Deborah Tannen’s USA Today column on the word “bossy” reaches new levels of boneheaded bossiness.
What do Sonia Sotomayor, Hillary Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg share with innumerable other prominent women?
Incompetence? No? Well, actually, that’s not fair to Sotomayor and Sandberg. Clinton, on the other hand, left four people in her charge unprotected in Libya. They were killed, and then Clinton lied about why they died. And she’s the genius who “reset” relations with Putin after he invaded Georgia. Now he’s invaded Ukraine. Anyway.
They’ve all been called bossy.
And…? Since when is “bossy” the worst thing that someone can be called? Leftists call conservatives all kinds of awful names every single day. Where’s the bossy campaign to boss them out of doing that?
The question about the three people Tannen cites should not be what other people called them once or twice. Who cares about that? It should be, Are they good leaders who know how to inspire and get the best from their subordinates? Or are they secretive, deceitful, domineering and vindictive? That’s not a gender-specific question. It’s just a question of how they as individuals behave. I know nothing at all about Sotomayor and Sandberg’s conduct, but Hillary Clinton’s treatment of subordinates in the White House and on her campaigns has long been notorious. Again, that’s not gender-specific. The criticisms of Hillary’s leadership style consistently note that she elevates those who are personally loyal to her rather than those who are competent, and that she is a serious cover-up specialist. Her honesty has been an issue since she was fired from the Watergate investigation. From the “bimbo eruptions” of her husband’s White House to Benghazi, Hillary Clinton is widely regarded as a dishonest web-weaving pol who hides her true agenda uses her power to punish those who are less powerful than she is. That isn’t bossy per se, it’s just terrible. Similar behavior pops up in Barack Obama’s repertoire. Does that make him bossy? No, but his record suggests that those qualities are not what the American people should seek in a president.
The rest of Tannen’s column really isn’t worth your time. She’s appointed herself Captain of the Thought Police. Which is a pretty bossy thing to do, to be honest.
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