I totally agree--and as a feminist I have been complaining that HRC has used gender as a weapon not something to be proud of.

Very good point, but if Hillary were a man she wouldn't have been married to Bill Clinton. I think his former presidency is also one of the reasons for the "tip-toeing around and walking on eggshells" that we've been seeing from the media and the insiders. Just one more point in the mix, overall, though. Your main point stands.

And it stands well. Rec'd.

I agree with LisB. Everytime I ask questions about gender in regard to Hillary, I end up immediately thinking but Hillary isn't just any woman. She is Hillary. The media and each of us as individuals have a very long history of both positive and negative feelings about her. Any other candidate in her situation, whether male or female, would be responded to differently. Although individual differences, and former first lady differences combine with the gender difference.

By contrast, I haven't heard that Obama's brought up racism in similar ways.

Have you been in a coma?

"Those tears also have to be analyzed," Jackson said. "They have to be looked at very, very carefully in light of Katrina, in light of other things that Mrs. Clinton did not cry for, particularly as we head to South Carolina where 45 percent of African-Americans will participate in the Democratic contest, and they see real hope in Barack Obama."

And it only got worse from there.

Yes, it was Clinton who introduced sexism in the campaign - it wasn't say, oh, Tucker Carlson with his remark that "everytime he sees her he has to cross his legs" or, I don't know, Mike Barnicle with his, "she sounds like every guy's ex wife standing in front of probate court" or maybe, Chris Mathews with his remarks that any male who supported Clinton is a "male castrata" (among too many to list) of David Shuster's remark that she "was pimping our Chelsea" or numerous articles by Maureen Dowd or Obama's remark that "it's time to draw back the claws" or Jack Cafferty's curmugeonly bullshit or any of the countless sexist remarks made by our "punditocracy". It must have been Clinton.

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Well, I'm more relaxed now because this afternoon, her superdelegates have told her that she has to concede this coming Friday.

Supposedly, her top staff went to Senator Rangel and said you have to tell her to get out. What was to be a conference call w/ the NY legislators immediately spread to others. 20+ angry legislators were on a conference call w/ Hillary late this afternoon. They were irate about her speech last night - McAullife's introducing her as the next President, Hillary not acknowledging Obama won, the whole embarrassing display.

One conclusion is that Hillary "misread" the mood of her supporters. Another reason for her not to be President.

For what it's worth, Lanny Davis said that, before today's call, Hillary was going to take a few weeks to assess her situation.

Maybe the end to this stupidity is in sight, but with the Clintons' crisis orientation, no telling what will happen next.

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And yes, LisB, my equation didn't have a Bill equivalent, which makes everything more complex. Maybe the Hispanic candidate was married to Condi Rice. :) Nah, that doesn't come close.

Bev, Obama's certainly had racist comments made by the media, such as the magazine cover with him in the crosshairs of a rifle scope. I don't recall any public threats on Hillary's life, but I could have missed them.

Hillary's had her own share of sexist comments, yes. The point is that no one in Obama's campaign (that I know of) has complained about racist comments or blamed them for their losses in the primaries.

Hillary and Bill and their spokespeople have blamed her failures on sexism from the media multiple times. Hillary even complained that, because she's a woman, it takes her 30 minutes longer in the morning to get ready for a day campaigning than her male opponents, so she gets less sleep than they - this before other male candidates dropped out.

As Rachel Maddow said today, she'll believe Hillary is withdrawing or suspending her campaign and endorsing Obama when she hears the words come out of H.'s mouth on Friday. And I add - and when I see her act on her words.

Good points and, like LisB, my own feminist values just increase my sense of outrage. What other candidate in the history of our national campaigns has been given the time and space to go through the seven stages of grief before conceding?!

Women deserve equality--but we also need to take on equal responsibilities, such as (and my apologies for any sexist undercurrents to this word) MANNING UP and doing what must be done.

Here's a framework that makes sense:

http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe07.html