Obsessive-Compulsive Hillary Hatred Disorder

by Tom Kando

On October 26, I posted an article titled Obsessive-Compulsive Obama Hatred Disorder Today’s article is a parallel piece:

I am prompted to do this by Alex Seitz-Wald’s recent article Where is Hillary on Torture? which appeared on the Left/progressive site Reader Supported News.

The article (correctly) complains that Hillary Clinton has not spoken out (enough) about the use of torture on terrorism-related detainees. But what I want to focus on are the comments which follow the article: They unanimously express strong hatred for Ms. Clinton. For example:

● Billy Bob and dquandle: “(Killary) also showed interest in invading Syria and Iran...and starting WWIII in Ukraine while obliterating Libya.”

● Ritawalpoleague: “Hill the Shill will say anything to up her chances of grabbing the nomination...”

● Eldon J. Boedorn: “Bill married her. He would know...!!!”

● Old Uncle Dave: “Hillary exhibits psychopathic traits.”

● Malcolm: “Hillary’s goal in life is to appear as manly as the most manly man warrior. She ain’t about to show her ‘feminine’ side.”

● A_Har: “She’s an ‘honorary man’.”

● Fredboy and Dquandle: “ (Like the Nazis,)...what Hillary likes (is) people who follow orders.”

● Dquandle: “Hillary supports torture and supports mass murder by executive decree, and will engage in both when elected. She is a gorgon...”

● A_Har: “I am already seeing bumper stickers--"getting ready for Hillary." OMG, I will never be ready for that harpy. I will never vote for her...”

● Kootenay Coyote: “...people who were doing what they were told to do...' Clinton should have been a lawyer for the Nazis at Nuremberg, if she takes that view.” Etc.

And this is a Left/Progressive site! The hostility here is dwarfed by the venom spewed year after year by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party and my Republican acquaintances at my health club. To the Hillary-haters on the RIGHT, she is nothing less than the anti-Christ, Satan, Medusa, Maleficent the Witch and Bitch all wrapped into one.

Let’s compare the two diseases - Obama hatred and Hillary hatred:

1. To right-wingers, all problems are Obama’s fault - unemployment, terrorism, illegal immigration, ebola, bad weather, everything. To Hillary haters on both sides of the spectrum, all problems are also the fault of the Clintons.

2. To right-wingers, Obama is a left-wing extremist. To a majority of men, Hillary is a ball-breaking feminazi.

3. To many on both the Right and the Left, Obama is too weak. To many on both the Right and the Left, Hillary is too strong (a woman has no business being strong).

4. To the Right, Obama is an “imperial” president. To both the Right and the Left, Hillary is an opportunist.

5. Unspoken and never to be admitted are the unforgivable sins of these two individuals: Obama is not (fully) white, and Hillary is a woman.

There are many more Obama-haters and Hillary-haters on the Right than on the Left, and they are far more virulent. However, hatred for both of them is also found on the Left, because both politicians are moderate centrists. Hillary is slightly to Obama’s right, which explains why the Left is more critical of Hillary than it is of Obama. Republicans, Tea-partiers and conservatives hate both. Racists hate Obama more, sexists hate Hillary more, while men hate Hillary more. All of this is simple and predictable.

My question to progressives who hate Hillary is this: What is the matter with you? She may not be progressive enough, but surely ANY Republican alternative would be ten times worse, no? Were Elizabeth Warren to get the nomination, fine, I would happily vote for her, but how likely is that to happen, and how electable would she be in the general election? Do you want to hand over the presidency to the Republicans, as Ralph Nader gave it to Bush in 2000?

As to all the bs about Hillary being a cold, castrating and opportunistic bitch: where is your evidence? Why do you always judge people on superficial external appearances, rather than their accomplishments?

Okay, so she “appears” too strong for your taste. Well, if she appears strong, maybe it’s because she IS. When did strength become a weakness (except for women)? Hillary is threatening to millions of pathetic traditional guys who fear nothing more than a woman wearing the pants. Most men are sexist. And many women, too, are envious and fearful that they would be dominated by someone like Hillary Clinton.

Hillary’s strength is an asset. She was impressive when she tried to pass a health care plan in 1993. She was great when she banged on the table defending herself at Congressional Benghazi hearings in 2013. When she writes that “It takes a village,” and that her husband was the victim of “a vast right-wing conspiracy,” she makes an awful lot of sense. She was an excellent senator and secretary of state.

A strong woman is exactly what we need at the helm. We need a progressive Margaret Thatcher, an American Golda Meir or Indira Gandhi. Were Hillary Clinton to be our next President, she would be an Obama redux, a stronger and more assertive version of Obama. What a hoot!

The alternative: Give the Presidency to the Republicans, who already control every other branch of government. Finalize the right-wing counter-revolution. Hand over the country in perpetuity to the plutocracy, complete the destruction of unions, privatize the entire economy, return to a minimum-wage labor market, abolish any remnant of national health insurance and defined benefits such as Social Security and Medicare. Welcome to the new slavery.

© Tom Kando 2014

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