# Accusations Flying About Re: Mrs. Kerry **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209 "2004-07-21T17:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/41 "2004-07-22T06:18:51Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Oh? That’s the weakest comeback I’ve ever seen. Where are these Godwinisms? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/42 "2004-07-22T07:07:52Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Are the extreme Right loonies _that_ frightened of women who do not have their astrologers set their husbands’ schedules? Sure seems that way, donnit? “If she ain’t barefoot and pregnant, then she must be one of them uppity lesbian feminazi ball-bustin’ bitches! _Real_ American women know they have to follow three steps behind their men!” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/43 "2004-07-22T07:22:20Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Hey, now! That is only five more than GWB. 😉 > You know what I find interesting? The way that the extreme Right always chooses to vilify the wives of Democratic presidential candidates. I think that Mrs. Mondale is the only wife of a candidate or First Lady in the last 28 years who was not vilified (usually for being a strong, independent woman). Probably they had their hands full with Geraldine Ferarro. (gasp! A WOMAN running for office!) Remember when Barbara Bush called her a bitch? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/44 "2004-07-22T09:58:50Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Nazi propagandistS. The usual comparisons that suddenly became perfectly reasonable with the special conditional repeal of Godwin’s law for only left wing movie-makers. I was just waiting to hear from some of the peanut gallery, that declared this sort of thing as a perfectly reasonable, which Nazi comparison or description of propaganda or hyperbolic hatred this particular WND glurge should be characterized as. What, so you were trying to provoke people into making Nazi comparisons so you could beat them over the head with it? That’s a bit lame, don’t you think? Did it bother you so much that the article was bollocks? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/45 "2004-07-22T10:35:15Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Hey, now! That is only five more than GWB. 😉 > You know what I find interesting? The way that the extreme Right always chooses to vilify the wives of Democratic presidential candidates. I think that Mrs. Mondale is the only wife of a candidate or First Lady in the last 28 years who was not vilified (usually for being a strong, independent woman). > > Are the extreme Right loonies _that_ frightened of women who do not have their astrologers set their husbands’ schedules? That’s a big brush there, pal. You’ll note that the debunking of this rumor was posted above by me. And my right wing credentials aren’t much in doubt here. Fairness is fairness, and looniness is looniness, though. And you can find examples of both across the spectrum. I would no more want to be compared with those nuts at WorldNet than a fair, honest liberal would want to be compared with **Reeder** , for instance. Agree? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/46 "2004-07-22T10:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > And my right wing credentials aren’t much in doubt here. Would you choose to call yourseld a member of the “_extreme_ Right”? I said nothing about Republicans, Conservatives, or anyone else to the Right of Bill Clinton except for those on the _extreme_ end of that spectrum. I have very clear memories of some fairly nasty personal attacks on the wife of each Democratic presidential candidate (save Mrs. Mondale) going all the way back to Mrs. Carter. These attacks were not (normally) mounted by the RNC, but they were certainly embraced and promulgated by members on the far end of the Right’s wing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/47 "2004-07-22T12:33:05Z")
Noted, But I have to ask, Tom, if you want to be considered part of the extreme Left. Because you certainly got a nice dig at Nancy Reagan in, there. > [@tomndebb](#): > > Are the extreme Right loonies that frightened of women who do not have their astrologers set their husbands’ schedules? I have some sauce. Are you the gander? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/48 "2004-07-22T14:41:23Z")
Gee, the right wing is foaming at the mouth about a woman who until last year was a registered Republican. How is this bad for them? To me, it means that the potential First Lady is probably fairly moderate and middle of the road - possibly even still a Republican at heart herself who dropped party affliation so her husband would be electable. That one of the potential president’s closest unofficial advisors will be a woman who isn’t to the left of him. I can see the Liberal dems having more of an issue with Mrs. Kerry than the right should - but I guess they are just trying to spin to win the election, not taking comfort in the silver lining. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/49 "2004-07-22T15:12:45Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > What, so you were trying to provoke people into making Nazi comparisons so you could beat them over the head with it? That’s a bit lame, don’t you think? Did it bother you so much that the article was bollocks? No. Some background: Several people on these boards decided that Michael Moore was more than just an editorialist with a point of view, but rather that he was a propagandist, the next Leni Riefenstahl. I was amused, given not only the Godwinisms but also the term propagandist, which, while arguably useful, could have been used for any editorialist that plays fast and loose with the truth. I’m just waiting to see this new spirit of openess and frankness applied to right wing “propagandists” as evenly and as eagerly as left wing ones. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/50 "2004-07-22T15:29:42Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Gee, the right wing is foaming at the mouth about a woman who until last year was a registered Republican. How is this bad for them? To me, it means that the potential First Lady is probably fairly moderate and middle of the road - possibly even still a Republican at heart herself who dropped party affliation so her husband would be electable. That one of the potential president’s closest unofficial advisors will be a woman who isn’t to the left of him. > > I can see the Liberal dems having more of an issue with Mrs. Kerry than the right should - but I guess they are just trying to spin to win the election, not taking comfort in the silver lining. **Dangerosa** , I defended Mrs. Kerry because she deserved defending. But I have no illusions about her politics. She’s quite liberal. She was much more liberal than her first husband, a fact that was pretty widely known at the time. I’m from Pittsburgh, and was active in Republican party politics there, so I can tell you this firsthand. However, I’m not voting for her, so she’s not an issue in this race. I can find plenty of things about John Kerry to vote against without bringing her into the mix. Besides which, she’s been, in general, a woman of charity and decency for many years. I do not know Mrs. Kerry personally. But I respect her. And I had a great amount of respect and affection for her first husband, and served as an usher at his funeral. I’m not going to disrespect his memory by taking potshots at his widow unless she really earns them. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/51 "2004-07-22T18:50:25Z")
She is quite liberal in comparision to her first husband, how does she stand next to Mr. Kerry? Liberal compared to Rush Limbaugh or liberal compared to the late Senator Wellstone? Liberal in Christine Todd Whitman or liberal like Hillary Clinton? You sound like you might have some insight into her political philosophy - what I’m extrapolating is that she is liberal for a Republican, conservative for a Democrat. It was widely believed that Barbara Bush softened her husbands conservatism and was much more liberal than her husband - but no one is under the impression that she was a Socialist. Likewise, I’m not claiming Mrs. Kerry could go toe to toe on conservatism with Newt Gingrich. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209/52 "2004-07-22T21:53:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Because you certainly got a nice dig at Nancy Reagan in, there. Unlike Rosalynn Carter, of whom several of my farther Right acquaintances direly warned me that she was a “typical” “Southern bitch” whose pleasant demeanor was a facade for the “iron fisted” creature who was going to “rule” the U.S. through her husband, I never heard criticism of Nancy Reagan in either 1976 or 1980. On the other hand, _after_ Mr. Reagan was elected, Mrs. Reagan quite publicly involved herself in the management of the president’s staff, openly fighting with Don Regan and others. It later came to light that she had manipulated the president’s schedule based on the “readings” of her astrologer. I would say that she has earned any shots fired her way on those topics, which had nothing to do with an attack on her person prior to her becoming First Lady. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accusations-flying-about-re-mrs-kerry/256209.md?page=2)