Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1:13 PM
To: 'today@nbc.com'
Subject: Gender Bias Discussion on Today 5/20/2008
Dear Today Show,
I was disappointed this morning while watching the discussion on gender bias in the Democratic Party Nomination race featuring Rachel Maddow and Geraldine Ferraro. In fact, I was furious and affected enough to actually write in about it.
You had one of the most insightful and thought provoking political commentators on set in Ms. Maddow. I was looking forward to hearing her views on the subject, yet you let the airtime be consumed by the hate-speech of Ms. Ferraro instead of allowing for an intelligent conversation on the topic. Ferraro hogged the spotlight and spewed her venom about Hillary Clinton's inevitable loss to Barack Obama while she blamed everybody for the loss except the people responsible, including herself.
Mr. Obama would be winning this nomination whether he was black, white or yellow and whether he was male, female or neuter. He is winning because he has an as-yet unspoiled and uncompromised view of this nation and its people, because he ran a thorough and well planned campaign, because he refused to take cheap shots at his opponents, and because he is an inspired and inspiring leader. Mrs. Clinton is losing because she ran a poorly planned and ill-advised campaign, she tried to use vicious attacks on her opponents' integrity to turn the tide in her favor, she appealed to the baser instincts of the electorate by insinuating race and gender into the nomination process when it appeared she was losing on the issues and in the hearts and minds of the public, and because she tried to ride her husband's coat-tails into the White House instead of taking the helm herself. She would be losing if she were black or white, male or female, Christian or Pagan, rich or poor.
I suppose I will have to get Rachel Maddow's take on the topic, and the "interview" this morning, from her own radio show/pod cast, since I could not hear her comments over the sour and shrill tirade of the bigot to her right on the couch this morning.
In the future, if you are going to try to appear balanced and fair on the issues we the people so desperately need to have intelligently discussed in the media, I suggest you give equal time to the polite and reasonable guests on your set and tell the impolite and irrational ones to take their turn or simply shut the hell up!
Sincerely,
Gerard Coleman
If I hear any more whining about Hillary being the victim of sexism while she discusses Barack's "electability" (code for "But he's black!"), I will barf all over her shoes the next time she makes an appearance in Albany.
