Some may be asking, "Why Hillary?" I hope to answer this question with a few facts and opinions.
I'll start with early days. Who is Hillary Clinton? What has she done to help America?
Nita and Shaunna from UltraViolet Action shared five historic facts people might not know about Hillary.
1. She started the first rape crisis hotlines in the south.
2. In the 1970s, she was denied a credit card because she was a woman. The bank told her to use her husband's--even though she made more money.
3. As Secretary of State, she spearheaded the Office of Global Women's Issues which has, among many things, funneled millions into cracking down on sexual violence.
4. When she was 13, she wrote to NASA to ask to join but they wrote back saying women aren't allowed to be astronauts.
5. In the 90s, her opponents spent $75 million trying to destroy her effort to establish universal health care.https://www.facebook.com/weareultraviolet/ photos/a.308793015857415.71731.260933440643373/1100191736717535/?type=3
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We need to ignore the names opponents call her and look at what she has done and can do.
An email-friend with whom I work to get the Equal Rights Amendment ratified shared a poem she wrote in 1992 about a young Hillary. She points out some things people have said about her. A lot of the comments look like sexism to me...or sour grapes.
Hillary: Future First Lady ©
By Laura Carter Callow
The barnyard buzzes
Flak flies, bees flit
Waiting to sting."Hillary should be pilloried!"
Roars the bull.
"Oink, oink," agrees the pig"She's an unelected, feminist,
Uppity woman, pushy, pushy,"
Tom Turkey gobbles."Critics called Mamie 'dowdy', Pat 'plastic.'
Jackie 'elite,' and Nancy 'power hungry.'
What's a First Lady to do?" Coos dove."Smile sweetly, mouth shut,
Stay safely silent,"
Clucks the hen."Not so," opines the duck.
"She can be a model mother, fashion model,
Or modern role model.""Cookie baker or policy maker,
Hillary is one smart cookie,"
Quips the crow."Traditionalist or activist,
Best First Lady or worst.
Who knows?" Hoots owl.
"Give the Lady a chance!""May Foremothers,
Eleanor and Abigail,
Guide her."
Whispers the wren.
1992
History has shown that Clinton excelled in that job and even worked to get universal health care passed...as all other advanced nations have.
In 2009 True Cost stated that "Thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception. (8-9-09, https://truecostblog.com/2009/08/09/countries-with-universal-healthcare-by-date/ ).
Here is what I perceive is the real reason some do not want to vote for her-- gender. I mourn the awful waste of "untold million's Genius." I wrote this poem in 2009 about gender in general. I submit that our cultural mores--created by elite and powerful men in our male-dominated culture--harm America.
Genius Knows No Gender ©
Jackie De Hon, Ph.D.
Artificial boundaries
Force folks to perform
In a most unnatural way
To please one group or "norm".
Thus so many untold millions'
Genius goes awry
Untapped--perhaps unknown to them--
Of course it isn't wise!
Who among us can afford to
Simply throw away
More than half our earthly treasures
To follow ancient foolish ways?
Cultures coerce into hiding
Stellar talents of these folks,
Punish daring innovators
Make examples; call them "jokes"!
Yet it may be just this one
Who could engineer world peace.
Build new bridges. Temper anger.
Give a starving world a feast!
What a price a culture pays
When it forces gender roles.
Artificial histrionics--
Once designed by greedy souls--
Seeking to make others serve them
Always seeking to impose
Biased prejudice upon those
Who dare win against their foes!
Prisms: Refracting Light of Women's Lives, 2009
I saw a great comedy sketch on "The Daily Show starring Trevor Nash" a few days ago. Michelle Wolf "embraced" the names Hillary is being called. She essentially said "We're not looking for a best friend, we're looking for a Boss....We need a strong leader like her to run the nation." You may want to watch it! Here's the link. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/kb2x61/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-advice-for-hillary-clinton
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Republicans have spent a lot of money pounding Clinton about problems they have helped create:
The emails: Previous Secretaries of State also used private emails for their government business.
The state department watchdog found that both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, America's top diplomats under president George W Bush, were sent sensitive national security information to nongovernment email addresses. Representative Elijah Cummings, House Oversight Committee, said, "My concern has been that Republicans are spending millions of taxpayer dollars singling-out Secretary Clinton because she is running for president often leaking inaccurate information while at the same time disregarding the actions of Republican secretaries of state." (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/04/ colin-powell-condoleezza-rice-private-email-accounts-classified-hillary-clinton).
When asked to turn in his emails from his time in office, Powell did not...yet no one hounded him or called him "Crooked."
The phone: Fortune reports that Hillary Clinton requested a secure smart phone when she became Secretary of State (http://fortune.com/2016/03/17/clinton-email-server/). Judicial Watch obtained State Department documents revealing that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly sought to obtain secure "Blackberry-like communications," but was rebuffed by the National Security Agency due to security and cost concerns (http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-state-department-documents-show-that-nsa-rebuffed-hillary-clintons-attempts-to-obtain-a-secure-blackberry/ ).
Both sources report that the National Security Agency denied her requests.
The created-conspiracy about Benghazi: Congress has spent 22 millions of taxpayers' dollars investigating Benghazi...and discovered no guilt (http://benghazicommittee.com/ benghazi-by-the-numbers/). The fact is that Congress denied the money and troops needed to better protect our embassies. (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/12/politics/ fact-check-benghazi-security/). Congress should own-up to its own shortcomings and quit blaming Senator Clinton and President Obama.
John Garamendi said "During the George W. Bush period, there were 13 attacks on various embassies and consulates around the world. Sixty people died" (The Ed Show, MSNBC, 5-5-14, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/may/12/ john-garamendi/prior-benghazi-were-there-13-attacks-embassies-and/ ). Politifact checked the Global Terrorism Database between January 2001 and January 2009 (George W. Bush's terms) and found "39 attacks or attempted attacks on U.S. embassies and embassy personnel." The total death toll was 87. Politifact concludes, "So, using what we think is the most reasonable definition, Garamendi's numbers are a bit low." The report is very specific...you may want to read it.
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I love so many of the things Bernie Sanders stands for. I also believe we need him in the Senate with Elizabeth Warren to help run that vital body.
We need to know what Sanders supporters are thinking. The Nation offers "5 Things Hillary Can Do to Win Over Bernie's Supporters" (http://www.thenation.com/article/5-things-hillary-can-do-to-win-over-bernies-supporters/, D.D. Guttenplan, 6-8-16)
Guttenplan suggests that Sanders' supporters will need some time to mourn their dream... and they realize Clinton will need them in November to win over Trump!
He suggests Clinton supporters (1) should "back off "for a bit--wait until the D.C. primaries are over, (2) be gracious, and (3) follow Bernie's advice to "compromise when you can and explain why when you can't. We should (4) change election rules to be more fair--get rid of Superdelegates. We should ban lobbyists from contributing to the Democratic Party. We must make it clear that even if a candidate accepts contributions from the 1%...they don't own that person! And most important--we must all (5) support Clinton in her contest against Trump!
Guttenplan suggests that Millennials responded to Sanders' "vision of the world they want to live in--and raise their children in. A world where healthcare is a human right, where access to quality higher education isn't rationed by the ability to pay or the willingness to take on massive debt, where energy companies don't murder our future in the pursuit of profit...and a world where American workers aren't trapped in a race to the bottom competing with the 21st-century version of slave labor."
I believe Clinton supporters also want to live in that world.
I'll close with this statement from Benjamin O'Keefe from the Occupy Democrats website (https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/):
"Tonight I congratulate Bernie Sanders on a historic campaign that has inspired and motivated millions.I will also say that Secretary Clinton is not evil. She did not cheat. She is not a liar. Senator Clinton is a remarkable and incredibly intelligent woman who has done much good for this country. She cares. She deserves our respect. That doesn't mean that you have to agree with her on everything, but we are better than hate and sexism.
"One thing is clear: We must do whatever we can to stop Trump!"
Let us all go forth, unite our party, and elect Hillary Clinton president in November!