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Andrea Mitchell, The Other Liberal Media
Bigot
The preening liberal media loves to fancy itself an
elite bunch, the epitome of correct thinking, good
intention, and unassailable virtue. That
comfortable notion took a broadside earlier this
week when it became known that liberal icon Helen
Thomas had remarked Jews should “get the hell
out of Palestine” and “go home” to
Germany or Poland.
It should be noted that Thomas was well-known
for her anti-Israeli views, often peppering
administration officials with long-winded questions
that came across as pro-Palestinian tirades.
But Helen Thomas isn’t the only female
journalist who recently indulged in bald
stereotypes.
Last Thursday journalist Andrea Mitchell
channeled her inner psychologist, pontificating on
the causes of American wars. And Mitchell came to
the conclusion that war, for all its complexity,
its ebbs and flows, its bravery and tragedy, could
be boiled down to a single word:
“testosterone.”
The context was an Andrea Mitchell Reports
interview with historian Evan Thomas about his
recent book, The War Lovers. Casting aside
historical nuance, this is what Ms. Mitchell had to
say (the full interview can be seen here: newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2010/06/03/nbcs-mitchell-what-it-about-testosterone-gets-us-war#ixzz0qFbIJf9x
 ):
“And it is men -- not to be too gender
specific here -- but there, there is a male factor
here… I've we seen it in our own recent
history. What is it about testosterone that gets us
into war?”
Thomas countered such generalizations may miss
the mark, describing Elizabeth I, Margaret
Thatcher, Golda Meir as “pretty tough women
out there fighting.”
But Andrea had her mind made up, wrapping up the
discussion with more male-bashing innuendo:
“I'll let the readers…draw their own
conclusions about men in our recent history and
their role in getting us into wars.”
For us hoi-polloi who want to draw our own
conclusions, there is no better place to start than
political scientist Joshua Goldstein’s
thoughtful analysis, War and Gender.
Goldstein documents how in the Revolutionary
War, pro-secession women withheld their sexual
favors from reluctant freedom fighters. During the
Civil War, Southern belles refused to accept
suitors who did not take up arms. In World War I,
British women organized the White Feather campaign,
calculated to shame able-bodied men into
uniform.
And three days after the 9/11 attacks, an
Authorization to Use Military Force was brought
before Congress. All but one female member of
Congress voted to authorize to "use all necessary
and appropriate force" to wage war on terror.
Goldstein also explains, "since mothers control
child care, they could change gender norms,
training girls to be aggressive and boys to be
passive. But in fact mothers worldwide generally
reward boys for being tough and girls for being
nice."
Based on his exhaustive analysis, Goldstein
reaches this tart conclusion: “Most women
support most wars.” Ms. Mitchell, is it
possible that women also suffer from
testosterone-poisoning?
During an appearance on MSNBC on June 5, 2008,
Andrea Mitchell referred to the voters of the
southwest Virginia region as “rednecks.”
She later apologized for that.
Nearly a week after her intemperate remarks,
half the American population is awaiting a similar
apology. In the meantime, here’s where you can
make your complaint: mediainquiries@msnbc.com
* * *
Carey
Roberts probes and lampoons political correctness.
His work has been published frequently in the
Washington Times, Townhall.com, LewRockwell.com,
ifeminists.net, Intellectual Conservative, and
elsewhere. He is a staff reporter for the New Media
Network. You can contact him at E-Mail
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