"Prepared"

Jessica Valenti on "Why the Mediocre Male's Days May Be Numbered":

"For women like Clinton who are advised to tone down their intelligence lest they come across as unlikeable, the debate and its aftermath mark a promising shift in the way that smart women are perceived. Finally, a man who was markedly less prepared and talented than his female opponent was called out as such. Finally, a woman who has spent her life doing her homework wasn’t made out to be a condescending shrew. Clinton’s best line of the night, in fact, was that unlike Trump, 'I prepared to be president.'

And on Wednesday morning, with multiple polls showing that Clinton dominated the debate, former Virginia senator John Warner, a Republican, endorsed her. 'She has always throughout her life prepared, done her homework, studied,' he said.

It’s a winning time for any woman who has ever been called bossy – the 'bitches', the know-it-alls, the Tracy Flicks and Leslie Knopes. Being studied and nerdy is almost never considered an admirable characteristic in a woman, but this week it was."

Well, there goes my promise to step away from political blogging.  But this whole article deserves to be repeated.

I'm fine with criticizing HRC.  I happen to think she'll be a very good president despite lacking the natural speaking gifts of Obama.

But the election is 40 days away.  And at this point, you're either voting to prevent fascism via a capable, competent woman or you're directly or indirectly going to enable it.

And voting to elect our first female president is an honor.