Why an Apology to Hillary Helps All Women
Hillary, long a lightning rod for sexist abuse, suffered horrid treatment from the male owned mainstream press, which warned all women: “Step up and you’ll get a taste of what she’s getting. We got a whole lotta more for ya, little lady”. The effects of big media’s disgraceful treatment of her in both her 2008 and 2016 presidential runs are still felt today. Why else would Bernie Sanders tell Elizabeth Warren a woman can’t beat Trump. Despite his denials, Warren again confirmed his comments at last night’s Presidential debate. Earlier mentioning the “unfair” sexist attacks Hillary endured, VP Biden said “That’s not going to happen with me.” So that persnickety va-jay-jay won’t get in the way, huh, Joe? Per my original analysis of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election “loss”, in which she won the popular vote by nearly 3 million — more votes than any white man in history — the sum total of the reason for that “loss” was “penis” – she doesn’t have one.
Imagine that – two old white men are actually (although not admittedly) using maleness as a campaign advantage. Much more of their focus should be calling out such bias in order to end it, showing themselves to be true allies, not just paying lip service to misogyny and quickly moving on.
Sadly, a number of women have also confided to me that they are afraid a woman can’t win. Despite big media’s horse twaddle about Hillary being a “weak candidate,” they knew how powerful she was, how close she came to the Presidency, and how many disparate forces worked to stop her. I count six: GOP/Trump, Putin, corporate media, the professional left, Sanders and former FBI Director Comey. We well remember the onslaught and I’m sure these women fear the same attacks will come again should Senators Warren or Klobuchar approach the seat of power.
Do you think that Senator Kamala Harris would be gone from the race otherwise? The media saw her star power. Almost 3 years ago, I wrote how they Hillary-ized Kamala early, later defining her as a cop, a corporate whore and a climber who slept her way to the top, all while ignoring her accomplishments.
Candidate Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was defined as a woman who ruined Senator Franken’s career, despite the other women who came forward to accuse him of misconduct – and the number of other Democratic Senators who urged him to step down. She was quickly dismissed.
Isn’t it also obvious that some are afraid any other woman will not come close to Hillary’s numbers and don’t want to go through the same heartache again?
This is why an apology to Hillary Clinton matters to all women. Otherwise we wouldn’t be in an environment where non-stop nothing-burger email twaddle and myriad purportedly serious (they weren’t) “investigations” used to destroy her were reported ad nauseam, but facts that exonerated her were hardly a blip on the back page of the newspaper.
Per Ahmed Baba’s article in Rantt Media, Hillary Clinton Deserves An Apology:
During the 2016 election, the vast majority of the mainstream media covered Hillary Clinton like they were vetting the next President of the United States. On the other hand, they treated Donald Trump like the kid in the classroom who gets an A for effort. The American people were so distracted by emails/Russian propaganda and Clinton Foundation non-stories that they missed Trump’s conflicts of interest, his history of criminal fraud, the very real Trump Foundation “self-dealing” scandal, and the biggest story of all: Russia’s interference.
Rather than focus fire on a person who was demonstrating he was unfit for office, far too much of the media was consumed by negative stories about Hillary Clinton’s scandals. A 2017 Harvard study found during the 2016 election, the Clinton email scandal dominated news coverage. As we know now, some of this coverage was fueled by the emails released by Wikileaks, obtained from Russia’s hacking of the DNC.
Also, unlike 78-year-old Senator Sanders’ recent heart attack, which merited a mere blip in the press – and was quickly minimized and excused – Hillary Clinton’s one fainting moment while campaigning hard despite having pneumonia got non-stop coverage, speculating she was at death’s door — while minimizing then-candidate Trump’s corruption:
After the election, the Trump Foundation admitted to the IRS that they were indeed, “self-dealing.” It turns out, Trump was guilty of what the media was trying to accuse Clinton of — and one of their colleagues had already uncovered it. But Clinton’s pneumonia was more important to them.
As previously covered here, FBI director Comey’s interference in the election was the last nail in the coffin of Clinton’s electoral chances:
And, of course, we have the coverage of Comey’s letter to Congress about new emails he found days before the election. While Comey sent a subsequent letter claiming he found nothing, the damage to her election chances was done.
I encourage you to read Mr. Baba’s entire article.
The closer a woman gets to the seat of power, the more she’ll get what Hillary got. And if corporate media, the GOP or professional left isn’t going after a woman as hard – it means they aren’t worried she can win.
Until we take the time to insist upon an apology for Hillary and trumpet the truth about her years of service and skill on policy on the front page of the New York Times, the bunkum used to take her down will never change.
Any woman who gets a shot will have to fight an uphill battle that has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with “tone,” being “untrustworthy,” a “mean girl,” “conniving,” a “priss” or a “granny” – anything to keep her being taken seriously.
Haven’t we had enough?
17 Comments
I will never support ANY candidate who does NOT praise Hillary for her courage and dignity and recognise that the first woman POTUS WAS Hillary Clinton.
The Democratic Party, to which she has given her life has let her down terribly.
I am 100% with you on this Krystyna. Hillary has done more for women and children – she was the first on healthcare back in 1982. Her treatment by the media sickens me daily! The best candidate to run for President, per Barack Obama, most qualified, pulled down by the media daily and the FBI with their biased treatment while Trump investigation was never reported before votes were cast. The men were so petrified of putting a qualified, intelligent woman in charge of our Country. Shame on them all! Forever disturbed and will never get over this illegitimate election.
Spot on, Ann. Almost impossible to get past what we lost. So important that we FINALLY stop sweeping this all under the rug. Sadly, too many who print ink by the barrel are, shamefully, too busy covering their own arses to admit it.
Amen, Krystyna.
It’s weird how I agree with everything you wrote, and yet, Hillary Clinton still controlled her destiny..She chose not to get in great physical shape during her three years off. Her health declined from the record amount of flying she did as Secretary of State and just like Trump, didn’t think it was important to get in great physical shape.
Her Forays into Michigan included lets land the plane and have some pressers in the Airport.
But the biggest mistake she made was not even considering Facebook targeted ads. Trump stumbled into them via his real estate empire and found a marketing whiz who ended up supervising a massive facebook ad campaign that was targeted down to the street level.
Hillary Clinton refused to learn and so every week 2 or 3 days out of that week Facebook people would show up at Trump Towers and go over how to target political ads.
As for the 3 million vote differential, California is nuttersville. They have discarded the elderly so they can pump money into all immigration issues. Nuttersville believes in INSTANT ENTITLEMENTS as being as important or more important than EARNED ENTITLEMENTS that people spent decades earning.
AM, please stop pushing this narrative of her not being in physical shape on my website. Her drive and stamina drove those half her age into the ground. She’s famous for it. Likewise this Facebook stuff ignores so many real forces who worked nonstop to take her down.
Not once do I recall any coverage of Hillary Clinton’s physical fitness. I think the TV show Madam Secretary showed the type of blend people are looking for from a Presidential candidate, and part of that image was her physical fitness. This ongoing protection of HIllary Clinton’s lack of physical fitness just empowers her to not care. If she is physically fit, why not show it off.
I did not understand your comment in regards to Facebook. I did my own target test recently and had a shockingly good response to a video I made. The Democrats are using California as a base to imply they are the more powerful party. The House Impeachment vote outside of Nuttersville California was 190-185 NO Impeachment. Pelosi’s own district is falling apart. The demand that all Undocumented be allowed into the U.S. and California while California homelessness explodes who so profoundly obtuse. The 45 Dems, 7 Republican Super Majority in California has created a level of political in breeding never seen before. I’ve live In California for 40 years, I have pieced together a political journey that results in 1/2 million Californian’s leaving every year, most because they have to because of overtaxation and a system that focuses first ad foremost on Undocumented Migration at all levels of Government.
Liz is a serial liar. Bernie has 40 years of video and statements. In a court of law if all evidence was presented, she would lose big time. She was desperate because she is a flip flopping liar. Throwing things to see what sticks. She was losing because of her lack of policy, not because of what was in her pants. Intelligent people vote policy and vision not sex. You are the sexist in this very article. Get over it. Liz is not electable, even before this lie.
Nowhere in this article do I claim to be a Liz fan. However, it is most telling that anytime anyone criticizes messiah Bernie, his more fervent supporters haul out insults. You can’t believe that helps your guy, can you? I have always been a huge Hillary supporter, but it would never occur to me to go to a Bernie site and be a flame thrower.
Forgive my ignorance but what is the “professional left?” Sadly, for me, no current candidate, male or female, holds a candle to Hillary. They are all so far left, so entrenched in the swamp and, no question, Bernie (and Joe for that matter) is sexist. Barack and Michelle were complicit in Hillary’s demise, only finally supporting her when it benefited his possible legacy. The current options sicken me.There really is no option for a moderate. I’d vote for you Anita!
Scientists tell us we have maybe 10 years left to try to save the world from extinction due to climate change. Trump is a fascist and a grifter, and if he’s not thrown out of office he’ll plunge the nation into a recession from which we’ll never recover, because he and his friends will loot everything of value. So exactly why would anyone want to spend this particular moment relitigating the 2016 election? There is no value to this. Is there sexism? Of course there is, and the best way to fight it is in the present, not in the past. Did Bernie Sanders make that statement? I don’t think so, and it seems most people don’t believe it either. But what is clear is that Warren’s campaign put that out there to try to create the impression in the public that Bernie is a sexist so she could steal some of his supporters. Typical politics, but not really an issue of sexism. Elizabeth Warren is smart, energetic, has great ideas, and it is entirely possible she will not receive the nomination because some people will not vote for a woman. But the better focus would be on the fact that in the last two presidential campaigns, the democrats have had strong female candidates front and center, reflecting the belief of many democrats that we are ready for a woman. So instead of blasting other democrats, the better move would be to bring more people into the party and get them on our team.
Thanks but you don’t get to come to my website and tell me what to be concerned about. This piece hardly blasts Democrats but makes the point that as long as we pay lip service to sexism and misogyny, it will continue. It is 2020 and women still do not have autonomy over their own bodies yet we are 51% of the population. No one has to re-litigate anything, because this crap is still happening, as I clearly state.
Funny how Tulsi is not mentioned in this piece.
She’s treated even more harshly than what is claimed here about Hillary, Kamala and the rest.
Funny how it is not my job to cover every single angle and mention every single person in every piece I write. I have a zero tolerance policy for sexism, however. Anyone who happened to have read my book (and I’m not telling you to do so) would know that.
Anita – OMG – I ust saw this! Really great article – and, once again, thank you for keeping the RANT alive with beautifully presented facts and charts!
You should have mentioned Tulsi.
Mention Gabbard based on her support of the democratic party’s platform? She is at odds with the democratic party more often than she is in support of it. In fact, I think Gabbard would be more at home running as a republican. She is loved by the conservative right for her political stances. Why is that? The enigmatic congresswoman has earned substantial praise from many across the right—from Fox News star Tucker Carlson to white nationalists like David Duke.
Gabbard is, in fact, a favorite of Russian propaganda machines. A general rule of thumb I think Americans should all be able to agree on is that whoever the Russians want elected president, we should not elect president. That seems obvious, but then, 62,984,828 citizens didn’t get the memo in 2016.
In addition, Gabbard has routinely expressed sympathy for a key Russian ally, Syrian autocrat Bashar Assad, whom she met with in 2017, even to the point of being openly skeptical of expert reports that Assad had used chemical weapons against his own civilians in Syria.
If she is trying to beat Trump, then she shouldn’t talk like Trump. That’s why many end up believing she is an unwitting Russian asset. While she’s almost certainly not a Russian asset. Or even a Republican. She just needs to stop sounding like one.