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June 07, 2005
Geezerhood sisterhood?
There's no question that right now Watergate appears to be a gigantic orgy for the geezers of Watergate, of little if any relevance to the affairs of today. Much as I hesitate to weigh in for or against age as a criterion for determining what is or what is not of historical importance, because of my background of having been steeped in political correctness, I'm now wondering about "ageism." And I'm wondering about why there doesn't seem to be a feminine term for "geezer." (The word seems only appplicable to old men.) But if there are feminine geezers, might there be such a thing as a "Watergate geezeress"? If so, who might qualify for such a title? Might they be found among the ranks of the people described by Megan McArdle? Baby boomers, many of whom seem to have trouble accepting the fact that time has passed, often seem incredulous that the major formulating events of their lives simply aren't that interesting to everyone else. Vietnam and Watergate have become the language of public debate, even though both ended over thirty years ago.She's absolutely right. Why should geezer language continue to dominate public debate? Shouldn't non-geezers be heard from? While I disagree with Ben Shapiro on many, many things (the links here will give some idea of what), at least he is young enough not to be a geezer. And he seems smart enough to know a geezeress when he sees one: Hillary Clinton cut her teeth on the Watergate scandal. As a counsel for the House Judiciary Committee impeachment inquiry staff, she made it her mission to topple President Nixon. Hillary helped drafted a document that would provide the legal basis for three articles of impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee's former chief counsel, Jerome Zeifman, later revealed that the Hillary-penned document changed the existing impeachment protocols in order to burn Nixon. According to Clinton biographer David Maraniss, Hillary believed Nixon was "evil."Is Senator Clinton destined to become the geezeress in chief? I say yes. Will at WILLisms.com says no. He also doesn't think Deep Throat should be considered more important than the Darfur massacres. (Will, I can remember when Deep Throat was more important than slaughters in Vietnam and Cambodia, so I guess the character has kept a certain lurid hold on the geezer generation's collective imagination.) But Darfur and Deep Throat aside, the important news yesterday included the Watergate geezeress's claim that she can't sleep: "I stay awake at night thinking about all the mistakes and the wrong direction and all the bad decisions being made in Washington," Clinton said at the fund-raiser. "It's very hard to stop people who have no shame about what they're doing. It's very hard to stop people who have never been acquainted with the truth.I stay awake at night too, not because of mistakes in Washington (after all, such mistakes never cease -- something I think Senator Clinton knows full well). Rather, my ailing dog keeps me awake, and I have to tend to him at all hours. Call me a cynical geezer, but I just suspect that Hillary isn't losing as much sleep as she claims. I agree, however, with Senator Clinton's contention that "it is very hard to stop people who have never been acquainted with the truth." But I don't think that shaming one's opponents as liars is the best way to persuade anyone. Furthermore, I would have thought anyone who was famously called a "congenital liar" in the past would be a little more circumspect. Especially if she's trying to win over middle America. Yeah, I know. It was William Safire who called her a congenital liar. And he's such an old geezer he isn't even writing his column anymore. But non-geezer Ben Shapiro is, and unless he's changed his mind since 2003, he doesn't seem to think that Hillary Clinton is, um "acquainted with the truth." Instead, he thinks she's vintage Watergate: But finally, Hillary has hit her Watergate. Her new book, Living History, is a cover-up in purely Nixonian fashion. She says that the purpose of Whitewater was merely "to discredit the president and the administration and slow down its momentum … (Whitewater was) investigation as a weapon for political destruction."Geez. Geezer. Geezeress! It may be time to get over Watergate. MORE: In today's news, the aforesaid geezeress raised concerns about global warming: "We are living in a time when the other side doesn't want us to see the facts. Facts are inconvenient _ facts about global warming, facts about mercury in the air, facts about people staying unemployed longer,"I think some of my commenters are writing her speeches. posted by Eric on 06.07.05 at 11:15 AM
Comments
not to tangle pointing fingers, but to be called a liar by liars is no insult. the reason we're pre-occupied with watergate and vietnam is that until the bush administration, nothing else as horrible had happened to our country. and we haven't figured out the right way to talk about 9/11 and iraq yet. Jami · June 7, 2005 02:08 PM "why there doesn't seem to be a feminine term for "geezer." " Perhaps crone is the word you seek. back40 · June 7, 2005 07:28 PM Maybe Old Prune, Old Biddy, or Been Had Has been?... Zsa Zsa · June 11, 2005 10:44 PM |
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"....I think some of my commenters are writing her speeches...."
Not this commenter. I would have had her say something about the fluoride in the water, the metric system, the Godless Communists sapping and impurifying all of our precious bodily fluids.