Thursday, May 22, 2008

One-time Hillary Rant (As Far as I Know)

I’ve never liked Hillary Clinton. I’ve never trusted her. I’ve never thought she was real. In the beginning, I wondered things like, what’s with this I-need-to hit-upon-the-right-image-thing? Why does she care if people don’t like her hair or clothes? Who cares whether she wears a headband? And more troubling—what was this supposedly great advocate for children and the working class doing on the board of WalMart? Almost immediately after Bill took office, there was Travelgate. Then the health care debacle, in which her stubborn, wonky disregard of anyone’s ideas but her own wrecked any chance of fulfilling her husband’s campaign promise to fix the system that made (and still makes) it impossible for millions of Americans to get the care they need.

The secrecy and paranoia she exhibited during this time have been mirrored in the management of her campaign. There's been an agonized repeat of trying to figure out what image she wants to portray--the experienced Washington insider, the emotional, compassionate woman, the beer-guzzling, shot drinking hardass? Why wouldn’t her presidency play out in exactly the same way?

The presidency to which she seems to feel entitled.

Well, she's not entitled. It’s not her turn. It’s not anyone’s turn. We get to choose the next president, based on what We, the People think is best for our country. Not based on some deal Bill and Hillary cut to salvage their marriage.

Not because she's a woman, either--mainly because gender is no reason to vote for anyone, male or female. But also because--at least in my view--she's not kind of the First Woman President that we could really be proud of.

Think about Monica Lewinski, Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones--and who knows who else might have caused (and may yet cause) a scandal of epic proportion. Then think, why in the world a woman with Hillary’s intelligence, education, and virtually unlimited resources would stay with a man who humiliated her again and again? Did love make her so gullible? So weak? Or did she stay with Bill because she believed it was the only way to get a shot at being the first woman president? As mother of two daughters, neither seems to me a good message for young women who are growing up, coming of age, trying to understand how to live.

All that said, the thing that made me so angry at Hillary and keeps making me so angry every time I think about it that I need to rant about her here and try to get it out of my system is her response a while back to the persistent swift-boat rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim: “There is nothing to base that on. As far as I know.”

With those five words, once and for all, she played the card that revealed her true character. She has become exactly the kind of person she blames for the ugly lies and innuendos surrounding her own life.

Pogo said it best: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Okay. That's it. I'm done.

As far as I know.

2 comments:

Leila said...

I completely agree with you...although I think people should have an opportunity to vote for her if they want.

Yesterday, she picked a REALLY bad example when she referenced RFK's assassination as a reason why she should stay in the race considering the very real concern for Obama's safety. I used to want to see her as a VP candidate, but I've reconsidered.

See:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05232008/news/nationalnews/why_hill_wont_drop_out__bobby_kennedy_wa_112232.htm

Although, turquoise is a good color on her. lol!

Leila said...

Hmm...don't know how to make that link work. :(