THE POLITICS OF BODY PARTS
 I'm disappointed.
     First, in Megyn Kelly, a fellow Albany Law School alum, for her overt and ostentatious attempt to hitch her already rising star to that of the much more accomplished attention hog - note, I did not say whore - Donald Trump. The body language, the facial expressions, the gotcha gender question. The reality TV ratings eyeballs. Apparently having an eponymous show wasn't enough. Perfectly positioned center stage, the only non-male in the "arena," she gave a purposeful performance calculated to make her the new face of Fox News. Can an audition to headline The Apprentice be far behind? Birds of a feather flock together. You're hired!
     Which brings me to The Donald and his walking back of his "blood pouring" comment. That made me see red. Nose, ears ... give me a break. As someone who has experienced them both, sans medical intervention, the hormonal ups and downs that come with a menstrual cycle and perimenopause can easily make you feel like your mind and body are "possessed" - and cause what outsiders might perceive as temporary insanity and/or borderline demonic behavior. He wasn't that far "off base." Ask my ex-husband.
     My beef - if the Republican candidate sincerely cares about women's health issues as he professes, he would have remained true to his original spontaneous blurt and not retroactively labeled others' interpretation of it as "deviant." Such consistent and continued candor could have propelled another taboo topic - the societal denial of biological differences which began with the liberation of Baby Boomer females - into the broader discourse, a la his inartful words on illegal immigration when he announced his run for the nomination. I personally would have breathed a not so silent sigh of relief. At age 60, what my mother...grandmother...aunts...all freely discussed, we now pharmaceuticalize in a misguided effort to "be more like a man." The multi billionaire motor mouth missed a wide open opportunity to raise his hand and connect with more than half of the electorate with the simple explanation of  "I understand."
     Instead, after being characterized as a Neanderthal misogynist for a little over a day, the seemingly shameless self promoter caved - period - and chose to use his free speech right not to elevate and embrace "the natural" - that would have been "phenomenal" - but to escalate and emphasize the negative and render doubtful, dubious, and disingenuous the politically incorrect aspect of his "pissed off" brand. For that, he should be fired.
Karen Ann DeLuca