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Hillary laughs it up on “SNL”

I want several things from our next president. A coherent foreign policy. An economic plan that helps the poor and middle class instead of corporations and the rich. An extension of full equal rights to all LGBT Americans. And last, but not least, an ability to laugh at her/himself. However you feel about Sen. Hillary Clinton, she proved she could deliver the latter this past weekend, with a surprise stop by Saturday Night Live.

   

Hillary appeared in an “Editorial Response” to the show’s opening skit, which spoofed the most recent Democratic presidential debate. Her on-screen doppelganger Amy Poehler joined her, and the resemblance was pretty uncanny. With the next, and possibly deciding, primaries just a day away, it remains to be seen whether Hillary’s appearance swayed any votes. But it should go a long way to dispelling that old sexist chestnut about women and their senses of humor. I mean, how good of a sport do you have to be to go on right after it’s implied that your plan to take down special interests is to be “so annoying, so pushy, so grating, so bossy and shrill, with a personality so unpleasant, that at the end of the day the special interests will have to go, ‘Enough! We give up! Life is too short to deal with this awful woman!'”? According to TMZ, Hillary was given the skit in advance for approval and told them not to change a thing.

The sketch marks SNL‘s second Hillary-positive skit in as many weeks. Who knew the Not Ready for Prime Time Players were a bunch of women’s studies majors? “Bitches get stuff done” is totally my new personal mantra. Now, I’ve made no secret about my support and admiration for Hillary Clinton. As both a proud liberal and a proud feminist, she represents everything I dig: a smart, hardworking, outspoken and ambitious woman who has risen to the pinnacle of her profession in a decidedly man’s world. And while you may in fact vote for the other guy, I think we should all support, as a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer

so eloquently put it, “the notion of Hillary Clinton.” It’s never easy being a trailblazer. For whatever missteps or miscalculations her campaign may have made along the way, you have to applaud how historic Hillary’s candidacy has been. In a race with so many firsts, it’s easy to overlook what a truly transformational notion a female president still is in America. And if her candidacy does nothing else, perhaps it has exposed how opposed some still are to the very thought of a woman in charge. If I hear/read/see one more discussion about her voice/laugh/dress/hair/femininity/lack of femininity, I think I’ll scream. In the face of all the mainstream sexism and old-school misogyny that still exists, it’s easy to get discouraged. And, even here, maybe Hillary has shown us the way. Just laugh.

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