Party Unity is the Victor's Responsibility

I thought that I was done crying until I read Marie Cocco's article about Hillary's speech at the Convention. She observed that the way Hillary was treated decades ago(as a young woman) when she ran for class president mirrored the way she has been treated recently as she ran for U.S. President. So little has changed for us as women. All of us women who have had an inexperienced man promoted ahead of us, and all of us women, who have been insulted and ridiculed for putting ourselves forward; identified with Hillary. Her battle was our battle. Her success was our success. Her failure is our failure. Men who think that Hillary can and should bring her supporters to Obama do not understand that this is an issue and a pain that goes far beyond Hillary. Once again Marie Cocco points out the sexism in placing Obama's burden of capturing Hillary's supporters on Hillary rather than Obama.
Impressed by Cocco's article, I went on and read the comments. I was shocked at the continued nastiness of Obama supporters. They have won! They should be graciously reaching out to women, in an effort to bring us on board. Instead the nasty insults continue. They continue to address Hillary and women with disdain while ordering us to fall in line behind Obama.
One commenter says: hillary's supporters need to put on a fresh pair of panties and step forward into the real world. however unhappy they are about obama, if they think mccain is really a better choice for america, they never really knew what hillary was about anyway.
Frankly, I am not sure I get the panties part, except that in his adolescent mind reference to women's apparel is an insult. It was obviously intended as one. Why does he think that he has the right to tell me what I have to do? Because men always think that they have the right to straighten out our "foolish" thinking and tell us what to do.
A second commenter accuses us all of being black-man hating lesbians. Of course that is the next move in their game book. When women don't listen to you and "behave"--accuse them of being lesbians. This option has become more popular since men lost the power to have women committed.
As we commemorate the anniversary of the 19th amendment, we remember the suffering and sacrifice of the women who fought for sufferage. I would be disloyal to those women, if I failed to respect the power of my vote and allowed myself to be intimidated. My vote must be earned, not coerced. Its all about control. Men think that they have a right to control me and my vote--but they don't. They can stamp their feet and make demands, but its my vote! They have to relinquish their posture of control, reach out on women's issues and earn my vote. I do not respond well to orders.
Most people are placing the burden of party unity on Hillary's shoulders (she must bring around her supporters). It is time we started placing the burden where it belongs--on Obama's shoulders. He should be reaching out to women. He should take responsiblity for his supporters. He should help them understand sexism and the importance of women's rights. He needs to send a strong message to his supporters that this kind of woman hating and homophobia is not acceptable.