Elizabeth Ward Gracen, a former Clinton paramour, hid out of the country rather than face the insults, and she's a former Miss America. If this is equality, I'll take Jane Austen's era. I prefer these tame insults to the right to own property. Today vilification and politics of personal destruction reign. But the politics of personal destruction is one-sided.
Righteous indignation springs forth when personal attacks come to liberals.
When the Saturday Night Live crew did a skit on Chelsea Clinton's teen awkwardness, they were forced to issue an apology and refrain forever. I once suggested in a column that Madeleine Albright, as secretary of state, not wear short skirts. She looked like a one-woman wrestling match each time she sat down with a world leader. Arafat averted his eyes using his purdah more than once. I was chastised mightily for offering just an age-specific wardrobe tip for a cabinet member.