Hillary Clinton, duck hunter? Kinda sounds like John Kerry, windsurfer or Michael Dukakis, tank commander. Though to Kerry's credit, he really is a windsurfer, and apparently a pretty darn good one. Doesn't matter. Being photographed in a tight wetsuit was enough for the GOP to paint the genuine war hero as an effete nancy-pants, while former Andover cheerleader and draft-dodger George W. Bush got the press to burnish his codpiece by playing dress-up in a flight suit.
Such is the state of American politics, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising industry (which also owns the media). Image is everything, and when Clinton saw an opportunity to paint Obama as a snob, she and her surrogates pounced like a pack of Taylor Marsh glama-shot photographer agents.
It may come back to bite her on the ass if she's not careful. The image of the former First Lady as a mighty duck-slayer is as incongruous as Mike Dukakis in command of a tank. Here's Clinton in full-on pander mode:Hillary Clinton further seized on the opening provided by Barack
Obama's "bitter" remarks, telling a crowd in Indiana that she herself is
no stranger to guns.
"You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather
built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught be how
to shoot when I was a little girl," said Clinton.
"You know, some people now continue to teach their children and their
grandchildren. It's part of culture. It's part of a way of life. People enjoy
hunting and shooting because it's an important part of who they are. Not because
they are bitter."
She later added, however, that she is not herself an expert with
firearms: "As I told you, my dad taught me how to shoot behind our cottage. I
have gone hunting. I am not a hunter. But I have gone hunting."
I didn't hear the audio, but it wouldn't surprise me if she channeled Mudcat and spoke in an affected drawl. I mean, a hick's a hick, right? Clinton might get away with such a silly remark in the age of imagery since the spoken word is no longer king. With Mr. Penn on the sidelines and no longer imparting Rovian bits of wisdom, Senator Clinton has not yet rushed out to be photographed standing over her kill cradling a shotgun. Or has she? Hmmmm.
That's no way to win the PETA vote, Senator. And it may just be a pander too far...
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