Hillary Clinton in Concord, New Hampshire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The media has once again grabbed hold of minutia in order to dog Hillary Clinton. Just as in the 1990’s with the Whitewater investigation, the Republicans and the media have started in on her again. It should be pointed out that, that particular investigation turned up nothing at all, even after years of investigation. It is important to remember that Hillary was not in office during those years, but Republicans refer to the Presidency of Bill Clinton with Hillary included.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, January 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But one might ask, why Hillary Clinton? Surely she must be doing something wrong for all of this negative attention to be swirling around her. In order to fully understand, one must look at her role in history.
Hillary Clinton was one of the attorneys working on the Committee to Impeach President Nixon. And, her hard work, along with others, contributed to the decision to impeach President Nixon. The Republicans have apparently always remembered and kept that in mind when she first arrived in Washington as the First Lady as wife of President Bill Clinton. And so, her tenure as First Lady began with memories of her involvement in the Impeachment process of Richard Nixon. (Nixon resigned rather than be impeached.) She has always been referred to as an extremely smart woman, and some have said that she is “scary smart”.
She was somewhat harassed simply because she was a strong, independent woman, the likes of which no one had seen in a First Lady. Like Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary was educated, but unlike Eleanor, Hillary continued to work in her chosen field and alongside her husband during his time as governor. And, unlike Jackie Kennedy, Hillary did not fit the mold of intelligent, educated woman who would put it all aside to be wife and mother. So, she was initially a curiosity to those inside the beltway.
Official White House photo of President Bill Clinton and the First Lady, Hillary Clinton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When President Bill Clinton appointed her to be over the Healthcare task force, there was a political uproar. How dare she try to do something other than be a hostess for the President? She appeared in Congress to push the results of the healthcare package, but all of her hard work and efforts were ignored, and some surmised that it was not only because of her past history, but because she was a woman, a woman who refused to accept her place, and who refused to accept their truth that her place at the table was only as a wife. In their view, Hillary had no independent place at the table.
Then there was China. Hillary was invited as First Lady to attend a conference. However, in true Hillary form and style, she used the opportunity to speak up against the violation of women’s rights all over the globe, but particularly in China. She had been advised not to take China on, but she did. It was Hillary Clinton who coined the phrase: “Women’s rights are human rights.” And she did so in China, utilizing her bully pulpit in a courageous and bold manner.
Then there was the Monica Lewinski matter. Hillary gained the support and admiration of many women because she stood by her husband and their family unit, choosing to keep them together, when she could have walked away.
Another noteworthy event which was used against her was the terror attack in Benghazi. The name of that Libyan city is now an anti-Hillary battle cry. However, the underlying facts continue to be ignored. One of those facts is that the ambassador who was killed, routinely refused to have extra security. Why? Because he loved the Libyan people, and like to be amongst them without all the trappings of government. The other fact is that the State Department under Hillary Clinton, requests had been made to Congress for funding for additional security for U.S. ambassadors. Those requests were denied. But when events unfolded, the Republicans once again seized an opportunity to blame Hillary. The Republicans in Congress were hell-bent upon assigning blame to Hillary Clinton for the events in Benghazi. They ignored the fact that the Ambassador was her friend, and attempted to portray her as the one who knew the events were about to happen, and that she did nothing about it. So far, there has been no merit to their assertions. But, they continue, and have now set yet another hearing under the guise of the Benghazi events, for the purpose of grilling and harassing Hillary Clinton.
Among her critics are those who fault her for voting for the Iraq war while a United States senator. But so did everyone else. For they were all given the same false information by the Cheney group. Even Colin Powell has publicly admitted that he was misled, and that the information he provided to the United Nations was false. So why hold this against Hillary?
Fast forward. Now she is being scrutinized for using one email for all of her emails. A practice which violated no rules or law during the time she was Secretary of State. A story which has been pushed by the New York Times, but it is rumored that a reporter for that newspaper is pushing it due to her dislike of Hillary Clinton, and so far, the efforts have borne fruit. Her decline in the polls are based upon ‘distrust’. Yet, not one of these stories include the problem with Jeb Bush deleting emails, or George W. Bush & Dick Cheney using a private server and deleting nearly millions of emails. Not one word. Coin Powell took all of his emails with him, but no one is hounding him to provide them. Hillary, admittedly, was not on steady ground with the usage of modern technology, and some of that confusion has clearly surfaced within her emails. Does not anyone recognize the leaps and bounds via which technology has grown? One simply cannot compare current technology with the technology used while she was Secretary of State. If there was no rule or law broken, why is everyone clamoring for her emails?
It is the editor’s opinion that this hounding of Hillary is simply because there are far too many people in this country who do not want a woman for President, under any circumstances. Many believe that it is not a woman’s place, at least not in the United States of America. It’s time that they were proven wrong. Hillary should be given the same chance as anyone else, and if she is going to be hounded and harassed regarding her emails, then so should all of the men who did the same thing which she did.
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