Greek prefixes, smart women and Obamaphobia

Clever, those ancient Greeks. They gave us art, literature, philosophy and the notion of a more perfect government. They gave us a language ripe for the picking. Greek prefixes, Greek root-words: “demos” (people), “kratos” (power). Democracy. Power to the people. What a word! What a concept! What’s not to like?
They also gave us the hystera/hystero prefix--which means uterus. Hysterectomy. Problems with a pesky womb? If it offends you, cut it out. Not a bad thing. But there’s also hysteria. You know, that hollering and screaming thing. Tantrums. Panic attacks. General emotional mayhem. And, for too many lo-o-o-ong centuries, the female’s uterus was the definitive root of all disorganized behavior and thought. The womb made us a tad too flaky to be trusted to do more than have babies, cook and clean.
Hysteria has become an equal opportunity malady in modern times. These days men can be hysterical, too. Or those Big Boys with all the power and guns can whip up a climate of hysteria any time they really need one. Dubya and his cronies have mastered the art. WMD and the imminent threat of mushroom clouds poisoning every peace loving American if we didn’t invade ASAP, overthrow the madman with his finger on the nuke button and create a shiny new America-loving Iraq. Quick-like. They’ve kept us in line every step of the way by scaring us to death. Hysteria works.
The Clinton campaign seems to be sinking to hysteria mode lately. When Barack Obama said Bush’s “zero-diplomacy unless I like you” policy is a poor approach, that he would be willing to begin talking to foreign heads of state--good guys or bad--within the first year of an Obama presidency, Clintonistas went ballistic. Suddenly the notion of diplomacy, of open negotiation, is akin to hopping into bed with a harlot after strangling your wife. Clearly Obama is too stupid to be president. Naive. Irresponsible. Within days the “Obama will even talk to Holocaust deniers!” panic pill was dosed out like methadone at a drug rehab facility. It’s hysterical.
I’ve always liked Hillary. She’s smart, she’s tough, she’s capable. But I’m mad at her for using the same old Bush-Rovian smear-and-fear tactics. She should be ashamed. She should be as sick as most women are of the hystera/hystero prefix and its use as a tool to deny us our rightful place in the world of “rational” men. This PMS-style over-reaction, the deliberate distortion of a rival candidate’s intelligence and his intent, is nothing more than the same peddling of hysteria we’ve suffered for the last 6 1/2 years; it’s Dubya’s “We have to fight them over there so we won’t have to fight them here!” nonsense in make-up and high heels.
It is unworthy of a candidate who says she represents change. It is especially unworthy of a smart woman who has had to weather the women’s rights wars. The marketing of hysteria is beneath a strong candidate for the highest office in the land. It smacks of the same old dirty politics. Barack Obama has said--more than once--”We [Americans] are better than this.” That sentiment should surely apply to Hillary, a powerful woman who is in a position to enhance the cause for women’s capabilities trumping their wombs once and for all. The hysteria mode offends us. Cut it out.

By Linda Hansen,
columnist