Back in 2008, Tina Fey went on an epic Weekend Update rant about people who call Hillary Clinton a bitch. “Let me say something about that: She is,” Fey snarled. “And so am I. And so is this one (Amy Poehler). You know what? Bitches get stuff done. That’s why Catholic schools use nuns as teachers and not priests. Those nuns are mean old clams, and they sleep on cots and they’re allowed to hit you. And at the end of the school year, you hated those bitches. But you knew the capital of Vermont.”

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With a cry of “Bitch is the new black!” Fey let the world know she wasn’t afraid of what people thought of her. As head writer at Saturday Night Live, her main job was getting stuff done, not winning popularity contests. But that perspective sometimes meant she was on the ugly end...