Editor,

Women (men, too) who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Criticisms of remarks made by Rick Hannold about the need for a broader perspective on the Island County Board of Commissioners miss the mark.

While Hannold’s remarks about the need for a male presence on the Board of Commissioners were not politically palatable — remarks for which he apologized — they were in no way heinous and, in fact, fit the feminists’ mantra of the last several decades exceedingly well.

Weren’t we told to support and rally for Sonia Sotomayor, the “wise latina” whose sex (and race, of course, though that was much less important then than it is now) was going to bring balance and a much-needed feminine perspective to the Supreme Court? Didn’t Joe Biden announce his intentions to select his VP based on “her” sex and color in order to bring “balance” to his “leadership”?

If women, because they are women, bring a certain special “balance” and “perspective” to the governmental table, then with three women currently sitting on the board, the feminists should be willing to accept that a man also brings a special perspective and provides much-needed balance.

The hypocrisy would be hilarious were it not so dangerous to our body politic.

Peggy Shekem

Coupeville