Toady via MSNBC: If women ruled the world, everything would change, according to former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers. Politics would be more collegial. Businesses would be more productive. And communities would be healthier. Empowering women would make the world a better place. Blending memoir, social history and a call to action, Myers challenges us to imagine a not-too-distant future in which increasing numbers of women reach the top ranks of politics, business, science and academia.

I can’t speak for the book, but I did see her interview on Today this morning.

Sad to say that she was completely full of shit this morning.

They asked her why Hillary was slipping in her quest for a primary victory… I personally believe that there are many reasons or possible reasons for her falling behind in her question for the nomination.

1) The Clintons – be it Bill or Hillary – are classic wafflers, which is a handy skill in DC, but you can’t use it all the time… you’ll get caught. You can’t almost ever get a straight answer from either one of them, and even if you did, there’s a good chance it will be reversed or inverted the next day. Consider the three-sides of Hillary that we’ve seen over the last three or four days… sincere, angry/bitter, sarcastic. Which one would you vote for? If you vote for her, which one do you get? I have to admit that I sorta chuckled when I saw this observation in the media this weekend – is she trying to lose the male vote? I mean, you know there’s a bad stereotype out there already, about how women’s moods can change without warning – why try to live up to that negative expectation?

2) Obama and his message. Obama’s entire campaign so far is “Change.” Hillary noticed this, as was obvious by her sarcastic tirade this weekend, but she has battled it poorly. It’s a great case of how she’s right in that he needs more meat in his campaign, but she’s still wrong… however vague or lightweight the argument is, it’s what the American people want to hear. Think of it another way. George the First was a carbon copy of Reagan. George the Second is similar to his father. In between that we had eight years of Bill. That’s 28 years of what amounts to two “families” controlling our Presidency. Change indeed.

3) Obama and his lack of waffling. Given 1 and 2, this is logical: Obama’s message hasn’t changed since starting his campaign. Simple as that. Gives him a lot more credibility.

4) “We’re leading – lets coast.” This problem is very real and very trackable. Sometimes, it’s better to be the underdog and it’s really easy to feel a sense of invincibility, if you’re leading by enough. Ask the Patriots about their 18-1 season, the Yankees about the 2004 ALCS, or Rudy about his miscues in his recent campaign… a lead doesn’t give you a win – it just improves your chances of winning. You can’t ever stop running; Hillary sorta did for a little while.

5) Black African-American vs Women Womyn. In this nation, there’s usually only room for one “discrimination” group in our awareness at a time. It does shift, true, but for right now, African-American is in the top spot. People can go on radio or TV and say whatever you want about a woman – there may be backlash but it’s not centered around “gender biased” – it’s because you’re an asshole. Race, on the other hand, is considered very volatile. Consider Imus. Was he fired because he called women ho’s or because he called a group of African-American women “nappy-headed ho’s”? I’ll answer my own question: it was the racial slur, not the gender slur. Obama’s story plays out as a better one right now, and that’s another factor.

Dee Dee on the other hand has blamed Hillary’s problems almost exclusively on gender, although she says a few times “I think there were other factors” – she just doesn’t mention them. Highlights from the interview:

“It’s not a level playing field – the press isn’t giving her as much positive attention as they do Obama.” I thought, “Really?” and then burst out laughing at the reporter’s reply: “Do you really think so? Is it because she’s a woman or do you think the media somehow delights in reporting on the fall of a front runner?” She sidestepped making a response to this.

“She can’t be strong [because she’s a woman]!” Um, yes, she can be strong – people would respect that today. The media didn’t jump on her for being strong and being a woman: they treated her like every other candidate that threw a tantrum at the wrong time or for the wrong reasons.

“She can’t be caring or show a softer heart like a woman should!” Yes, yes she can! The problem here is that you can’t have it both ways all the time. There are times to be strong and times to be kind – she’s trying to do both for the same situations. That’s not going to fly. That makes you unpredictable and fickle. That reminds people that she’s putting up a front: a woman that is trying to act like a man, rather than just being herself. If she just remembered that she is a woman and acted like herself – or at least in a consistent image of herself – I think she’d do far better.

Emotion is another thing that came up. The media single handedly crushed Howard Dean using one sound bite that was filled with nothing but emotion. They’ve done the same thing to Hillary that they did to Dean: no gender bias.

All in all, I’m tempted to read Dee Dee’s book. Women rule the world. I’m all for it. But as per usual, I’m more interested in equality – don’t “let women rule the world” but instead expect women to step and take control of ruling the world. Why should they be given a ruling role or special consideration and opportunities, based off a gender?

Dee Dee’s complaints to the press today are nearly inexcusible. When you read between the lines, you’ll find that Dee Dee isn’t really complaining that Hillary is being treated differently or being discriminated against because she’s a woman. She’s complaining that Hillary isn’t getting special treatment because she’s a woman. Another example of how people don’t want equality – they just want special treatment for their own groups, in the name of equality, because they think every other group has it better than them. Making things equal means no one is special and for special interest groups, that is flat out herasy.

Yep – just like I said: full of shit.