I looked at the picture, thought, “Looks like a nice group of bloggers”, then looked again, and thought, “Oooh, who’s that hottie?”, right there at ya, Jessica.

But not ONCE did I think you were posing or thought even less of you! My next thought was, “Oooh, Jessica of Feministing is a hottie. KEWL.”

OMG this brings us to a verry important conclusion:

A woman can be:

1. A hottie
2. Smart
3. A heckuva blogger
and 4. a kick-ass feminist to boot.

Gosh, who knew?

I began to wonder if Professor Althouse and Dr. Smith weren’t engaging in a little cyberbullying.

Poor Ann Althouse! Jessica Valenti looked discernibly female in a blogger group photo with Bill Clinton, and Ann is aghast, appalled, and dismayed! Ann deserves a limerick, don’t you think?

OMG, breasts!

:D

You know, I’m not his biggest fan these days either (for reasons mostly unrelated to MonicaGate), but I honestly wouldn’t even go that far: it’s not a terrifically valid or at least interesting question, no, in my book. it’s perfectly obvious what she’s doing there; he’s an EX-PRESIDENT. It’s an honor, for fuckssake. Yah, I think Clinton’s at minimum behaved in rather irresponsible ways, and no, at the end of the day i don’t know how much veracity there is to the other harassment stories–and once again having to reiterate that consensual adultery, even with a young intern, =! “harassment.” Not a really swell or ethical idea on many levels, sure, and that goes triple for his weaselling and leaving her hanging out to dry when the flying monkeys came; but of course the REALLY disgusting part came from the flying monkeys themselves…

But I mean, really: what really sucks (pun probably intended) about the residual odor from that whole TIRED goddam mess is that even among people who pretty much know better, the general aura of “Clinton=perv, somehow more sinister or at least beyond the pale than any other goddam politician.” The flying monkeys really did a good job, here. And it’s the same exact fucking thing they’d like to happen with Jessica: fling enough shit and some will stick.

Which is why there simply cannot be enough piling on for this odious behavior. Take it right back to the place where you got it; you cain’t leave a bit of it in here. And THEN some.

so, back to Clinton and rightness of a feminist meeting with him: irrelevant. Even if you -do- think the worst of his behavior in office. Listen, I wouldn’t have faulted her for going to lunch with GHWH Bush, either; or any other current or former President, none of whom perhaps exempting Jimmy Carter is/was exactly a saint. (current Fearless Leader/sonny boy, I would probably make an exception, but you know it’s cuz i feel REALLY strongly that he is in fact the Debbil; others’ mileage may vary on even that, and i -might- have trouble really arguing with them for something like this) This is what people do. You don’t have to be ideologically or ethically married to the guy to accept that it is an honor and, well, accept.

Who knew?