I honestly think I would really like Hillary Clinton if I knew her personally

[Tom Rinaldo]

It's a funny thought for me to settle on now, with a huge election test looming on Super Tuesday. But it's the one that has slowly been working it's way up from my sub conscious mind, and now that it's arrived I'm looking at it, and it's looking back at me. Over the last six months I have seen an extraordinary amount of very negative adjectives and names attached to Hillary Clinton on political discussion boards. Down right evil words used to describe her, with "unlikable" firmly lodged at the benign end of the available spectrum. But I am not finding her unlikable at all. I am seeing much to admire about Hillary instead.

It occurred to me, how would it effect me if that type of bitter derision and accusatory hatred was aimed toward me every day? And not just by those who I can understand may have good reason to be my enemy, but also by those whose goals and vision for America I too share. A whole lot worse than it has effected her was my very quick and certain answer for myself. And Hillary has been dealing with this, to greater and lesser extents daily for over 15 years. All because she long ago dedicated her life to making a positive difference in other people's lives.

That is really what this is about for her, I have no real doubt about that. And I know that Hillary Clinton is far from being alone in politics in having made that type of personal commitment. But very few have been attacked as fiercely, as relentlessly, and for as long because of that commitment than Hillary Clinton has. She has incredible inner strength. Many people notice that, but lately I have been seeing the grace in Hillary Clinton also. Though sometimes she flashes angry, it doesn't harden into bitterness. Hillary can take a punch and come back swinging, but she knows when, and how, to take off her boxing gloves when each round is over.

Hillary's words of unity may not sound as inspirational as another famous Democrat whose name pops up a lot nowadays, but she knows how to live those words. She does it so our nation might prosper. Less than three years after the Republican dominated United States Senate tried her husband in public for high crimes and misdemeanors in an attempt to remove him from office, Hillary Clinton entered that chamber as a Senator herself. She went hard to work building the type of connections that were necessary to accomplish goals on behalf of her constituents in a divided chamber under the control of Republicans. And by all reports she succeeded.

On a very personal level Hillary's own house was earlier divided, while people across the globe discussed her husband's semen stain on another womens dress. It pains me to write that, what must it have been like to live it? Not only did Hillary Clinton find the strength to hold her head high and continue to function in public, but she stepped forward on a political level to call out by name "the vast right wing conspiracy" then attempting a quasi legal governmental coup against the elected President - her husband.

And Hillary continued to raise her teen age daughter throughout all of it, somehow shielding Chelsea's spirit from the soul deadening effect of the toxins that swirled around their lives. Hillary Clinton held her family together, Chelsea never lost the love of either parent, and today that young woman is a magnificent human being.

This year I watched in Chicago when Hillary Clinton came to Yearly Kos. She was not in friendly territory. Kossacks were respectful enough but it was clear by and large that their hearts belonged to someone else. Several someone elses in fact. Hillary Clinton was viewed as the establishment by a crowd who saw themselves as an insurgency. But she was there and she sat on that stage through a nearly two hour debate not shying away from positions that were not tailored to win that audience's approval. And Hillary remained in good humor throughout all of it.

That is something I have been thinking about today. I think MoveOn.org's rejection of Hillary as a candidate may have something to do with my thinking along these lines. Hillary Clinton, you may recall, defended MoveOn.org when they were red baited in the U.S. Senate, and she was in a minority of Senators who did so. Hillary never runs against the left no matter how ugly the attacks on her have been. She keeps seeking our support respectfully, whether or not the netroots treat her respectfully in return. That is classy, and, I think, a public reflection of the private grace that her own family is more privy to seeing than we.

I see Hillary forced to banter with people like Chris Mathews and I come away impressed. He could have been knifing her yesterday and Hillary will still embrace him in public while dead panning "I don't know how to handle men who are obsessed with me"; but the truth is she has handled all of them, all of the Hillary hating, double standard setting, sexist talking head media males extremely well. They are the divisive ones, the unlikable ones, not Hillary Clinton.

We all know how hard Hillary can be when she is facing a real fight, but she can be soft too. When she talks to gay and lesbian teens about a deadly plague of suicides and says; "we've gotta do everything we can to send a clear message that we value you, we value you as a person, as a total person, and we want you to feel accepted and respected in your community", that is going beyond mere tolerance. Hillary has been fighting for youth and families for over 20 years. Most voters have little idea how long and deeply she has cared about the health of children in America.

Both Hillary Clinton and her current primary opponent, Barack Obama, carry the weight of history on their shoulders now, moving into political territory no person of their race or gender has traveled in America before. I give them both great credit for that, but this piece is devoted to watching and reflecting on Hillary, the supposedly less likable one according to America's pundits. Throughout what is an obvious ordeal Hillary has never lost her charm. I know she has had to watch each gesture, more so than any white man certainly, as people read her every move, the cut of her dress, the pitch of her voice, the range of her emotional expression, and her ability to convey strength without appearing cold or unfeminine.

Throughout all of it, Hillary Clinton still talks about the issues, about the wrongs in America and the fixes it will take to right them. And she keeps fighting, applying her quick and subtle intelligence and indomitable work ethic to doing exactly that. And I like her. I honestly like Hillary Clinton for all of that and more. This isn't quite the way the Beatles sang it, but the change will do us good. To Hillary then, with love:

Girl, you've got to carry that weight, carry that weight a long time.

[Captain_Nemo]

1. and listen to her voice - this is a commentary

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html
___________________________________________________________________________________________

"So listen to her voice."

“For too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there
are those who are trying to silence our words.

“It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated,
or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls. It is a violation of
human rights when woman and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution. It
is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire
and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small. It is a
violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities
and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war. It
is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide along women
ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes. It is a
violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families,
and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their
will.

“Women’s rights are human rights. Among those rights are the right to speak freely—and
the right to be heard.”

That was Hillary Rodham Clinton defying the U.S. State Department and the Chinese
Government at the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing (look here for the
full, stunning speech).

And this voice, age 22, in “Commencement Remarks of Hillary D. Rodham, President
of Wellesley College Government Association, Class of 1969.”

"Me? I support Hillary Rodham because she’s the best qualified of all candidates
running in both parties. I support her because she’s refreshingly thoughtful, and
I’m bloodied from eight years of a jolly “uniter” with ejaculatory politics. I needn’t
agree with her on every point. I agree with the 97 percent of her positions that
are identical with Obama’s—and the few where hers are both more practical and to
the left of his (like health care). I support her because she’s already smashed
the first-lady stereotype and made history as a fine senator, because I believe
she will continue to make history not only as the first U.S. woman president, but
as a great U.S. president.

As for the “woman thing”?

Me, I’m voting for Hillary not because she’s a woman—but because I am."

-Robin Morgan February 2008

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. Are her commencement comments at that link?

This is above but not the comments:

"And this voice, age 22, in “Commencement Remarks of Hillary D. Rodham, President
of Wellesley College Government Association, Class of 1969.”


I heard about that speech and would really like to read it.

P.S. I must have been typing my post about no posts while you were posting yours, lol

[Marie26]

36. Here it is

IMO this speech is sort of a touchstone for Clinton & even now I can hear echoes of some of the ideals she expressed in that speech in the things that she says now. Reading this speech really helped me to understand Hillary Clinton better & see where she was coming from.

"I am very glad that Miss Adams made it clear that what I am speaking for today is all of us -- the 400 of us -- and I find myself in a familiar position, that of reacting, something that our generation has been doing for quite a while now. We're not in the positions yet of leadership and power, but we do have that indispensable task of criticizing and constructive protest and I find myself reacting just briefly to some of the things that Senator Brooke said. This has to be brief because I do have a little speech to give.

Part of the problem with empathy with professed goals is that empathy doesn't do us anything. We've had lots of empathy; we've had lots of sympathy, but we feel that for too long our leaders have used politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible. What does it mean to hear that 13.3% of the people in this country are below the poverty line? That's a percentage. We're not interested in social reconstruction; it's human reconstruction. How can we talk about percentages and trends? The complexities are not lost in our analyses, but perhaps they're just put into what we consider a more human and eventually a more progressive perspective.

The question about possible and impossible was one that we brought with us to Wellesley four years ago. We arrived not yet knowing what was not possible. Consequently, we expected a lot. Our attitudes are easily understood having grown up, having come to consciousness in the first five years of this decade -- years dominated by men with dreams, men in the civil rights movement, the Peace Corps, the space program -- so we arrived at Wellesley and we found, as all of us have found, that there was a gap between expectation and realities. But it wasn't a discouraging gap and it didn't turn us into cynical, bitter old women at the age of 18. It just inspired us to do something about that gap. ..."



http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Commencement/1969/053169hillary.html

[Tom Rinaldo]

39. "To be educated to freedom must be evidenced in action"

There are so many great quotes in that speech. Thank you for locating it for us. This is Hillary 37 years ago. It's almost like finding footage of John Kerry speaking at an Anit-Viet Nam War rally. It's a snap shot taken of an early but abiding passion that animated a great political career that bloomed from much more humble activist youth roots.

[elixir]

60. I'm not sure if someone already sent you this - HRC commencement speech. Great stuff!

Wellesley College
1969 Student Commencement Speech
Hillary D. Rodham
May 31, 1969
Remarks of Hillary D. Rodham, President of the Wellesley College Government Association and member of the Class of 1969, on the occasion of Wellesley's 91st Commencement, May 31, 1969:

I am very glad that Miss Adams made it clear that what I am speaking for today is all of us -- the 400 of us -- and I find myself in a familiar position, that of reacting, something that our generation has been doing for quite a while now. We're not in the positions yet of leadership and power, but we do have that indispensable task of criticizing and constructive protest and I find myself reacting just briefly to some of the things that Senator Brooke said. This has to be brief because I do have a little speech to give. Part of the problem with empathy with professed goals is that empathy doesn't do us anything. We've had lots of empathy; we've had lots of sympathy, but we feel that for too long our leaders have used politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible. What does it mean to hear that 13.3% of the people in this country are below the poverty line? That's a percentage. We're not interested in social reconstruction; it's human reconstruction. How can we talk about percentages and trends? The complexities are not lost in our analyses, but perhaps they're just put into what we consider a more human and eventually a more progressive perspective. The question about possible and impossible was one that we brought with us to Wellesley four years ago. We arrived not yet knowing what was not possible. Consequently, we expected a lot. Our attitudes are easily understood having grown up, having come to consciousness in the first five years of this decade -- years dominated by men with dreams, men in the civil rights movement, the Peace Corps, the space program -- so we arrived at Wellesley and we found, as all of us have found, that there was a gap between expectation and realities. But it wasn't a discouraging gap and it didn't turn us into cynical, bitter old women at the age of 18. It just inspired us to do something about that gap. What we did is often difficult for some people to understand. They ask us quite often: "Why, if you're dissatisfied, do you stay in a place?" Well, if you didn't care a lot about it you wouldn't stay. It's almost as though my mother used to say, "I'll always love you but there are times when I certainly won't like you." Our love for this place, this particular place, Wellesley College, coupled with our freedom from the burden of an inauthentic reality allowed us to question basic assumptions underlying our education. Before the days of the media orchestrated demonstrations, we had our own gathering over in Founder's parking lot. We protested against the rigid academic distribution requirement. We worked for a pass-fail system. We worked for a say in some of the process of academic decision making. And luckily we were in a place where, when we questioned the meaning of a liberal arts education there were people with enough imagination to respond to that questioning. So we have made progress. We have achieved some of the things that initially saw as lacking in that gap between expectation and reality. Our concerns were not, of course, solely academic as all of us know. We worried about inside Wellesley questions of admissions, the kind of people that should be coming to Wellesley, the process for getting them here. We questioned about what responsibility we should have both for our lives as individuals and for our lives as members of a collective group.

Coupled with our concerns for the Wellesley inside here in the community were our concerns for what happened beyond Hathaway House. We wanted to know what relationship Wellesley was going to have to the outer world. We were lucky in that one of the first things Miss Adams did was to set up a cross-registration with MIT because everyone knows that education just can't have any parochial bounds any more. One of the other things that we did was the Upward Bound program. There are so many other things that we could talk about; so many attempts, at least the way we saw it, to pull ourselves into the world outside. And I think we've succeeded. There will be an Upward Bound program, just for one example, on the campus this summer.

Many of the issues that I've mentioned -- those of sharing power and responsibility, those of assuming power and responsibility have been general concerns on campuses throughout the world. But underlying those concerns there is a theme, a theme which is so trite and so old because the words are so familiar. It talks about integrity and trust and respect. Words have a funny way of trapping our minds on the way to our tongues but there are necessary means even in this multi-media age for attempting to come to grasps with some of the inarticulate maybe even inarticulable things that we're feeling. We are, all of us, exploring a world that none of us even understands and attempting to create within that uncertainty. But there are some things we feel, feelings that our prevailing, acquisitive, and competitive corporate life, including tragically the universities, is not the way of life for us. We're searching for more immediate, ecstatic and penetrating mode of living. And so our questions, our questions about our institutions, about our colleges, about our churches, about our government continue. The questions about those institutions are familiar to all of us. We have seen heralded across the newspapers. Senator Brooke has suggested some of them this morning. But along with using these words -- integrity, trust, and respect -- in regard to institutions and leaders we're perhaps harshest with them in regard to ourselves.

Every protest, every dissent, whether it's an individual academic paper, Founder's parking lot demonstration, is unabashedly an attempt to forge an identity in this particular age. That attempt at forging for many of us over the past four years has meant coming to terms with our humanness. Within the context of a society that we perceive -- now we can talk about reality, and I would like to talk about reality sometime, authentic reality, inauthentic reality, and what we have to accept of what we see -- but our perception of it is that it hovers often between the possibility of disaster and the potentiality for imaginatively responding to men's needs. There's a very strange conservative strain that goes through a lot of New Left, collegiate protests that I find very intriguing because it harkens back to a lot of the old virtues, to the fulfillment of original ideas. And it's also a very unique American experience. It's such a great adventure. If the experiment in human living doesn't work in this country, in this age, it's not going to work anywhere.

But we also know that to be educated, the goal of it must be human liberation. A liberation enabling each of us to fulfill our capacity so as to be free to create within and around ourselves. To be educated to freedom must be evidenced in action, and here again is where we ask ourselves, as we have asked our parents and our teachers, questions about integrity, trust, and respect. Those three words mean different things to all of us. Some of the things they can mean, for instance: Integrity, the courage to be whole, to try to mold an entire person in this particular context, living in relation to one another in the full poetry of existence. If the only tool we have ultimately to use is our lives, so we use it in the way we can by choosing a way to live that will demonstrate the way we feel and the way we know. Integrity -- a man like Paul Santmire. Trust. This is one word that when I asked the class at our rehearsal what it was they wanted me to say for them, everyone came up to me and said "Talk about trust, talk about the lack of trust both for us and the way we feel about others. Talk about the trust bust." What can you say about it? What can you say about a feeling that permeates a generation and that perhaps is not even understood by those who are distrusted? All they can do is keep trying again and again and again. There's that wonderful line in East Coker by Eliot about there's only the trying, again and again and again; to win again what we've lost before.

And then respect. There's that mutuality of respect between people where you don't see people as percentage points. Where you don't manipulate people. Where you're not interested in social engineering for people. The struggle for an integrated life existing in an atmosphere of communal trust and respect is one with desperately important political and social consequences. And the word "consequences" of course catapults us into the future. One of the most tragic things that happened yesterday, a beautiful day, was that I was talking to woman who said that she wouldn't want to be me for anything in the world. She wouldn't want to live today and look ahead to what it is she sees because she's afraid. Fear is always with us but we just don't have time for it. Not now.

There are two people that I would like to thank before concluding. That's Ellie Acheson, who is the spearhead for this, and also Nancy Scheibner who wrote this poem which is the last thing that I would like to read:

My entrance into the world of so-called "social problems"
Must be with quiet laughter, or not at all.
The hollow men of anger and bitterness
The bountiful ladies of righteous degradation
All must be left to a bygone age.
And the purpose of history is to provide a receptacle
For all those myths and oddments
Which oddly we have acquired
And from which we would become unburdened
To create a newer world
To transform the future into the present.
We have no need of false revolutions
In a world where categories tend to tyrannize our minds
And hang our wills up on narrow pegs.
It is well at every given moment to seek the limits in our lives.
And once those limits are understood
To understand that limitations no longer exist.
Earth could be fair. And you and I must be free
Not to save the world in a glorious crusade
Not to kill ourselves with a nameless gnawing pain
But to practice with all the skill of our being
The art of making possible.

[Tom Rinaldo]

61. Someone gave the link, but it is nice to have the whole speech posted

I remember in 2004 how many of us were interested in what John Kerry was like in 1969. This gives us a real feel for what Hillary Clinton was like then. I think a lot of the younger voters who are getting drawn into this campaign now can relate to what Hillary said back then.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Two "R"s but no comments so far

and so about to drop off the front page. Hell two R's for 45 reads is a good ratio, worth sending this back up page again anyway.

[Maribelle]

31. Sheesh

Can't a chick get some sleep?

[Tom Rinaldo]

32. Sleep? AT 2:00 AM when this OP went up?

How old fashioned. Obviously you are not an Obama supporter :)

[Maribelle]

34. I needed my rest for Super-Bowl Sunday.

Which reminds me, although I know she is the beloved senator from New York - - Hillary reminds me of Tom Brady in many ways.

[rodeodance]

50. its 6:15 pm now and just appeared on my horizen.

[AGirl]

4. powerful stuff. Go HIllary!

[Armstead]

5. I might like her too -- But I have much more fundamental problems with her

My problems with have more to do with her worldview, her status among the Establishment Elites and the fact that she and her husband have done much to dismantle liberalism and progressive populism as a political force.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. You know, I've been part of a ton of threads talking about that stuff

Of course debating those types of issues and concerns are central to the choice we have to make between the candidates.

But tonight I just felt like talking about something else regarding Hillary, this. So I did, pure and simple.

[Armstead]

28. To be honest, I was trying to give you a hand

It looked like you wanted some comments to keep the thread alive.

[Tom Rinaldo]

30. LOL I did, you're right...

and I didn't take offense in the slightest at anything you wrote. Thanks.

[Lucinda]

11. And I think that they accomplished a lot in an extremely hostile envirmonment.

I guess its just a matter of perspective.

[bellasgrams]

16. What is wrong with her worldview? What is her status among the

Establishment Elites? How has she and her husband dismantled liberalism and progressive populism as a political force? I am serious about this. I don't even know what you're talking about.

McCain wants to continue the war, who knows what he will do with the economy, but he agrees with Bush to much.

I sincerely believe BO could not possibly be an effective Leader. He just doesn't have the know how. Who will he choose to help him make decisions? He's close to Lieberman, Kennedy, Kerry but I don't think Kennedy or Kerry would leave the senate to play teacher. Do we need another Cheney?

So that leaves us Hillary, a well established bright person who if she was a male with any name but Clinton would have no problem winning. Gender, and name shouldn't make a difference just like BHO's name shouldn't make a diff. nor his race. Have you ever listened to just 1 of Hillary's speeches and listened to her take questions? If you would allow yourself you might find she is a good person who is qualified, completely knowledgeable, talks in detail of the things she feels the country should do. True she would not make a good preacher or rock star but she would be the best of all candidates left in the race.

[Armstead]

29. Economic Neo-liberalism

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4333840&mesg_id=4333840

[Control-Z]

22. Did you really need to shit

on this beautiful thread?

[Rageneau]

6. Nice thinking. Nice conclusions. Hillary is a nice person.

Fact is, she's a much better person than most of her critics are.

[REDFISHBLUEFISH]

8. Hillary is likable, Hillary 08!

[Lucinda]

7. That was beautiful Tom. Thank You.

K&R
I agree with you, point for point.

[ugdude]

10. Doesn't seem like a nice person

by Hudson
Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 08:55:23 PM PST

When it comes to Hillary Clinton, there is no shortage of unfair and unprincipled reasons for disliking her -- and if you listen to AM talk radio for an hour, you'll probably hear them all.

I reject the sexism of those who still think a former First Lady has no place in policy debates, just as I reject the absurd theories of those who think she had a hand in the death of her close friend Vince Foster.

Having volunteered on Clinton's first senate campaign, I get mad when I hear Rush Limbaugh savage her as a liar and an opportunist. I'm also grateful to her for keeping Rudy Guiliani and Rick Lazio out of the Senate.

But you don't have to be a sexist or a conspiracy theorist to oppose Clinton's candidacy.

I don't dislike Hillary; I distrust her. And my reasons are both substantive, and based on direct personal experience.

When a major issue hit the area where I live, New York's Hudson Valley, Clinton was less than honest with her constituents, and all too eager to take credit where none was due.

Hudson's diary :: ::
For nearly 7 years, Hudson Valley communities were riven with controversy about a vast, coal-burning facility proposed by St. Lawrence Cement here in the Hudson Valley.

The company, a subsidiary of what was then the largest cement manufacturer in the world, had a horrendous track record of both environmental destruction and anti-competitive behavior, with millions of dollars of fines on the books.

The project would have burned some 500 million pounds of coal annually, with a 40-story smokestack, a 1,200-acre mine, and a huge barge facility on the Hudson, an American Heritage River. The controversy was covered everywhere from CNN to Swiss television, and every major Northeast newspapers (The New York Times, Hartford Courant, Boston Globe, et al.) opposed it editorially. The nearly seven-year battle was the subject of a PBS documentary, Two Square Miles.

Given the harsh health, scenic, noise, traffic, economic and other negative potential impacts of the project -- opponents naturally wanted to get the ear of Mrs. Clinton, and we tried everything.

She was approached at campaign whistlestops, at private dinners, and public fundraisers. Printed factsheets were pressed into staffers' hands, and handwritten letters beseeched our new Senator to help end this dangerous idea. But she refused to take any public stand.

Finally, as the leader of the grassroots opposition, I tried an old-fashioned political route. A friend identified a celebrity donor in nearby Dutchess County who was opposed to St. Lawrence's plans, and he called in a big favor. Driving to the capitol in his limo, we met with Hillary first in a chamber outside the Armed Services Committee, then took a long walk and tram ride under the Capitol to her offices. Hillary was both charming, and surprisingly well-informed on our issue.

At last, here was my big chance to make a full case for her involvement.

But when I launched into a carefully-prepared spiel, the Senator stopped me: "You don't need to do the presentation," she said. "The plant is a terrible idea. Just tell me how I can help." Delighted, I described the various Federal permitting processes in which she could intervene, and the benefits of her taking a public stand.

She called in her chief environmental policy advisor, and gave detailed instructions: Get a memo on her desk right away, listing the necessary action steps and the policy rationales for each, and she'd get right to work on it. Her performance was smart and convincing, and her celebrity backer and I practically floated down the Capitol steps on the way out.

The rest was silence. After promptly delivering the requested memo, I was never able to get her staff (let alone the Senator herself) to discuss the issue again, let alone take action to stop the plant.

About a year later, Clinton was cornered on the SLC issue by an interviewer from The National Trust for Historic Preservation, who finally got her to say that she thought the proposal was "not the right direction for the Hudson Valley." These remarks were published in Preservation Magazine, which Clinton apparently thought no one would read... because when we then alerted local media to her statement, Clinton's staff denied the remarks and claimed she still had not taken a position.

Only after nearly 14,000 residents and 40 groups wrote in opposition to the Republican administration of George Pataki did this terrible project get scrapped. The company spent $60 million, and yet the citizens managed to stave off the largest cement company in the world -- no thanks to Hillary.

But there was one more damning chapter in our Clinton saga.

After we won, the group I co-founded received an award at the Waldorf-Astoria from the Preservation League of New York. During the award ceremony, it was announced that there would be a video tribute from someone who couldn't attend, but who wanted to pay her respects. Up on a giant screen came Hillary Clinton, talking about how we'd all fought such a good fight together.

Those of us who had been in the trenches for years looked at each other in amazement. All the awful things people say about Hillary were horribly validated: She didn't deliver on her promises, and then she took credit for a victory achieved without her help.

Now, some friends say, "Come now -- all politicians are the same. They tell you what you want to hear, and then do the opposite. Get over it!" Others say, "Well, Hillary dropped the ball on that one, but I still trust her on health care, education, abortion, the economy, et cetera."

To these excuses I say: Other politicians from five states had the guts to take a stand on an issue affecting hundreds of thousands of downwind residents; why couldn't Clinton?

Why should we expect her to act differently the next time a major regional controversy hits? If she won't stand up for the health of our local children and the elderly, and won't expend any political capital to save a broad swath of her own adopted State as its Senator, why should we expect her to behave differently as President?

And why shouldn't I get behind another candidate who is just as strong on core Democratic issues, such as Barack Obama -- whose campaign overtly rejects this cynical brand of politics?

The whole experience brings to mind that phrase famously mangled by our current President: Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, shame on Hillary.

And that's why Senator Clinton doesn't have my vote on Super Tuesday. She will almost certainly carry this State, but our votes can help ensure that at least a portion of New York's delegates to the Democratic convention are awarded to a more deserving candidate.



These are people who have met her BTW.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/1/234527/0014/392/448115

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. That Diarist has a reason to be upset

I won't trivialize it, but I suspect that every successful politician gets put into situations where some choice will be made for reasons that in the larger picture seem to make important sense, that coflict with other values and priorities they also hold as important. Sometimes, usually even, it can be done in a sensitive open manner. Sometimes that is hard to finess, or it simply gets botched. I don't know the full back story to this account. I am not doubting a word said, but it remains a fact that I don't.

Meanwhile we have RFK Jr. who is among the leading environmentalists in the nation, who is himself based in the Hudson Valley, endorsing and campaigning for Hillary Clinton. I'll attach some Bio info on him below to drive home that point. He would not do so if he believed Hillary did not wish to defend the Hudson Valley environment

Politics is rarely pure, and I am sad for the Kos diariest for what she went through. I understand why she will no longer support Hillary Clinton. But you focus on an incident that reveals one of Hillary's hard facets. It doesn't overall change what I wrote here for me.

OK, as promised:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (son of Robert Kennedy) is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply, but his reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. The list includes winning numerous settlements for Riverkeeper, prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline, and suing treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act.

Mr. Kennedy acts as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for Riverkeeper. He also serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and as President of the Waterkeeper Alliance. At Pace University School of Law, he is a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic in White Plains, New York. Earlier in his career Mr. Kennedy served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City.

Mr. Kennedy has worked on environmental issues across the Americas. He has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands.

[Straight Shooter]

12. Bravo, Tom.

This post of yours, in tribute to Hillary, brought tears to my eyes, because it's true, no one in recent history has been so maligned by both the right and the left, and yet she remains dignified and gracious. Just look at her. She really is a pretty woman, and with all she's been through, if she were half as cold and heartless as people try to make her out to be, it would show on her face. There's an old saying about when you're 20, you have the face you were born with, but by 40, you have the face you deserve. Just look at her. She's, what, 60? And she's lovely.

One of my favorite moments in Hillary's life was when Tucker Carlson made some snarky remarks about Hillary, some claim he couldn't back up. He said if he were wrong, and if Hillary was right, that he would eat his shoe, on television. He swore he would. Well, turns out the little twit was wrong. Hillary could have made him squirm and been ugly about the entire thing, but she didn't do that. Instead, when the fateful moment arrived for Tucker to make good on his bet, Hillary came from behind the stage curtain, carrying a chocolate cake in the shape of a shoe.

Hillary had an opportunity to humiliate someone who had denigrated her, and she turned it into a win/win situation. It's a characteristic I admire in her, one I wish I could develop in myself. Hillary appreciates, and is able to exercise, the fine art of letting her opponent save face.

Thank you for sharing with others on DU the side of Hillary that many others see. No rah-rah, no hoopla, just a genuine woman.

[Andromeda]

52. I agree, she is a lovely woman.

Hillary is gracious in the face of hostility. Takes a pretty special person to do that.

[BootinUp]

14. K&R - very nicely said Tom. nt

[ErnestoG]

15. I might too. I just don't want her as president.

[bellasgrams]

17. You may not want her, but she is the most qualified and hard

working person in this race in either party.

[ErnestoG]

19. On some planet that could be true. Just not on this one.

[Tom Rinaldo]

45. On any planet habitated by humans she is extremely qualified

Others may be also but the public always gives Hillary high marks in that regard.

[ErnestoG]

55. There are 4,000 Americans and almost a million Iraqis who might not agree with you.

[Kahuna]

18. I think I would like her too. I like her now. But I don't want her for my

president. She sealed that for me with her IWR vote. But we could still be friends.

[Levgreee]

20. The thing I really don't like about her is she manipulate voters, in some cases, with fear

like the case of the NH flier sent out the day before voting, claiming Obama would not defend abortion rights. She misinformed the voters, refused them the opportunity to make their own decision, by playing them on a string with disinformation on an emotional, very important topic.

If I voted for her because of that mailer, and found out later that she lied, I would be truly angry. This is not showing respect, towards the voters. This is not respect, for democracy. The voters become pawns, they are just a vote count.

She has an ethical deficiency, that I see here. I would probably like her as a person, but she's become callous about democratic values, about the right of voters to not be lied to.

[David Zephyr]

21. I see her the way you do, Tom.

When this primary contest is over (and hopefully soon) and regardless of who edges who out between Barack and Hillary, the last few weeks will show that when Hillary let Bill loose and take the spotlight away from her, she suffered. I was glad to see that Bill was out of sight at the Kodak Theater and that it was Chelsea who was there with her. And Hillary had a good night and she was on her own.

And, for what it's worth, Abbey Road is still my favorite Beatle LP.

Here's hoping we stay friends through it all. You do Hillary proud, Tom. She should know you.

[Tom Rinaldo]

35. We will stay friends David. Don't even give that another thought

Thank you for this supportive post. I agree that Hillary does better when she is seen on her own, and now that I think of it, Abbey Road may be my favorite Beatle's Album too.

[sab3rX]

23. That was almost poetic

Hillary has faults but I don't deny, she is tough and has been able to consistently hold a high head. Bravo to her.:)

[kerstin]

24. Beautiful and obviously heartfelt.

This brought to mind Hillary’s New Hampshire victory speech. Really it was more of a talk than a speech, I think partly because the win was so unexpected. But for some reason, I found it very affecting. Especially when she spoke of people feeling invisible, assuring the assembled (and mostly female) crowd that they were not invisible to her. Most probably it was a line she had repeated hundreds of times, but still it resonated with me as sincere.

Thank you for posting this.

[lostnfound]

25. Chelsea is living proof that Hillary is a very decent person.

Chelsea smiles easily and honestly, seems genuinely happy, was protected decently through her growing up years in what would have been a fish bowl.

Considering how busy her parents have been, she doesn't seem to have wanted for love or happiness.

People who grow up in bitter households may eventually work into a healthy, happy personality, but I don't think it happens at such a young age. It takes time to work through psychological problems dumped on you by parents.

If she had solidly opposed IWR, I would be a massive supporter, without reservation -- instead I am just confused as hell -- however, if she had solidly opposed IWR, the media would probably not have let her get this far in the campaign, and probably corporate America wouldn't trust her either.

I think she would or will make a great president.

[bigtree]

26. very nice read

thanks.

:kick:

[robbedvoter]

27. Thanks Tom. Grace under pressure - been impressed with it myself - Maya Angelou

noted it too. And yeah, look at the kid they raised...

[Maribelle]

33. Thank you, sincerely, for this!

You've reached into parts where Obama supporters fear to tread. And in all of their duplicitous activities, such as not disclosing just a mere fraction of MoveOn members voted for Obama, they are truly missing the very important magnanimous elements of this history-making event.

[DURHAM D]

37. Hillary is the personification of grace under fire.

Thanks for your great post.

As I talk with younger folks they often see her (and others) with the cynical view of personal motive. The idea and understanding of long term public service is mostly lost. Anticipating good changes and progress with positive public policy does not seem viable for many. The constant discussion about the IWR vote or funds from Rezko is a costly distraction. All of this makes me sad.

I held back in the early months of this campaign in my all out support for her because I did not want to emotionally invest. I have been through the disappointments of every good movement of the past 50 years. I was not certain that I could commit again while watching others viciously go after her because it is personally painful to endure. Especially knowing that those attacking would be the very people for whom she has always cared about and worked to better their circumstances.

I finally realized that if she could keep going it would be selfish of me not to try and get her back. I sent her a check and note that I stand with her and admire her ability to keep going in the face of the attacks by those she is trying to help.

I also said I was ready to see her campaign jump start a 21st century dialog about the rampant sexism in our culture. I didn't realize at the time that the MSM would be the first victim. Yeah.

[Tom Rinaldo]

47. I can relate to the emotional journey you describe about this primary cycle

I held back at first also. It was like willingly stepping in front of a buzz saw to defend Hillary Clinton with the netroots for awhile. I think it was the over the top sexism against her which dominated for awhile (since toned down considerably) that forced me to step up and finally take some of it on.

[ronnykmarshall]

38. That's great Tom!

Thank you for posting.

[polichick]

40. I KNOW I would like Hillary personally.

[Neecy]

41. very nicely stated

I'm an Obama supporter, but I don't dislike Hillary personally. I think I'd like her if we ever met. And she has put up with an awful lot of crap from the right for many years yet she's kept her head about her and maintained her humanity.

I have policy differences with her but not personal differences. I'd like to see the hatred here subside and we can acknowledge that both candidates are good people who mean well.

[Tom Rinaldo]

42. They both are. Definately. I fully agree with you. n/t

[mtnsnake]

43. What a fine tribute, Tom. I'm sure you and she would hit it off nicely if you met personally.

BTW, I have two friends up in the Massena, NY area who had the good fortune of having Hillay at their houses during political events when Hillary was campaigning for Senator in Northern NY. According to them, Hillary is an absolute delight to be around. They both gushed over what a warm, sincere personality she has.

I met her briefly after a campaign speech one time, and there was just something about her that made you like her and want to get to know her better. It's sort of like a humble kind of star quality about her.

:thumbsup:

[Tom Rinaldo]

44. It's great to hear that kind of story about a person who

to most of us exists on TV screens and far away stages in cavernous halls. It offers a priceless insight into who an otherwise distant figure, in this case Hillary Clinton, really is as a human being. Some potential or actual leaders really are arrogant at their core by now, others retain that essential warm sincerity that you describe your friends finding in Hillry.

It is a shame that in modern society with our tens of millions of citizen voters stories like the one your friends told you about a possible future President, Hillary Clinton, get lost as they become one step further removed in each relaying from the people who were there to actually experience her in private. Fortunately for us here though, through our long months spent together on this board, hearing you tell it is almost as real as hearing it from your friends themselves.

[mtnsnake]

46. 1 other thing, Tom. I think you inadvertently exposed 1 of the biggest reasons for Hillary's success

in spite of her supposedly being such a polarizing figure (thanks to MSM and rightwing hate radio, etc ramming that perception down our throats).

Up here in Northern NY, for the most part it's a very rural area and it has never gotten anywhere near the same political attention that other more metropolitan parts of the state have, for obvious reasons. When Hillary first came up here she acted as if she had fallen in love with the people up here and she expressed her personal concern for the needs up here that seemed to get ignored by everyone else. Well, people are always a little wary of politicians and what they say. But in Hillary's case, not only did she return to our area several times, but each time she talked about specific needs, and each time she returned, more and more people started believing she really cared, and that included some pretty skeptical Republicans. Then she got elected, and not only did she return to the North Country, but she worked very hard on behalf of poor people, farmers, and basically people who just plain get ignored by the rest of the politicians. People don't forget that kind of attention.

In other words, Tom, many of the people of my area consider Hillary more of a friend than just a politician. Hillary really did make it personal with us. She cares in ways that only a true friend cares, and that's why your OP hits home. I think you nailed it with the "personal" stuff.

If she gets elected President, I have no doubts that the country will look at her not only as a good president, but as a good friend, too, once they really get to know her.

[kerstin]

48. Kick.

I hate seeing such a lovely thread die.

[rodeodance]

49. thanks for sharing. It is surprizing how un-bitter she is after all these years.

[Tom Rinaldo]

51. Yes.

That is what suddenly hit me, and got me to write this Diary. Especially after Hillary started getting attacked in the same hateful words by some Democratic activists as she has been by Right Wing extremists for years. If it was me I would have been completely demoralized by the latter after having had to survive the former. She really amazes me in that way, it is remarkable that Hillary is not a bitter person. It kind of floored me when I looked at it that way.

[rodeodance]

54. she has learned how to deal with it. I would not be that strong-that I know.

[Andromeda]

53. I don't know how she does it, Tom.

She is a strong, strong, lady. I have so much respect for her.

[Tom Rinaldo]

56. A kick for the week day crowd n/t

[kerstin]

57. A kick for HRC and the Giants

grinding out a win.

:kick:

[in_cog_ni_to]

58. I can't wait to read this, Tom! I bookmarked it, but I really have to go fold some laundry!

:) I'll read it in a bit and am looking so forward to it! I LOVE your essays!:hi:

[Tom Rinaldo]

59. And a kick for Super Tuesday n/t