April
29 Hillary and the Pansies

When North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley endorsed Hillary Clinton at a joint appearance this morning, he said that Clinton "made Rocky Balboa look like a pansy."

"There’s a lot of 'yes we can' and 'yes we should' going on. Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver, that's the difference."

Clinton said nothing about the remark, and now it's the subject of some criticism, given that pansy is defined as a derogatory term for a homosexual man, to say nothing about McCain endorsee Sylvester Stallone.

Writes John Arovosis on Americablog, "So, Hillary isn't gay? Or Hillary isn't a weak gay? And of course, gays are something bad that need to be avoided. Now why would Hillary embrace gay-bashing to help her campaign? Well, putting aside the Clintons' history of embracing gay-bashing when it suited them, take a look at what Ben Smith wrote this morning: 

Easley is a meaningful ally in the culture war she's waging against Senator Barack Obama, as she seeks to cast him as a hopelessly unelectable liberal elitist...

"Oh, so Hillary has launched a "culture war" against Obama. And what are the three elements of the culture wars? God, guns, and gays."

Call me a bit skeptical, given that sensitivites are at an all-time high during this campaign. The remark was nevertheless cring-worthy, in that it was said by a politician and we're at the faux-toughness moment of the race.