Tuesday, January 8, 2008

IRON MY SHIRT

This is a record for me.

For the second time in about 48 hours, I find myself siding with Hillary Clinton and impressed with her ability to deftly handle an uncomfortable, awkward situation.

Last night at a New Hampshire primary eve event, she was dogged by some jerks.

SALEM, N.H. (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign stop was interrupted on Monday when two men stood in the crowd and began screaming, "Iron my shirt!" during one the New York senator's final appearances before New Hampshire voters cast primary ballots Tuesday.
Clinton, a former first lady running to become the nation's first female president, laughed at the seemingly sexist protest that suggested a woman's place is doing the laundry and not running the country.

"Ah, the remnants of sexism—alive and well," Clinton said to applause in a school auditorium.

The two men were removed from the hall after raising a pair of signs that said, "iron my shirt!" They also shouted the same slogan.

...The overflow crowd burst into applause and some began shouting, "Iron my shirt" as the two were taken from the hall.

"As I think has been abundantly demonstrated, I am also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling," she said.

Clinton later joked about the incident as she invited questions.

"If there's anyone left in the auditorium who wants to learn how to iron a shirt, I'll talk about that," Clinton said with a smile.

What boorish behavior!

What sexist pigs!

Hillary controlled the protesters with such calm and confidence and humor that it was almost too perfect.

It makes me wonder if the protest was staged by the Hillary camp.

Is it possible that the "iron my shirt" demonstration was intended to rally women voters to Hillary's side? Yes.

It's possible that the entire thing was a stunt.

Yesterday morning, an emotional Hillary choked back tears. Yesterday evening, she was able to display her toughness while still being a sympathetic figure, the woman under attack.

It fits too perfectly.


It's too neat, like a crisp, freshly ironed shirt.
______________________

Watch the video.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice piece, I think you might have nailed it. Could Hillary be that conniving? Wow, the question just kind of answers itself.

clairev said...

Ah, I think she would have planned something a lot more clever than that if she was going to. Probably just dumb drunk kids from the local college.

Mary said...

It turns out that it was a radio stunt.

But it's not good that the notion of Hillary planting the guys seemed plausible.