CSotD: Adding it all up
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No need to stay up late last night except that it wasn't my first rodeo and, while confident of the final outcome, I wanted to see the later totals.
I kind of wish I hadn't hung around on social media, though, because the vitriol from Clinton supporters was deeply upsetting, and it wasn't coming just from the usual "don't read the comments" nitwits, but was being dished out by some prominent liberal commentators and cartoonists.
Apparently the outcome fell into that category of "10 degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally," because they took this personally, and the accusations of misogny were flying.
Sure. That's what it was. Misogyny.
My first ballot, back in 1972, helped elect Pat Schroeder to her first term in Congress, and – note to Ms. Steinem — I was already, and fairly recently, married, so I didn't just vote for her in order to get laid. Moreover, while this was a year after we'd bought the first issue of your magazine and 43 years before I gave your autobiography out as a Christmas gift, I didn't vote for her simply because she was a woman.
It was a fun side-benefit, like when I voted for Obama, not because he was African-American but because I agreed with his policy proposals. It would have been a damn stupid reason in and of itself, except perhaps as a tie-breaker, and neither in 1972 or in 2008 did I need a tie-breaker.
Nor did I feel compelled to vote for Ben Carson yesterday, or to choose between Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina. Melanin and gender are not how intelligent people choose their leaders.
Anyway, I'm sorry that young women who voted for Bernie are being slimed as hell-bound bimbos, and not only because it is unfair.
They're used to that, and they have already heard "It was only a joke" plenty of times as a non-apology-apology for sexist insults and inappropriate comments, and they know not to accept half-hearted bullshit in lieu of sincere regret.
That, however, brings us to Jen Sorensen's take, and the fear I had last night, which has a lot less to do with their pride, and a lot more to do with their future.
It has to do with the challenge I laid out the other day in posting Bernie's denunciation of (alleged) "Bernie Bros": If he can stand up against the negative elements among his followers, how about offering something more than, "Oh, get over it — it was just a joke!" from the other side?
Because Sorensen provides the answer to "At this point, what difference does it make?" and it's a point that Bernie takes seriously enough to include a caution a mere six minutes into a half-hour long victory speech:
I also hope that we all remember – and this is a message not just to our opponents but to those who support me as well – that we will need to come together in a few months and unite this party and this nation, because the right-wing Republicans we oppose must not be allowed to regain the Presidency.
Your move, Hillary.
Because, as David Rowe notes, here's what the other side of the political spectrum is waking up to this morning, and, if the Democrats disintegrate into squabbling, it's what we'll all be waking up to in November.
Assuming the pundits are right.
I'm a little puzzled by the coverage, because, apparently, Bernie only won because we backwoods cretins in New Hampshire are predominantly white, gun-toting men, but Trump's victory proves he is inevitable, because the fact that he, too, is heading for more minority-heavy venues hasn't come up in analyzing his prospects.
Whatever. It's time for some other poor state to take its turn on the dunking stool.
I wish we could say we didn't dirty the water in that dunk-tank for the folks of Nevada and South Carolina too much, but, hey, at this point, what difference does it make?
On a much lighter note: Juxtaposition of the Page
A few weeks ago, I noticed that "Reply All" appears just above "Agnes" on my GoComics page.
If I'd set this up on purpose, I'd have put Agnes on top, so that I could go each day from the kids to the professional women they grew up to become, but I still get a kick out of how often it seems like the same pair having the same conversation.
As you see today, Agnes/Lizzie is consistent on the topic of Valentines, and Trout/Ann is ever skeptically tolerant of her more passionate pal.
This beats hell out of the "Calvin grew up to be Frazz" thing.
Not this guy
I laughed at Rina Piccolo's Six Chix strip this morning, but, nah, that ain't me.
I am, granted, old enough that I can't always tell the teachers from the students in a high school, but, when it comes to playin' around with my innards, the younger the better.
In fact, I've held that opinion longer than I've been an old coot. I had a hernia repaired on my left side in about 1988, when I was only 38, by a well-established, well-known surgeon.
About four years later, I had to have the right side done, only, this time, his young wet-behind-the-ears associate did the deed.
Wet-behind-the-ears as in "having just been soaking up the latest techniques." It was like the difference between Blue Cheer and Mark Knopfler.
My next surgery, I want them to wheel the gurney up to that line where the new doctors are coming off the stage with their diplomas.
And watch this
I just picked up on Wallace The Brave, which is kind of weird and thoughty and worth following. Give it a shot.
Now here's your moment of campaign zen
(Yes, too new for Gloria and Maddie, too old for Bernie's fans.
That's the kind of compromise we need.)
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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