Mary Matalin has no problem with a man slapping a woman around
In Mary's defense, it was a "professional colleague" who probably deserved it. How does Skeletor put up the Wicked Witch. What a piece of work.
Anyone who has ever been in the Defcon One pressure cooker of a national campaign knows that "mistakes are made," feelings are hurt, tempers are short, bitching is background noise. There is no such thing as Emily Post for political campaigns. Except for maybe Poppy Bush, good manners do not exist on any campaign planet. For good reason: They take time.
Time is the most valuable commodity on a campaign and you just can't waste it thinking about how to choose your words carefully or get your job done more diplomatically. If someone isn't in tears every day, that day wasn't all it could be advancing the campaign. I once witnessed an experienced (big) man slap a professional female colleague across the face over an ad buy... and no one thought anything of it, starting with the woman. In fact, she would have been insulted if anyone told her she should have been insulted.
Reagan Didn't End the Cold War -- Leftist Intellectuals Did
By Stephen Zunes, AlterNet Posted on November 20, 2009, Printed on November 21, 2009
The 20th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that overthrew the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia was one of the most impressive civil insurrections in history. It was not the military might of NATO, but the power of nonviolent action by ordinary citizens which brought down the system. The popular uprising against the repressive system that had ruled their country for much of the previous four decades -- along with comparable movements, which came to the fore that year in Poland, Hungary and East Germany -- marks a great triumph of the human spirit.
These movements were largely led by democratic socialists who mobilized workers, church people, intellectuals, and others to face down the tanks with their bare hands. Yet here in the United States, we are told that it was a result of President Reagan's militarism and the supposed inherent superiority of capitalism. It is this false narrative that has played such a major role in shifting discourse to the right in subsequent decades and has been used to discredit those struggling for a more just and egalitarian economic system and a more sane and less imperialistic foreign policy.
President Reagan's verbal support for democracy had little credibility in many of these countries. For example, while he denounced Poland's martial law regime, he was a strong supporter of the more repressive martial law regime then in power in NATO ally Turkey and scores of other dictatorships. In challenging left-wing governments in the Third World, Reagan gave little credence to nonviolent action and instead backed insurgents with ties to U.S.-backed dictatorships and -- in the case of Afghanistan -- even Islamic fundamentalists.
Fortunately, 219 Democrats and 1 Republican, Cao of Louisianna, voted Yes and passed this historic piece of legislation. I suspect it will pass the Senate and then Congressman Baird will see the light and vote for the Conference Bill.
