How Dare You!

We need to talk. How dare the leadership of the Democratic Party turn on Hillary Clinton! How dare they betray Bill Clinton! How dare they not speak out when Hillary is disrespected by words like bitch, whore and the "c" word! How dare they allow them both to be smeared as racists, playing the race card! Where was Howard Dean ? Where was Nancy Pelosi ? Where were Hillary's colleagues in the Senate when the Clintons were being so unfairly accused and denigrated? The Democratic Party has a lot to answer for. If we had stood as a party with one voice and said, "no", we will not allow one of our own to be so disturbingly maligned, we would now have a unified democratic party electorate at the end of a virtually tied primary race. Instead we are deeply divided. Now, since the party's leaders have chosen again and again not to speak up, I will.

I am a Hillary supporter and along with millions of Democrats throughout our country , I have been outraged by how the media have treated her throughout this primary season. But what is most disturbing is how my Party has stood by and allowed the demeaning and dishonest attacks on Hillary to continue. This is not the party I thought I belonged to. This is not the party that espouses fairness, justice and equality for all. This is not the party that elected Bill Clinton President in 1992 and 1996 and Hillary Clinton as Senator in 2000 and 2006. That party knew that it had benefited enormously from the Clinton administration as well as the incredible accomplishments of one of the most activist, hardworking First Ladies in our history. That Party stood proudly by a president who many called the first black president because both he and his wife had demonstrated a lifelong commitment to civil rights and human rights.

Imagine if Democratic leaders had done what Hillary did when President Bush associated Barack Obama with terrorism in his much lauded speech in Israel. Remember, Hillary gave a heartfelt statement that Barack was one of our own and she would not stand by and allow him to be so denigrated ?

Women are outraged. We are still fighting for her, and we are ashamed of how our candidate, a woman who has devoted her adult life to serving others, a woman who has been a distinguished First Lady, a woman who has helped her colleagues pass legislation and win races in their own states, a woman who has stood up for all of our rights, has been treated not just by the media but by her own Democratic Party. Throughout all this, Hillary has maintained her focus, her message and her dignity. This is truly courage under fire. This is what it takes to be a great president. It is not over until the lady in the pant suit says it is and I and millions of others are with her.

Comments

[yngcelt]

She wants to be President and she can't take the pressure just campaigning? What kind of fantasy world does she live in? Does she think that every other leader in the world is going to love and adore her? The kind of criticism and backstabbing she thinks she's getting now is NOTHING compared to what she would face if she were elected President!
Politics is a man's game. That's not a sexist comment, it's the truth. Ask any successful woman who has actually served in political office for more than just a year or two. And if you're going to get into a battle with men, you better be ready to give and take the hits like a man or get out!

[new logic]

OBTW didnt HC say"if U can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen"

[yngcelt]

You know, I do recall her saying something very similar to that. Guess it's easy to play the "tough chick" when no one is actually putting the pressure on you.

[lakephillip]

Get real Hillary has ONLY HERSELF to blame. It started in January, and continues to this day.

[cnobody]

I'll admit that I'm a little naive here, but what are some of the specific charges of sexism? I've heard that people are sick and tired of all of the sexism and misogyny toward Hillary, but what do they mean? What, specifically has been said by the news media or by Obama that has been sexist?

[wagadog]

"Women are outraged. We are still fighting for her, and we are ashamed of how our candidate"

"Women are outraged."

Yup.

" We are still fighting for her"

Yup. To leave the race, leave the party, leave the planet.
Though she seems to spend most of her time on Planet Hillary.

"...and we are ashamed of how our candidate"

Has behaved.

[grayday81]

I'm a woman and although I do think sexism came into the arena during this primary sometimes unfairly, Hillary took full advantage of it, she knew what she was doing. And in many ways she benefited from her moves. She divided us by making it a girl's only club by victimizing herself along with other women.

I refuse to be grouped in as a victim of a "male dominated world"!

AND I AM OUTRAGED at how HILLARY continued to divide us.

She made her bed and now she must lie in it.

[TBS]

I do not have a problem with Hillary being a "strong powerful woman."

But I do have a problem with her being calculating, deceptive, ruthlessly moving the goalposts to redefine what the definition of winning is, and adopting Karl Rove's playbook to smear her opponent. Somewhere along the line I began to doubt whether the woman had a soul or a conscience, and whether she cared about anything other than her sense of entitlement.

If women want to identify with her despite her own deep cynicism toward all of us, that is their right.

She had my vote at one time, but she is the one who lost it.

[kassandranobody]

i AM A WOMAN OF HILARY'S AGE- i AM A SMART WOMAN LIKE HER- UNLIKE HER I DONT HAVE A DEGREE FROM YALE- I DONT HAVE MILLIONS IN THE BANK. i DONT THINK I AM SMARTER THAN HER
BUT I CAN TELL YOU SHE IS EITHER BOUGHT OR STUPID- YOU DECIDE.
i REMEMBER THE KENNEDYS BEING SHOT- AND I REMEMBER HOW MUCH KENNEDY AND JOHNSON HATED EACH OTHER.
WOULD YOU WANT SOMEONE AS YOUR..........................................................................
.OBAMA DOESNT NEED A VICE PRESIDENT WHO WISHES HIM DEAD- REMEMBER JOHNSON? HILARY NEED TO GO THROUGH DE-PROGRAMING- I KNOW THERE IS STILL A HEART IN THERE SOMEWHERE.
i KNOW SHE IS NOT STUPID- SO SHE MUST BE BOUGHT
WE GAVE OBAMA HIS MONEY- HE OWES THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOT SOME SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP.
........

[TheMastadon]

To all of you Hillary Supporters who say you won't vote or will vote for McCain WHEN Obama is the Nominee... Go Straight to Hell, you make me sick.

I can't tell you how sick and tired I am of people bashing Obama for no other reason than more people voted for him and he ran a better campaign, which is why he became elected. Not some fabriacted reason that we're all sexist bastards who just hate the idea of a woman president.

Instead of realizing that Hillary was woefully overconfident and unprepared for Obama, you would give the Republicans another 4 years to drive our once great nation into the ground. I can't believe the height of your arrogance. Ask yourself if you approve of the way Washington has been run the last 8 years and see if you'd like to see something different. If you say yes then you're not a Democrat, and if you say no and still Don't vote for the Democratic Nominee, then you are just bitter and un-American and don't deserve your vote.

[CriticalDune]

Note to wealthy finance co-chair HRC supporter: it's over whether you like it or not. It's over because pledged delegates and the people who elected them say it's over and the supers respect their choice. It's over because the people who participated in sanctioned contests...which ALL the candidates and the DNC agreed (in writing) would count voiced their overwhelming preference for another candidate. It's over because HRC & Co. mismanaged their campaign and blew a (perceived to be nearly insurmountable) lead in delegates, money, and popularity in the polls. It's over because you and your fellow HRC supporters underestimated Barack Obama. I would have voted for HRC, had she been the nominee, even with all the kneecapping she and her surrogates engaged in on the trail, because of her commitment on the issues that matter to Dems. But you and I will be voting for a person named Barack Obama this fall because...it's over.

[JoeGuy]

This is so sad. Dare? Betray? Our candidate?

Poor Hillary and Bill- treated so badly by nasty men. HRC has been so divisive, she has lied, pandered (remember the gas holiday), misconstrued poll data. And Bill's terrible remarks have so damaged his legacy.

Jill Iscol is clearly such an HRC partisan that she is unable to look at the facts.

I am a lifelong Democratic activist, and at the beginning of the campaign I supported HRC. But after the things she has done- shame on her. Jill Iscol needs to open her eyes.

[TheMastadon]

I want one of you hardcore femenists to respond to this:

Why all of a sudden are you defending Bill Clinton? He embarassed his wife publicly in the worst possible way, he is a womanizer and an adulterer, then lied to his family and the country about what he had done.

Personally I think he was a good President who gave a lot to this Country, but as a FEMENIST, how can you defend him?

[Thebigkate]

Truth to tell--had Hillary Clinton maintained her dignity, focus and integrity, she might at this point be the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party. Instead she has played co-dependently by the rules set forth for her by her two "junkyard dogs"--Bill Clinton and Mark Penn. Both MEN! I believe had she listened more closely to the WOMEN in her campaign, and consulted her own gut, things would have gone better for her! Let's face the unpleasant fact that Hillary Clinton is not really a feminist. She has taken her direction from untrustworthy men from the get-go, and is now crying "VICTIM" because their tactics have not worked! I think her tragedy is not losing this nomination--but losing herself!!! She has become a parody of much that she has espoused in her public life!

[JimR]

I agree. The nomination was hers to lose. And she did a fine job botching that up with the lousy campaign she ran.

[ngannon]

You miss the point- Hillary- and yes, Bill, left us. I was a Bill supporter and then a Hillary supporter until her campaign and Bill's support of her tactics became intolerable for me. I don' think that I am overly idealistic but I found it increasingly hard to justify the lies and misrepresentations. This is not the woman that I want representing me- and at this point i am wondering about my past support of Bill- has he changed this much- or didn't I see the truth before? I am very happy supporting Obama. I will be very angry if Hillary's ego and pettiness gives us another Bush/McCain term in the White House. As a white female over 60 I am outraged that she would think that she could retain my vote while acting in such a deplorable manner. I am sick of people in the government who have no morals or scruples-time for a change.

[Zeje]

I am a woman and I am outraged -- Outraged by Hillary Clinton and her never ending lies. She voted for the war. Hillary supporters conveniently forget this. She voted for Kyle/ Lieberman resolution. She voted for the use of cluster bombs- -in civilian areas. She promoted NAFTA. She sided with the banks in rewriting bankruptcy laws, bad for middle Americans, good for banks. She sat on Walmarts board while Walmart was firing union organizers. She dismantled the welfare program, a safety net for poor women, black and white. She has lied and lied and lied and lied and lied. She got where she is by riding on her husband's coattails. She has fanned racism at every opportunity. She thinks she is entitled. I cannot understand Clinton supporters. How low can you go?

[biocultural13]

Maybe I'm sipping Kool-Aid, but I got a feeling Ms. Iscol's stayed a little too long at the cocktail party.

I thought this was a JOKE!! "Poor Hillary???" I'm a hard-core feminist and just don't GET that--maybe it's bc I'm young. Or maybe it's because I don't reify my candidates that way, and pretend that they are 'like' real people.

Did Hillary ALWAYS get an entirely fair shake in the media? As an 'anal' feminist who's into picking at minutia etc., I'd say not quite--she's a woman, and there's sexism EVERYWHERE. Relatiely speaking (compared to how i'm treated at job interviws or as a musicain or in ACADEMIC discussions, before I go out of my way to assert myself), I'd say she got a damn good wrap. But sexism was most particularly the real of the MEDIA (and maybe closed-doors, who knows. BUt that was gonna be hers.)

Did she get hurt in the ballots by it? I must say, running against a Gore or a Kerry, she might have been. But against a freshmen senator with a funny name and brown skin? C'mon now. Maybe female Democrats just can't 'wear' the DLC/Republicanesque politics the way males can.