Academic

?There?s a lot at stake for our country in this election. Surely, you can do your jobs as journalists and commentators and still keep the discourse civil and appropriate.?

By Ann Bartow

From here (via here):

Sen. Clinton?s letter to Steve Capus, president of NBC News, pretty much says it all:

Dear Mr. Capus,

Thank you for your call yesterday. I wanted to send you this note to convey the depth of my feeling about David Shuster?s comments.

I know that I am a public figure and that my daughter is playing a public role in my campaign. I am accustomed to criticism, certainly from MSNBC. I know that it goes with the territory.

However, I became Chelsea?s mother long before I ran for any office and I will always be a mom first and a public official second.

Nothing justifies the kind of debasing language that David Shuster used and no temporary suspension or half-hearted apology is sufficient.

I would urge you to look at the pattern of behavior on your network that seems to repeatedly lead to this sort of degrading language.

There?s a lot at stake for our country in this election. Surely, you can do your jobs as journalists and commentators and still keep the discourse civil and appropriate.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Taylor Marsh has an account of the e-mail exchange between Shuster and a Clinton campaign exec. Shuster’s position is apparently that because he disagrees with the fact that she “calls Superdelegates,” saying that Chelsea was being “pimped out” was perfectly fine. Hey, she was asking for it! Or something. See also.

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on February 10, 2008 (boomark / email).