For those of you who, like me, are becoming more and more ashamed of my own gender and shocked by the outrageous lengths to which men in the media (including the blogosphere) will go to demonize Hillary Clinton, specifically Chris Matthews of MSNBC, I encourage you to read this article by Eric Boehlert of Media Matters.

Some highlights…

This election season, we’ve seen a cavalcade of white, middle-age men express their deep, personal contempt for the first serious female contender for the White House. Contempt, of course, that has nothing to do with Sen. Hillary Clinton’s policies or her beliefs. Instead, it’s been an oddly personal disdain dressed up as political analysis.

The way Mike Barnicle on MSNBC said Clinton “look[ed] like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court.” The way Bill Kristol on Fox News said that among the only people supporting Hillary Clinton were white women, and “[w]hite women are a problem, that’s, you know — we all live with that.” The way CNN’s Jack Cafferty likened Clinton to “a scolding mother, talking down to a child.” The way Fox News’ Neil Cavuto suggested Clinton was “trying to run away from this tough, kind of bitchy image.” The way MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson announced that “when [Clinton] comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.” The way Christopher Hitchens on CNBC described Clinton as being “sort of alternately soppy and bitchy.’” …

Matthews is hot because he dumps all over Hillary Clinton, saying rude, sexist, and demeaning things about her week after week, and the Beltway media crowd thinks its edgy and insightful and loves to watch. (As the Times noted, “Some of [Matthews’] most devoted followers are Washington media figures.”) Matthews, desperate for attention and approval, sees that media elites love his sexist shtick so he lays it on thicker and thicker. Media elites then turn around and anoint him the Hot Journalist. …

Eric finishes with this little pearl…

Matthews’ openly sexist streak extends only to Democratic and liberal women, and that’s another reason the press plays dumb. Because media elites would never anoint Matthews the Hot Journalist if he went on and on about how Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) was too ambitious, or how Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was “witchy,” or how the voice of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) sounded like fingernails being run across a chalkboard, or how Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) had “cold eyes.”

That would be considered offensive and out of bounds. But to suggest Clinton’s a “witchy,” “anti-male” Nurse Ratched? That’s deemed by the Beltway elites to be shrewd, astute, and fearless.

And yes, as I’ve disclosed in previous posts, I voted for Obama in my state’s primary. So why am I not jumping on the disgusting, anti-Hillary, “evil, whore, bitch” bandwagon? Because it is possible for real men to support Obama without spewing, or approving of, outrageous, Republican-like personal attacks on his female opponent.