A Challenge to Hillary Bashers: Tell Me Exactly Why You Hate Hillary?

The occasion was a symposium on the presidential candidates held by the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable which sponsors a weekly public policy discussion series in Los Angeles. Midway through a heated discussion over the relative merits of Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a member of the audience let loose with an impassioned I-can't-stand-Hillary blast and punctuated it with the quip, I'd vote for anybody but her. I asked him a simple question: Why do you hate Hillary?

He sat with his mouth wide open and a perplexed glaze on his face, no sound issued from him. His mute response was no surprise. My question to him is the same question to the legions that slam Hillary: tell me specifically what terrible thing she's done that stirs such froth around your mouth. Skip the personal attacks, vitriol, innuendos, slurs, and don't repeat hearsay, gossip, or what you heard someone say about Clinton, and that includes Bill. Give me one tangible thing that she has done to piss you off so much that you are proud to be a charter member of the anybody-but-Hillary club. Name one tangible thing?

I asked the man in audience to tell me one thing that she's done politically or even personally that ticked him off, so that without batting an eye he'd say that the thought of her winning sends him into a paroxysm of rage. The question continued to dangle for a long and pregnant moment with no response.

He, of course, is no different than the swarm of other Hillary-bashers. The visceral dislike, even loathing of her, is so deep and broad that it welds together a strange mesh of the usual suspect Hillary haters from the Christian fundamentalists, ultra-right Republicans and conservative talking heads, through a bevy of her former Hollywood pals and Bill Clinton campaign bankrollers, all the way to self-styled progressives and ultra radicals. They have absolutely nothing in common other than the ecstasy they get from pounding Hillary for her alleged political and personal sins.

But what are they? And what did she do that has earned her the label of everything from the devil incarnate (the late Jerry Falwell) on the right to branding her a shill for fat cat lobbyists and corporations on the left. That's just cheap shot name calling, trashing, and vilification from the rank and file. But the press has also gleefully jumped in on the Clinton beat down. It spins, twists, massages in reverse, and blows to smithereens any and every piece of nasty Clinton gossip or dig.

I asked the Hillary hater a third time to name one specific thing that she's done to earn his obsessive enmity. The silent Hillary denouncer after some fishing, fumbling and stalling, said that she cheer led Bush on the Iraq war when she voted to authorize it. OK. But so did her Democratic presidential rival John Edwards, and though Obama says that he wouldn't have voted for it if he had been in the Senate then. However, in two subsequent votes he backed spending measures that continued war funding. If the other top gun Democratic presidential contender Bill Richardson had been in the Senate he almost certainly would have backed war authorization.

In fact, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus was sharply divided over support of the original Iraq war resolution in 2002 that gave Bush authority to wage war. Edwards later apologized for backing the resolution. Obama joined with 13 other Democratic Senators to oppose the crucial big money Iraq war appropriations bill in May. One of the other thirteen senators was Clinton. She is no different than other Democrats that have cut and run from Bush's war. They all recanted when public opinion turned sour on the war and Bush and it suddenly became politically fashionable and popular to do so.

The Iraq war support certainly doesn't explain the vehemence of the Hillary targeting. Her centrist, cautious, and sometimes fuzzy stance on health care, education, taxes, and immigration are legitimate issues to dissect, debate, and criticize. But these are issues that all of the contenders can and should be held to the fire on. They are fair game for that. But intense political debate and disagreement on the crucial public policy issues in and of themselves is simply not enough to stoke visceral dislike of a candidate, let alone explain the intense hate for Hillary.

My challenge then to all Hillary bashers is the same as it was to the guy at the Urban Policy Roundtable in Los Angeles: tell me exactly why you hate her so much?

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press) hutchinsonreport@aol

Comments

[CaBeachBum]

The late (great) Molly Ivins said it best:

"I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.­"

"Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges."

[DANIELLECLARKE]

With Her Eye On Nov. '08, Polls Dictate Clinton Crime Policy = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/with-her-eye-on-nov-08_b_75207.html



""When asked about her own policy, Clinton said she agreed with the feds' recommendation for equalizing the sentences, but she opposed making the sentencing changes retroactive.

"I have problems with retroactivity," she said. "It's something a lot of communities will be concerned about as well." Obama, Edwards, Richarson, Dodd, Kucinich said they were in favor of the sentencing change being applied to those already serving time.

Now before we get to the reality of how such a sentencing change would play out, let's parse what Clinton said: Although she agrees that disproportionate punishments for crack versus cocaine are wrong for the future, she doesn't feel that past disproportionate punishments are wrong.""

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/with-her-eye-on-nov-08_b_75207.html


QUESTION::: I wonder how much money in stocks the clintons have invested in privatized prisons?
""I sure wish i could see her portfolio""

[DANIELLECLARKE]

With Her Eye On Nov. '08, Polls Dictate Clinton Crime Policy = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/with-her-eye-on-nov-08_b_75207.html



""When asked about her own policy, Clinton said she agreed with the feds' recommendation for equalizing the sentences, but she opposed making the sentencing changes retroactive.

"I have problems with retroactivity," she said. "It's something a lot of communities will be concerned about as well." Obama, Edwards, Richarson, Dodd, Kucinich said they were in favor of the sentencing change being applied to those already serving time.

Now before we get to the reality of how such a sentencing change would play out, let's parse what Clinton said: Although she agrees that disproportionate punishments for crack versus cocaine are wrong for the future, she doesn't feel that past disproportionate punishments are wrong.""

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/with-her-eye-on-nov-08_b_75207.html


QUESTION::: I wonder how much money in stocks the clintons have invested in privatized prisons?
""I sure wish i could see her portfolio""

[DANIELLECLARKE]

Looking for Latinos: "CRACK COCAINE" Obamaites on the Prowl

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/looking-for-latinos-obam_b_75550.html


MY RESPONSE:
""Molly is keeping the precinct walking tally, noting
on a scale of 1-5 whether a listee is likely to vote
for Obama. The catch of the day is Easter, a fetching
African-American girl who has just turned 18. Virginia
and I find Easter sitting on the back steps of her
apartment building. Easter says that she's registered
to vote but hasn't made up her mind about any
candidate. Virginia launches into Obama's position on
crack versus powder cocaine. Above our heads, a
Hispanic gentleman reclines on his balcony sofa like a
model in a Manet painting and stares down at us.
Laughing, Easter interrupts Virginia with an admission
that she's been planning to vote for Hillary "because
Bill is cool." Appalled, I now offer my two cents.
Between us, Virginia and I turn Easter for Obama. At
this point, Mike finds us and takes Easter's picture
for the Tribune.""

Virginia is smart she understands that BILL ISN"T
COOL. He wouldn't reduce crack cocaine and that has
not only hurt those who use it but those who have to
pay taxes to keep them in jail at a rate of close too
100k a year.


SEE LINK FROM ANOTHER BLOG WHICH POINTS OUT HOW
HILLARY CLINTON WOULD KEEP THESE PRISONERS IN JAIL
EVEN THOUGH THE OTHER CANDIDATES CHOSE TO LET THEM OUT
DUE TO SILLY LONG JAIL TERMS FOR USING CRACK WHICH
BILL CLINTON WOULD NEVER REDUCE!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celeste-fremon/with-her-eye-on-nov-08_b_75207.html


NOTE: Make sure you see the above link with all my references to the Bill Clinton administration listed in the responses which are easily accerssable because no one could refute them. :)

[wayoutleft]

i don't hate hillary but i have understood for years that she and her party supported the assault on the innocent people of iraq- so i would never vote for her or any but a very few members of her party.
so when i say that don't come back with prevarication like an old clinton dog. you asked a question and you have your answer.

[S1m0n]

It's impossible to argue against someone else's anecdote, but coming up with substantive reasons to fear a Hilary presidency isn't nearly as difficult as this post asserts.

But rather than that, the more interesting question by far is what has Hilary ever done to deserve election to the office of president?

[Riverwolf]

I too am mystified at the visceral reactions some people have to Hillary. I think it's some kind of weird gender thing--if she were male, I seriously doubt we would be having this conversation. But people put women in a box and expect certain kinds of behavior and personality traits. Hillary is not warm and fuzzy, but if I want to cuddle with something warm and fuzzy, I curl up with my cat. I want my President to lead the country, not be my BFF or join me for a beer. So she's not warm and fuzzy--big deal. I think this whole thing boils down to the fact that this country still doesn't know how to deal with strong, capable, smart women.

[midtown]

Part II
(8) Any woman who can't tell when her husband is having an affair one floor below her has no business telling the nation that she can tell its citizenry what's good for it. When she got on TV over a decade ago and accused everyone but herself or her husband of being the problem, I lost all sympathy for her, even though it was obviously a horrible time. Nonetheless, some straight talk would have convinced me she's normal, with normal reactions. A normal woman would have said 'I wanted to kill him' or 'we're sleeping in separate rooms for the next year' and something that every woman in this country knows to be the truth. It would have humanized her, instead of exposing her as sadly dysfunctional. Ambition was her salve, her tonic, her late drink at night.
(9) I want a President with a happy marriage. He or she will care for the country the way he or she cares for their own. This is same logic as picking a lawyer of the opposite gender. If you're a man, you never choose a female lawyer going through a divorce; or if you're a woman, never pick a lawyer going through a divorce: if you do, and you express anger, your lawyer only hears his or her mate, and you'll lose your case.
(9) Most importantly, and this visceral, I dont trust her. I dont see experience. I see ambition. And ambition that's blind.

[midtown]

Part I
(1) She didn't bother to read the Iraq War bill she voted to send our young men and women to war . . . the most important decision a President could make. Neither would she apologize.
(2) She didn't bother to read The Patriot Act, and she voted for that too.
(3) She didn't stand up to the Israel Lobby who knocked her for hugging Arafat's wife while she was First Lady. It's what First Lady's do: they're polite, courteous and gracious to each other. She should have been incensed. Instead, she backed down THEN knowing she was going into political office. I call that opportunistic.
(4) None of her plans have an ounce of vision; it's always a committee or a commission will decide this or that. So where's the goddam experience she touts? If she's ready to "take over on Day One" why doesn't she have these answers now? Hasn't she been thinking about them? Didn't she have 'all those years in the WH' to develop some plans? God knows Richardson does. He reels them off one-by-one during every single debate.
(5) She has no balls when it comes to the immigration issue, for which she was recently roundly booed in Ohio to her great shock. She may have read NY State, but she's not reading the rest of the country.
(6) She claims, now, to have been in politics for 35 years. Does being a wifey count? Or a lawyer at a law firm for 10 years?
(7) She has as much Presidential experience as Laura Bush, who also says she partakes in daily policy discussions. Both are: two-term wife of a Governor; two-term wife of President. That's Presidential experience? That constitutes being able to roll into the WH on Day One and 'being ready to take over'? Why, because you know where everything is?

[DontSpin]

Here is your response:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-sedaei/so-much-for-freedom-of-sp_b_76119.html

[biwee]

Let's just sum this all up in one short answer....­.Hildebeas­t is ShrubLite with a Dem label. Got it??

[VicPerry]

Wow, with brain teasers like these, the HRC movement is turning into Pavlov's campaign. Congratulations on borrowing one of the prime (albeit lame) tactics of the remaining supporters of George W. Bush: maintaining that critics are acting out of an "irrational hatred."

[broilinginhouston]

She sponsored -- didn't just vote for, but actually SPONSORED -- a flag-burning law. That's the sort of cynical pandering I'd expect from Republicans. I simply cannot tolerate it in a Democratic candidate for the presidency.

[tbone99]

Because she tried to join the marines AFTER the Viet nam war -

Knowing that the miltary hierarchy was corrupt and
willing to unleash any kind of aggression against innocent people in order to make themselves look good.Sound­s like the Iraq AND Iran votes.
Face it - she remains a Goldwater Girl at heart

[Nommo]

Gee, Earl, did you have to ask?