Hillary, Redux

This afternoon while driving-- okay, let's digress for a moment, shall we?

Driving and driving and then driving a bit more. Starting at 2:00 I go from work to; home (one quick hour of grading and I am nearly comatose which starts with C as in community college); pick up kids at school; drop off Merrick at new friend's house (this means parents could be running meth lab in basement but since I don't actually know them, ignorance is bliss); go to Red Balloon Bookstore with older two children; eat (what turns out to be dinner) at Bread and Chocolate (on the food pyramid or I will pull this trigger); head to evil conglomerate to find books unavailable at previously visited independently owned book store (only to be disappointed again, requiring that I buy three previously owned-now-lost Virginia Woolf books as salve); home, to discover Scarlett is "starving" despite gigantic cinnamon roll recently consumed, so we inject -- I mean, give her more carbs and sugar; to the Guthrie, only to discover that the child supervisor (who just landed plum Guthrie gig) is officially more successful than I am even though I have a 20 year head-start; to strangers' house to retrieve Merrick; home to check email (I mean blog), and later to head back to the Guthrie at an hour in which I should be mildly intoxicated.

Anyway.

While doing THAT I was of course listening to NPR instead of communing with children and I heard this very thoughtful, well-rounded -- diplomatic, even- -- piece on how Hillary Clinton has (or maybe hasn't; it was that balanced) changed since her stern and uncompromising stint as First Lady. Lots of important men in the know were interviewed. Funny, how they were all men and the words "strident" and "rigid" kept popping up, in the analytical sense, of course: "other people say."

Stop it!!

Anyway.

So these guys leave us with the impression that Hillary has become more diplomatic. The rigid bitch has morphed into the masterful politician, mastered the art of the compromise and all that.

Remember last week when she was unable to convey what she thought of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants? She said a little yes, a little no, a playful yes, a friendly no. Pundits and politicians are still wiping the juice of their lips.

But the guys on the radio reminded us of how really awful the old Hillary was. As First Lady, she didn't play well with others , not at all. She was always the boss! She had this annoying habit of thinking she was right.

When President Clinton said on national TV that he might accept something less than the health care plan she was devising, she (that rigid, uncompromising bitch) immediately called her hubbie, demanded his public retraction and apology. Which she got.

This can be viewed as: A) asking your spouse to stand up for you B) standing up for yourself or C) as shrew-like control.

If you picked C you get to be an NPR commentator!

Do I even need to say it? Oh MY GOD. Bring back the uncompromising bitch. Shove some chocolate chip cookie dough down a throat or two. PLEASE.