I've never understood why some people think Hillary Clinton is a humorless scold. Well, that's not quite true. She's a woman and she's tough. Men can be tough and funny. But women? Well, if they're tough it's because they have no sense of humor. At least according to some people.
Anyhow, people who know Clinton always say the image is all wrong. And this radio interview from Australia, with hosts Hamish and Andy, would seem to confirm that.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for joining us.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you for having me.
QUESTION: It's very exciting. And we start with a gift.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, excellent.
QUESTION: On behalf of the people's show, its potato chips -- or crisps, I think --
QUESTION: It's a flavor that the people of Australia invented. It's the gravy chip.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I am thrilled.
QUESTION: As you should be, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I cannot tell you how much this means to me.
QUESTION: That's great.
QUESTION: Are you a collector of chips? Is this your first --
SECRETARY CLINTON: I am an eater of chips.
QUESTION: We recommend not. Use by -- well, it was use by two years ago. So --
SECRETARY CLINTON: And you resealed the package?
QUESTION: No, no. This has never been opened.
QUESTION: They're the last remaining sealed ones. If you try to eat them, technically that's an assassination attempt by us.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Shall I wait until I am out of Australian air space?
QUESTION: Yes. (Laughter.) With a lot of foreign travel in your job --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.
QUESTION: -- you must get very good at accepting gifts.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I do, yes.
QUESTION: And making believe that you love them, just like them.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes. There is a whole course on how to do that.
QUESTION: Okay. Is there really?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I mean, usually it is a very happy expression on one's face. Now, sometimes the gifts are really hard to do that with.
QUESTION: Yes.
SECRETARY CLINTON: But you still -- you just have to persevere. And you can't look like you are not grateful.
QUESTION: Have you ever left one behind? Because --
SECRETARY CLINTON: No, no. We take them all.
QUESTION: All right, good.
SECRETARY CLINTON: We take them all. They go back, they're processed, we do thank you notes. You will get a thank you note.
QUESTION: It's not necessary. (Laughter.) Consider us (inaudible).
SECRETARY CLINTON: I have people on my delegation who will actually eat this.
QUESTION: Oh.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, yes. Because they’ll eat anything.
On a related and more serious note, Dana Goldstein has a good item at Ezra Klein's blog on gender and the way it has affected perceptions of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.