In the wake of Hillary Clinton's stunning win in New Hampshire, the blogosphere has been aflutter over potential reasons behind the victory. One of them is a response to sexism.

Hillary's the first woman to have a significant shot at the Presidency. Of course we all know about her "breakdown" on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. And of course we all also know about John Edwards' response:

"I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also tough business," Edwards told reporters Laconia, New Hampshire.

Regardless of context or intent, this statement was widely taken as a sexist potshot at Clinton. The idea: Hillary's a woman showing emotion, and that in part makes her unfit for the Presidency. Or something similar to that.

Now, don't get me wrong: this isn't the most sensitive remark I've heard from John. But this isn't a beauty contest; it's the first real knock-down, drag-out primary that we've had since 1992. While I agree that the idea that Clinton as woman makes her emotional and weak is ridiculous and ignorant, I also don't immediately get that from John's comments.

I don't mean to harp too long on the aforementioned remarks, however, because I want to show you the sexism that is real and is out there. And it comes from the media into our households on a daily basis under the guise of reporting. The following comes from Chris Matthews, with a hat tip to Christy Hardin Smith at FireDogLake:

Matthews: I think the Hillary appeal has always been about the mix of toughness and sympathy. Let's not forget, and I'll be brutal, the reason she's a US Senator, the reason she's a candidate for President, the reason she may be a front runner, is that her husband messed around.

Matthews: That's how she got to be a Senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win it on her merit, she won because everybody felt, "My God, this woman stood up under humiliation," right? That's what happened. That's how it happened. In 1998, she went to NY and campaigned for Chuck Schumer as almost like the grieving widow of absurdity, and she did it so well and courageously. But it was about the humiliation of Bill Clinton.

If John Edwards' remarks are insensitive and sexist, then Matthews' are ghoulish and vile. Plutonium Page over at Daily Kos also has a good commentary on this.

Let's run through our list. She didn't win on merit, check. She's only in office and has a chance at the Presidency because people felt sympathy for her Lewinskygate plight, check. Pure assertion that he's right, check. Image of a grieving widow and of women as emotional, check. Idea that she isn't anything outside of her husband's shadow, check. And the American people are ignorant enough to keep forgetting it so it's my job to remind them, check.

Chris Matthews should be ashamed of himself. Does he have some sort of strange vendetta against Hillary? His words aren't opinion; they're pure, unadulterated sexism disguised as opinion disguised as reporting. Hillary Clinton is one of the standard bearers of the Democratic party and one of the smartest and strongest people alive. Like her or not, she's a fighter and has won two elections on the merit of her character and policies. And she just won New Hampshire!

Not for Chris Matthews. Hillary's just a weak woman who won office because people took pity on her poor little emotional self after a hard life as first lady. Disgusting. And I sometimes wonder why the mainstream media receives so much scorn in certain sectors? It's because of tripe like this, where sexist commentators masquerading as reporters with a national audience attempt character assassinations on a nightly basis.

So, what's the moral? Not poor Hillary. She can stand up for herself, thank you very much and I'm confident in her ability to fight it out as our nominee if she should win. No, the moral is that the sexism out there is real and that Edwards' one-time remarks pale in comparison to what those idiots in the media say on a daily basis. And that we also need to stand up for our nominees. Not because Hillary's a woman or because Obama is African-American, but because we won't stand for this BS that the media tries to feed us and because, unlike the Republican potentials, our people would do right for America.

So, Chris Matthews: borrowing from the Simpsons, don't spit on my cupcake and tell me it's frosting.