Tag Archives: Hillary Clinton

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What the clown said

Bill Bashing

For one thing, he didn’t “betray” any of his constituents. He openly supported NAFTA and welfare reform when he was running. After he was elected, he still supported them. Don’t we WANT politicians to keep their promises?

The Bill-Bashers hate him for the promises he kept and ther hate him for the promises he tried but failed to keep. He gets all of the blame and none of the credit. They even hate him for the genocide in Rwanda, as if he could have single-handedly ended the crisis.

Most or all of the newer faces (and a few of the old ones) claim they don’t support Obama, but they really don’t seem to hate him. Not like they hate the Big Dawg, anyway. It’s like they would rather bash Bill than talk about the current situation.

I’m seeing a pattern, and wondering what is behind it. We know Obama is afraid of Hillary and for good reason. If she ran against him in 2012 she would beat him in a fair fight, and maybe even one that was supposed to be fixed. They can’t attack her as long as she is Secretary of State, so are they attacking Bill in an attempt to cast a stain on her?

Three years ago I would have just thought I was being too paranoid. That was before I saw Left Blogistan get covered in astroturf. Now I wonder if I’m not being paranoid enough.

I’m seeing a pattern too. There are a lot of articles out there claiming that the Big Dawg is only on the campaign trail to boost Hillary’s chances in 2012 or 2016 (depending on who’s talking).  It couldn’t possibly be that they are super-strong party loyalists, now could it? I heard the same thing over and over and over again during the primaries, especially when Hillary did something true to Dem principles (and Barack did not — FISA anyone?) - They’d say something along the line of, “Oh she’s only doing that to fool everyone into voting for her (or make Obama look bad).”  If that were true, then why didn’t she and Bill take their collective ball and go home after the 2008 primaries? They didn’t. They’re far more loyal people than I could ever hope to be.

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Violet: “It’s all mud.”

What Violet said.

Notice the caveat: “or says he’s trying.” Anybody who was really paying attention to the Obama campaign knew perfectly well that it was every bit as muddy an operation as you’ll find anywhere in politics. Obama would go out and give a speech about how “there’s no place for that kind of thing” while his operatives would furiously push every smear against Hillary they could scrounge up. They did it again with Palin. Rather than just opposing Palin and McCain on policy (and god knows there was enough there for that), they orchestrated a huge character-assassinating sexist mudfest, including the above-referenced Planned Parenthood email campaign.

Now here’s the funny thing: all these people who carried on like this did it in the belief that somehow it would be worth it. That somehow, Obama would be different. Think about that. Nothing about him or his campaign was in any way, shape, or form different from politics as usual. Nothing about the pro-Obama tribalism and uncritical reportage was in any way, shape, or form different from punditry as usual. So how did these people fool themselves into thinking this swamp of muck was somehow going to sprout kittens and rainbows?

Meanwhile, we have the example of Breitbart to show us how profoundly and hatefully dishonest the rightwing media is. That’s nothing new, of course. Years ago I remember being amazed when NewsMax edited a Hillary Clinton speech to make it look like she was endorsing Soviet-style communism. The Sherrod video is more of the same.

The left isn’t nearly that far gone yet, but if you lived through 2008 on the Hillary team, you know what I’m going to say next. Let’s see, who was it who doctored that video in Indiana to make it look like a Clinton adviser used the N-word? Who was it who spread the story that Hillary had called for Obama’s death? And jesus, I’m not even going to get into the Palin stuff.

People will say, oh you can’t compare the two, but here’s the thing: it’s all mud. It’s all fucking mud and mire. Our whole political discourse. Just mud and tribalism and hatefulness and secret lists and inside-the-beltway fart-breathing and meanwhile, millions are out of work and lives are being broken. Ain’t no kittens and rainbows gonna come out of this mess.

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What Cinie said

All of it, but most especially THIS:

Buy a clue, people.  The man sold out his own pastor for political expediency, for crying out loud!   As just about any PUMA hearted voter could have told you from Day One, the man has no motivating principles and beliefs other than self aggrandizement.  He is the equivalent of a picture of a hologram, a shape shifter, a charlatan, a fraud, and now, Spokesmodel-In-Chief.  He equivocates, pontificates and backtracks on things he said just minutes ago, because he doesn’t have a clue about what he’s supposed to say until he’s briefed immediately before the latest taped TelePrompTer reading.

Contrary to popular belief, many self-identified current and former PUMAs came to support Clinton not only out of a fervent belief that  she was the far better Democratic candidate, but by an equally unassailable conviction that Barack Obama was such an incredibly awful, unvetted one.  For those voters, me included, it was never a “six of one, half dozen of the other” proposition.  And, the fact that he prevailed without doing one single thing to prove himself better that her, or anybody else, or even independently worthy, for that matter, only adds insult to injury.

And if this makes me “bitter,” well then, so be it.

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Andrew Sullivan can kiss my ass

egalia points to Andrew Sullivan’s post wherein he takes on Obama and the Human Rights Campaign.

In some ways, Obama’s fealty to the big gay lobby rather than to the real gay community is testimony to why Democratic party politics remain repulsive to me. HRC has achieved nothing substantive for gay equality on a federal level in the twenty years I’ve been observing them. But they sure know how to milk donors at swanky black tie affairs. They are the Rotary Club for affluent gays, and their prime job is to explain to the gay community why it is never in the Democratic party’s interest to do anything for gay people that might actually resemble equality. Oh, yes, we’ll get a lovely Obama speech. Like that costs him anything or proves anything.

There is nothing Obama can say at this self-satisfied, well-heeled Rotary Club dinner that he hasn’t said before. And the idea that simply showing up is something we should all be ecstatic over and grateful for is another sign of the low self-esteem and lack of self-respect among the leaders of that organization who did all they could to defeat Obama in the primaries last spring. I won’t be there and haven’t been there for more than a decade. It is not a forum to advance gay rights; it is a fundraising session designed to make people feel better for backing an organization incapable of passing laws supported by overwhelming majorities of the American people. Oh, and fawning over B-list Hollywood celebrities.

Well, Andy, perhaps if the woman who was supported by HRC had actually won, maybe you wouldn’t be crying in your Koolaid right now.

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In case you missed it

Secretary Clinton’s op-ed on women’s rights published in the City Press in South Africa on August 9, 2009.  (Note: Nowhere in this op-ed does she defend a woman’s right to wear the hijab. Rather, she calls out discrimination and crimes against women. Please make note Mr. President.)

Women Are Drivers of Positive Change

When I first visited the Victoria Mxenge co-operative in Cape Town in 1997, I met homeless women working to transform an empty patch of land into a new community. They pooled their savings and microloans, bought shovels, poured concrete and built new homes for themselves and their children. In 1997 there were just 18 homes. I returned a year later and saw 104. Yesterday I found a village of thousands of homes where once there had been only dust and despair.

The determination and entrepreneurial spirit of the women of Victoria Mxenge underscore a basic truth: empowering women is key to global progress and prosperity. This is not just a moral imperative – it is an economic one as well. When women are accorded their rights and afforded equal opportunities in education, health care and gainful employment, they drive social and economic progress. When they are marginalised and mistreated, as is the case in too many places in Africa today, prosperity is impossible.This week I am travelling across Africa to highlight the continent’s promise and possibility. Empowering women is a crucial step towards seizing the economic opportunities of this new century. No nation can succeed in spreading prosperity or increasing security if it leaves out or leaves behind more than half of the population.

Our broader agenda for progress and economic growth also includes increasing trade, implementing development strategies that build capacity and opportunity, and advancing responsible governance that rejects corruption, enforces the rule of law and delivers results for people. South Africa’s leadership is essential in advancing this agenda across Africa.South Africans have many reasons to be proud on this National Women’s Day. President Jacob Zuma recently appointed Gill Marcus as governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Across the country, women are leading small and medium-sized businesses that are the foundation of economic progress. And South Africa is home to dynamic entrepreneurs such as Sally Marengo, who started the KPL Aluminium and Zinc Die-Casting factory which now manufactures car parts in Bedfordview, and Lillian Masebenza, who created the Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Networks to turn traditional stokvels into collectives that help disadvantaged women generate income and start new businesses.

The women of South Africa have helped to make the country an economic anchor for the continent. They are an example of what can be accomplished through civic responsibility, commitment to the rule of law and a diversified and inclusive economy.Across Africa, women are driving positive change. Kenya’s Wangari Maathai has launched an international movement on behalf of environmental stewardship. Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has taken the reins of a nation once gripped by civil war and proven that women can lead at the highest levels.

But in many parts of Africa, and indeed around the world, the picture is not so encouraging. Laws deny women the right to own property, access credit or make their own choices within their marriage. Women comprise the majority of the world’s poor, unfed and unschooled. They are subjected to rape as a tactic of war, so-called “honour” killings, maiming, trafficking, child marriages, genital mutilation and other violent, degrading practices.This week I will visit survivors of sexual and gender-based violence used as a tool of conflict in eastern Congo, where women have been victimised on an unimaginable scale. Some 1100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day.  

In the face of such depravity the world must speak with one clear voice: this violence must end.The United States is working to develop partnerships across Africa to ensure that the rights of women are protected and respected, and that they have the opportunity to pursue an education, find a good job, live in safety and fulfil their own potential.

President Barack Obama and I believe in Africa’s promise. Too often, the world views Africa only through the lens of poverty, disease and conflict. But we see a continent of opportunity, home to 800 million people – more than half of them women – ready to build, create and thrive. 

National Women’s Day commemorates the 20 000 South African women who marched for justice on August 9 1956. Fearless, they sang an anthem that has become a rallying cry: “Wathint’a bafazi, Wathint’ imbokodo” (You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock). 

Women can be the rock on which a freer, safer and more prosperous Africa is built. They just need the opportunity.