I knew Teresa Heinz Kerry inherited millions from her deceased husband, but was raised without a lot of money. For some reason I thought Laura probably came from some money, but I never realized that she is a multi-millionaire in her own right. I can’t figure out why people are down on Kerry and call her a rich bitch; she at least works for her deceased husband’s trust. Why do they think Laura Bush is such a middle-class, middle-aged goodie two-shoes. Is it because she looks like a dowager and shops (or did in Texas) at Wal-Mart?
It’s because Theresa Heinz is a strong, independent woman in her own right, and our society is still stuck in the old “smile, be submissive and demure” mode. It’s not right, but sadly, we still have a ways to go.
Here in Pittsburgh, though, Heinz Kerry is pretty damn popular.
I think Guinastasia nailed it. Plus, she just acts like she’s rich and better than us. I mean, she speaks like, 5 languages! How pretentious! :rolleyes:
Seriously, I’d imagine that if she were the first lady, certain Kerry opponents (and conservative talk show hosts) would go after her in the exact same way they went after Hillary. They’re very different women, but it all boils down to the threat that strong (read: “ball-busting bitch”), confident/opinionated (read: “not demure and ladylike/pushy”), intelligent (read: “too smart for her own good/doesn’t know her place”) women still are to some people. Actually, I’m already hearing these types of comments. Sad, really, but unfortunately not unexpected.
Laura just comes across as a nice housewife. Nothing wrong with that, and that doesn’t have anything to do with money. While being a housewife may be anathema to the Left (if she isn’t a hairy-legged screaming feminist, she must be a Stepford wife-like toolbag?), Laura is quite well thought of by America.
You can attribute that to various chauvinist attitudes if it makes you feel better, but don’t forget: The image of the traditional family is not a thing of horror and disgust to most Americans.
No, it’s because she’s nuts. There is ‘stong and independent’ (see Amelia Earhart for a more-famous example), and then there is Tah-Rhay-Zah ‘Just call me Momma-T Shut-your-mouth’ Heinz Kerry.
Brutus, I’m sorry, but that’s simply not true.
My father made the observation too that she’s from Pittsburgh, and we’ve had our fair share of strong, opinionated women over the years.
Who calls her a rich bitch? She certainly is rich, but do you have a cite about the bitch part? I suppose there are some right wing bloggers who might call her that, but if so, what’s your point? You can find a blogger somewhere who says just about anything. You wouldn’t be errecting a strawman now, would you? 
Again, let’s see a cite for what you’re talking about. Laura taught school, but who are “they” who make the other claims? You wouldn’t be errecting yet another strawman now, would you?
Teh-Rhay-Zah is from Mozambique, not Pittsburgh. And she is nuts and opinionated, not strong. But since you seem to think that Teh-Rhay-Zah is strong and opinionated, how about some cites for each purported virtue? I have heard nothing but nutty ‘Call me Momma T’ sorts of crap from her. Perhaps I will ‘shut up!’ or ‘shove it!’ if you could whip out a cite or two?
Oh, heaven forbid someone tell someone else to shove it. :rolleyes: It’s not like she told a senator to go f*** himself.
How about some cites for this:
I’m asking because I really want to know. I hear this all the time, but I never hear about the reason people hold that opinion.
What is this? Mocking an accent or something?
Why do conservatives think it’s the height of hilarity to mock the pronunciation of her name? I don’t get the joke. Will someone explain it to me?
For Brutus, that’s the height of wit. :rolleyes:
Guinastasia got it in one; the only reason anyone (read: right-wing opinionated spinmeisters) gives Mrs. Kerry a hard time is because she’s a Democrat who doesn’t want to be a doormat or a Stepford Wife. If Mrs. kerry was still a registered Republican – and married to a Republican candidate – you wouldn’t hear one peep against her from her critics.
Actually, the traditional family doesn’t have a mama that’s a millionaire or a daddy that’s the President. But I like Laura Bush just fine. The feminist movement never said that every one has to be out of the same mold. It was the movement that gained more appreciation for the value of the hard work that stay-at-home mothers and homemakers do.
But the evidence that Heinz Kerry is nuts or lacking in strength is laughable. Heinz Kerry…
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Was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism, for her work protecting the environment, promoting health care and education and uplifting women and children throughout the world.
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Was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.
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Was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as part of a State Department delegation representing U.S. non-governmental organizations to an Earth Summit in Rio de Janerio.
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Established the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement in 1996 to educate women about pensions, savings, and retirement security.
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Chairs the Heinz Endowment and the Heniz Family Philanthropies.
Of course, there’s more at www.johnkerry.com
Opinionated? Maybe. (We should all be so lucky as to have such sound opinions. They certainly seem to work for her!) Of course with President Bush, that quality is called steadfastness by Republicans.
Nuts? Uh…no. I’m nuts. I recognize it quickly in others. She is a very centered and emotionally balanced woman. Strong in the same way that Margaret Thatcher was strong. (I wasn’t a fan of Mrs. Thatcher, but I admired her ability to get things done.)
So, like, it’s a negative trait to be a millionaire?
I guess I’d better dump my investments before it’s too late and someone calls me a “rich bitch.”
(I think we’re pretty close, now…)
She flipped out minutes after delivering an impassioned plea to restore a more civil tone to our politics. Not to mention, she denied ever having said something she said just moments before.
The Momma-T bit doesn’t do it for you? The aforementioned shove-it bit right after asking people to be more civil doesn’t strike you as goofy? The odd-ass 60’s-style feminist line she delivered at the DNC? How about the ‘Only an idiot wouldn’t like this’ comment?
Zoe, thanks for reminding me about Thatcher. The Iron Bitch is a shining example of a strong woman; THK is a shining example of woman that probably should be saying a lot less while her husband is trying to get elected.
Geez, politics knows no bounds in an election year, does it?
I’m a yellow dog Democrat, and I don’t have anything against Laura Bush.
Teresa Heinz Kerry can do what she damn well pleases, and some folks don’t like that.
Attacks on the wives says more about the attackers than the wives.
Ripping into someone who’s born rich or marries rich is ridiculous. Who can help the way they got their money? It’s just like going after the poor: their finances are incidental, and there’s nothing they can do about that, either. And as someone who’d like to be rich one day: back off! Or perhaps I should say shove it!
I see no reason to tear into Laura Bush just because she’s from a rich family. Same thing about Teresa Heinz-Kerry: just because she married into a rich Republican family is no reason to tear into her, either. But I do find Teresa Kerry to be a much more interesting person than Laura Bush, and I have no doubt she’s been much more of an asset to Kerry on the campaign trail than Laura has for her husband, and that she’ll be much more of an asset as a first lady than Laura has been. I have a feeling that Teresa will continue to spend more time working with her foundations than she will spend working with her husband on his career, but a woman like that could serve a president well as the extra spice that the White House often seems to be short of. If Teresa Heinz-Kerry gets to be first lady, she’ll be up there in the same class as Betty Ford, who was another class act. Still is, in fact.
I never have understood the Tah-Rhay-Zah crap. Conservatives often lash out at non-WASP names. Not all conservatives; I mean, my mother is a conservative WASP but married my Catholic father who has a funny-sounding Polish last name which I also have, so I know from annoyance with xenophobes who seem to be annoyed with foreign elements. Rush Limbaugh does this, too—or at least he used to. He used to pronounce Mario Cuomo’s name as Cumo, which doesn’t even approach cleverness and just makes Limbaugh sound like the stupid lout that he is. I mean, when Limbaugh called Paul Wellstone Senator Welfare, I have to say that wasn’t the same sort of derogatory hate speech. I certainly disagree with Limbaugh’s oversimplification of Senator Wellstone and what he stood for, but I can’t say Limbaugh crossed any ethical lines with that taunt.
Guinastasia—I’m not from Pittsburgh, exactly, but am originally from the Shenango Valley, which is about seventy miles up I-79, in case you didn’t know. Though I moved out of the area eight years ago, I still identify with western Pennsylvania, still prefer Heinz products over any similar brand, and adore Teresa Heinz-Kerry. (Of course, I’ve been getting into all things Portuguese over the last couple of years, so that helps.) I’d say that Pittsburgh women are more attuned to Teresa Heinz-Kerry’s type than Laura Bush’s.
I’m not sure I get it either, but I sense that it’s to emphasize the fact that she’s foreign born. Get it:… foreign born…Kerry…French…UN…Global Test…etc
I like THK, but she **has **said some pretty stupid things for a woman who’s supposed to be helping her husband. The two women are very different, but I see no reason to mock either one of them. They come from very different backgrounds and deal with things in their own way. BFD.
You wouldn’t hear a peep from Republicans…but I’m guessing we’d hear a peep from her DEMOCRAT critics, ehe rjung? I’m guessing that the roles would be reversed here as to who thought she was ‘strong’ and who thought she was a ‘rich bitch’…and I’m guessing that the fact that she is ‘rich’ would be a MAJOR bust from the liberals, who would have endless fun mocking her for BEING rich. Just a guess mind you. I’m guessing also that if Laura was married to Kerry we’d be hearing all about how supportive she was, how she came from middle class stock, was a teacher, blah blah blah.
Gods know. Why do some liberals think its the height of hilarity to call GW ‘shrub’ or ‘monkey man’ or any of dozens of other mocking names?? Partisan politics is so strange, no?
I don’t like her myself because she has a major attitude and has moved into Kerry’s campaign like a bull in a china shop. However I see no reason to mock either…neither of them is running for president after all. But then, I see no reason to mock either Kerry or Bush either and they ARE running for president. This is, however, what our system has devolved too.
-XT
I have nothing against Laura Bush. There’s no law that says because she’s married to the president, that she has to be the Uber Woman. If she wants to be active politically, that’s fine. If not, well, that’s fine too.
As for Heinz Kerry, I see no difference between her actions and those of Barbara Bush, who was at times loud, outspoken and blunt. THK tells a reporter to “shove it”, Bush once called VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro “a word that rhymes with rich.” (She later tried to claim it was “witch”, but I don’t think anyone was fooled).
The idea that she’s “nuts” is absurd. It’s not like she doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to be married to a politician, either.
I’m sure that the late Sen. Heinz is rolling over in his grave to hear former colleagues of his (he was a Republican, if you’ll recall) tear his wife to shreds like this.