stunned voice apologize for any offense made me feel sorry for her. When you speak in public, you always risk misspeaking or having the audience misunderstand your intent. We make our presidential candidates speak constantly in public for 2 years straight, now. It is like a medieval form of torture. It is amazing that anyone runs this gauntlet.

Elections should be about issues, not about this sort of hothouse speculation about personalities.

And making it about personalities over issues is what television, especially, does -- and it is something that plays right into the GOP's hands.

How else could progressive positions continually trump conservative ones in public opinion polls but the GOP still eek out elections because our candidates are either portrayed as "effete elitists" (men) or "ball busting harpies" (women)? It happens over and over and over.

And it keeps giving us a shittier country.

You know who was an effete elitist? The greatest fuckin' President in the last 140 goddamned years, that's who. Plus he was married to someone who was portrayed as a ball-busting harpy [in reality, because she grew apart from him because he cheated on her with her own secretary]. But he was around before tee vee, so...