Back in August, I said that "Clinton is too smart to blow a [double-digit] lead that big with her own gaffe." I gave her too much credit, as she has emerged as a sock puppeteer. Here's the Wikipedia definition, with minor editing: A sockpuppet is an identity used for purposes of deception within a community. In its earliest usage, a sockpuppet was a false identity through which a member of a community speaks while pretending not to, like a puppeteer manipulating a hand puppet.The key difference between a sockpuppet and a regular pseudonym is the pretence that the puppet is a third party who is not affiliated with the puppeteer. In this case, a young woman's sincere question was not adequate. Instead, Hillary stuck her hand up the woman's body and uttered the question for which Hillary was prepared.A senior Clinton staffer asked if she'd like to ask the senator a question after an energy speech the Democratic presidential hopeful gave in Newton, Iowa, on November 6."I sort of thought about it, and I said 'Yeah, can I ask how her energy plan compares to the other candidates' energy plans?'" Gallo-Chasanoff said. "'I don't think that's a good idea," the staffer said, according to Gallo-Chasanoff, "because I don't know how familiar she is with their plans." He then opened a binder to a page that, according to Gallo-Chasanoff, had about eight questions on it. "The top one was planned specifically for a college student," she added. " It said 'college student' in brackets and then the question." Topping that sheet of paper was the following: "As a young person, I'm worried about the long-term effects of global warming. How does your plan combat climate change?" And while she said she would have rather used her own question, Gallo-Chasanoff said she generally didn't have a problem asking the campaign's because she "likes to be agreeable," adding that since she told the staffer she'd ask their pre-typed question she "didn't want to go back on [her] word." So much for supporting a woman's right to free speech.Hillary is weak. She can't handle anything but easy, pre-selected questions from anyone. Any variation from the script is not a "good idea," whether it's Tim Russert or 19-year-old Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff. We like need our presidents to be strong. "Don't hit me, I'm a girl" is not a winning campaign strategy, and she's an idiot to try this stuff. The Democratic nomination is again up for grabs. ETC: Yep - she's toast. This is gaining momentum.  This would never be said about a man. There is no way feminists will support her now, unless she puts this firmly and finally to bed, and quickly. And frankly, I don't think she's up to it. Which is a shame. Women deserve a better representative than Hillary. MORE ETC: And noted feminist Camille Paglia weighs in... Hillary's stonewalling evasions and mercurial, soulless self-positionings have been going on since her first run for the U.S. Senate from New York, a state she had never lived in and knew virtually nothing about. The liberal Northeastern media were criminally complicit in enabling her queenlike, content-free "listening tour," where she took no hard questions and where her staff and security people (including her government-supplied Secret Service detail) staged events stocked with vetted sympathizers, and where they ensured that no protesters would ever come within camera range. That compulsive micromanagement, ultimately emanating from Hillary herself, has come back to haunt her in her dismaying inability to field complex unscripted questions in a public forum. The presidential sweepstakes are too harsh an arena for tenderfoot novices. Hillary's much-vaunted "experience" has evidently not extended to the dynamic give-and-take of authentic debate. The mild challenges she has faced would be pitiful indeed by British standards, which favor a caustic style of witty put-downs that draw applause and gales of laughter in the House of Commons. Women had better toughen up if they aspire to be commander in chief. She titles the piece "Queen Hillary's disruptive court" and then subtitles it: "The press corps finally wakes up to her waffling and evasions."And hopefully, America too. | 
