"mean girls" - we are our own worst enemy.

one of my favorite topics this primary season is the media's denigration of hillary clinton based on her gender - you know, the old stalwart "sexism." for awhile now, my ire over it has centered around chris matthews and various other white male pundits & journalists at msnbc. matthews' statements about clinton only winning her senate seat because bill messed around on her, his cheek pinching, and his general dismissive attitude toward clinton and all women has led to me refusing to watch anything he appears on, including primary coverage.

he was weakly "called out" by keith olbermann during coverage when matthews was seemingly chomping at the bit to reference tina fey's sketch on snl and call clinton a bitch on live nationwide television. you can watch the video and read about it at media matters. ol' tweety just won't quit.

then last week it was bill maher, where his montage of 'the many moods of hillary clinton' was enough for me to taste vomit in my throat, only to be followed by the statement 'ladies, don't send me letters' – basically maher letting all women know that he doesn't want to hear any complaints about blatant sexism. his show is also now peppered with dismissive comments about clinton, but he follows them up with "but i like hillary clinton." it's like having your abusive boyfriend hit you but then make sure to tell you he loves you right after.

up until today, my disturbance from this behavior was limited to older white men who just don't want us to forget that the patriarchy is alive and well, and don't like threats from powerful women. not to be outdone, women still insist on letting the world know that we are not beyond catty name-calling and degrading each other. we have our stereotypes and we're not gonna let 'em go!

samatha power, who has been an extremely vocal opponent of the genocide in darfur and was deeply involved in fighting the genocide in rwanda, called clinton "a monster" during an interview with the new scotsman in london. i don't even know if there's anything i can say to follow that up. oh wait, i can - it's another comment. You just look at her and think, 'Ergh'. certainly, i look at a woman who is a tireless worker, tough as nails, a champion of causes for children and women, extremely intelligent and wants health care for all of america at a cost they can afford, and i am definitely thinking 'ergh.'

actually, no i'm not. i would never think that.

i'm thinking "here is someone who works hard and while guided by ego and a desire for control/power like ALL presidential candidates, wants good things to happen for this country and its people and wants to change the way america is currently viewed by the world." i think those are things samantha power probably wants too. i find it extremely unfortunate that an intelligent woman is insulting another intelligent woman by saying she is 'stooping to anything' when i'm pretty sure that calling someone a 'monster' is also stooping to pretty low levels - the levels of a middle school playground.

the other thing that i am disturbed by is that power has seen 'monsters.' she has been to rwanda, been to darfur - the atrocities committed there are monstrous by any standard. to call another woman, one who has her faults but who by and large is nothing compared to a genocidaire, "a monster" is just bad form, period.

if samantha power wants the candidate she advises, and by proxy represents, to be viewed as the candidate for change - the man who will turn this nation around, revolutionize civil rights in a way we have never seen, and put a new face on how politics are conducted in america, perhaps she should watch her own mouth.