Clarion Content

The Clarion has begun to wonder why is it so commonplace to see Hillary Clinton referred to by her first name in the press and so rare to see Barack Obama and John McCain referred to by theirs. All too often it is "Hillary and Obama," or "Hillary and McCain," it is never "Barack and Clinton," or "John and Clinton."

It seem less than fair and balanced. It feels like a legacy of patriarchy. It is especially distasteful in the realm of politics where the last name adds gravitas and the first name resonates with the inappropriately diminutive.

Sure the apologists will hide under the rubric of, her husband was president, we have to distinguish between the two. And they will offer that recognition via a single name is evocative of true superstar, ala Pele or Madonna.

It is hard to swallow when all the presidents within memory have been referred to by their last name: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, even Bush I and Bush II, where the repetitive ambiguity might have been parallel, if not analogous to the Clinton situation.

It is the Clarion's firm belief that the American establishment is still all too reflexively, instinctively, if perhaps unconsciously, patriarchal.

Labels: 2008's President, Politics, Pop Culture