Quote of the Day:

First of all, when we look at the abundance of candidates who have put themselves forward on the GOP side, compared to the complete paralysis of the Democratic party by the Clinton machine, I think you have to be worried about the future of the Democratic party. Young feminists are asking why there hasn’t been a woman president and automatically blaming it on male sexism.  But there are plenty of women Democratic politicians who are too scared to put themselves forward as candidates because of the Clinton machine. There’s something seriously wrong here with Democratic thinking. You either believe in the country, you believe in your party, or you don’t!

–Camille Paglia in an interview with Salon

The Paglia interview, second part out today, is one of two pieces this morning that cause one to think the previously unthinkable:  Is it becoming just possible that Hillary Clinton will not be the Democratic nominee?

The other piece is "Hillary Clinton Must Be Joking," by A. B. Stoddard of the Hill, which argues that Mrs. Clinton's brilliant strategists have turrned the Clinton campaign into a late night comedy punch line. 

Stoddard raps Clinton for refusing to answer a perfectly reasonable question on the Keystone Pipeline XL (“If it’s undecided when I become president, I will answer your question,” she said) but really nails it on incredibly stupid stylistic (or should I say stylist) gaffes:

Last Friday, Clinton flew to Bergdorf Goodman in New York, where the stylist at the salon gives $600 haircuts. The department store was locked down for her. Surely you’re in stitches now. 

Voters are well aware that hairstylists serve the elite in the privacy of their own campaign hotel rooms and that there is no sane reason to shut down a posh department store in Manhattan, with an entourage no doubt involving taxpayer-funded Secret Service personnel, for such an extravagance. It’s nothing short of hilarious.

So Clinton has let voters know that she pays far more for one haircut than most Americans will for 20 haircuts, that she truly prefers riding on private jets and that she gets to decide which of her work emails are government property. It all says a lot about how she would govern, so it’s good to know.

Paglia lets it rip on the GOP (Ted Cruz gives her "the willies"), but I think her most perspicacious comments are on the sparsely populated Democratic field and on women in politics:

Given the problems facing the nation, this passive waiting for your turn is simply unacceptable.  The Democrats have plenty of solid, capable women politicians who are just too timid to challenge the party establishment.  Well, excuse me, that proves they don’t deserve to be president!  You sure won’t be able to deal with ISIS if you can’t deal with Debbie Wasserman Schultz!  The paucity of declared Democratic presidential candidates is a major embarrassment to the party.  Look at that herd of eager-beaver competitive guys on the Republican side–overflowing with energy and ambition.

There’s even a woman, Carly Fiorina, who has no political experience and therefore no chance of winning, but she is bravely putting herself forward and speaking out.  And she has impressively informed herself about international politics, which is a No. 1 requirement for any woman presidential candidate. I said in a recent op-ed for Time that women must take responsibility for mastering more than the usual social welfare issues. Women politicians have to develop themselves beyond the caretaking side of the spectrum.

All this talk about the lack of women engineers and how that’s somehow evidence of sexism–oh, really?  It’s mostly a self-selecting process, as proved by the way that the overwhelming majority of women politicians around the world actually behave. What do they instantly gravitate towards?  Social welfare, caretaking, the environment.  They ignore military history and strategic geopolitics.

Whatever ultimately  happens to the Fiorina campaign, she is redefining feminism and reminding women that there is an alternative to the Democratic program of caretaking.

Fiorina is no joke.