The Nation Divided Against Itself or, From Trog to Prog

Robert Dreyfuss, a blogger at progressive mag The Nation, blames the dames for the U.S. adventure currently unfolding in Libya:

We'd like to think that women in power would somehow be less pro-war, but in the Obama administration at least it appears that the bellicosity is worst among Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and Samantha Power. All three are liberal interventionists, and all three seem to believe that when the United States exercises military force it has some profound, moral, life-saving character to it. Far from it. Unless President Obama's better instincts manage to reign in his warrior women—and happily, there's a chance of that—the United States could find itself engaged in open war in Libya, and soon. The troika pushed Obama into accepting the demands of neoconservatives.

To which well-known Nation columnist and American flag-non-waver Katha Pollitt responds:

In a post entitled "Obama's Women Advisers Pushed War Against Libya" (originally titled "Obama's Women" tout court) he's shocked-shocked-shocked that UN Ambassador Susan Rice, human-rights adviser Samantha Power and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were keen on intervening militarily in Libya. The piece is dotted with arch and sexist language—the advisers are a "troika," a "trio" who "rode roughshod over the realists in the administration" (all men) and "pushed Obama to war." Now it's up to the henpecked President to "reign (sic) in his warrior women." Interestingly, the same trope—ballbreaking women ganging up on a weak president—is all over the rightwing blogosphere.

You know what would have been great? If the 1970 Joan Crawford movie Trog had been called Prog instead, and was about a rational woman (a doctor, even) who soothes a politically neanderthal man. Take 40 seconds out of your busy day and tell me I'm wrong: