simply use the expression in reference to the other gender. Do men "cackle"? Nope, it’s definitely a slur against women. The word specifically derides strong women by referencing evil witches, which is a tactic that has been historically used to suppress, intimidate and subjugate women.

Here’s why this particular expression is so bad:

The "Hillary cackle" is an actual video that is mailed around and posted on right wing websites. It is composed of clips of very fake sounding laughs from Hillary pasted together to make her look silly or weird and certainly not presidential or strong. It's a disgusting right wing tool that is meant to be demeaning and cruel. Links to the “Hillary Cackle” video were mailed to Republicans and right wingers with Limbaugh Operation Chaos encouragement vote for Hillary to try to extend and undermine our Democratic primary.

Now that Joe Scarborough has stooped to using this right wing tool against another strong woman, Rachel Maddow, he’s participated in the normalization and mainstreaming of that expression.

It's bad enough for an MSNBC host to engage in sexist and misogynist behavior, but for Scarborough to it as a mechanism for dismissing women on the air lends legitimacy to a right wing GOP tool. Worse, the segment with Maddow didn't even involve Clinton herself, which now makes it an acceptable put down for of any woman he disagrees with. Scarborough stooped to this attack because Maddow stood up for Barack Obama against Scarborough and the other talking heads.

If you think Joe Scarborough shouldn’t attack guests with sexist right wing tactics just because they disagree and support Obama, contact MSNBC:

President, NBC News steve.capus@nbc.com
Vice President, NBC News phil.griffin@nbc.com