George,

If Virgil really called Meredith "flighty" in public, that's unconscionable.

"Flighty", like "shrill", is surely a highly misogynistic slur: its use in a public forum means that Virgil was sorta-kinda (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) inviting his hearers to remember that Meredith is a woman and therefore, don't we all know, basically emotional and unreliable (like all women).

When was the last time you ever heard a man being referred to as flighty (or shrill)?

Maybe instead of just sitting back and accepting that kind of treatment, Meredith could either ask for a public apology for his use of this slur; or adopt it proudly-- "I'm Meredith Richards! I'm the flighty one! And you know what I'm in flight from? All those Republican policies that are hostile to women, the working poor, and all our hopes for decent education and health systems!"

Helena Cobban (electronic mail, October 30, 2002)

Editor's Note: In his October 31, 2002 piece in The Daily Progress, Bob Gibson reports that Goode "portrays Richards as a Charlottesville liberal "mighty flighty with the truth." [Goode's comments were also reported by Tim Thornton in The Roanoke Times and backed up by other individuals attending the debate.]

Bob Gibson goes on to report:

"Goode said Richards is just trying to scare seniors about Social Security in the closing days of the campaign "with less than completely accurate information." He said she is falsely implying "that I want to put the Social Security funds in the stock market [but that's] not so." "