Letters to the Editor
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@ doloresflower
It is times like this that I wish I could sit down and talk to you personally. It is odd, but at times I feel close to you, almost as a friend.
I will try to answer you questions as best I can while preserving some of my own private space. I am not unlike Hillary in opaqueness. There are things I won't talk about here at Salon, or, indeed, to almost anyone.
You said:
I'm jumping in here and haven't read far back in the threads--but I'm curious. You write
"I think this particular fight is important. " Why is it important? For personal reasons? For political reasons?
I am tempted to reply rather glibly that the personal is the political. For me, in this instance, I don't separate these two.
The fight is important because women so seldom do fight and yet Hillary keeps fighting. I once attended self-defense classes. They were taught by a tough old ex-FBI agent. There was nothing politically correct about him. He actually joked that if a woman was confronted with rape that she should relax and enjoy it. You know those heavy bags that hang from the ceiling ceiling that boxers punch? The very first thing he did was ask the women in the class to hit the bag. Police officers who were also taking the class observed and laughed as one woman after another hesitantly hit the bag. Their laughter made me angry. I hit that bag as hard as I could and they stopped laughing. Always, a woman must prove herself to men to be respected. Hillary demands respect. She has been taking punches so damned long and yet she is still standing. It makes me want to fight along side her.
I'm not sure I understand why it is as important to Clinton's supporters why that fight is important to return to. Maybe if I understood that I could stop dreading the next few months and possibly few years.
It is important because the fight never really ended. Chris Matthews is still laughing. I want to wipe that smile from his face.
And where we could get lost is when the battle is for a particular person rather than a particular cause (yes Obama supporters may suffer here too!)?
The cause is the same. It is the cause of upstarts against entrenched power. (Yes, I recognize both Clinton and Obama have power of their own.) In this instance, the symbol is powerful. It really counts. I think Clinton is the stronger fighter, in part because the scores she needs to settle are greater.
Also, I think that not all of the problems with Hillary and with Bill by the right wingers had to do with mysogeny.
I believe many of these problems that the Chris Matthewses of the world have will Hillary are about misogyny. They would actually rather think that Bill would hold the power and Hillary would be the symbol. It would reassure them. However, I don't think that is how it will play out.
How many right wingers (ones who I know) talk about Hillary when they say they don't "like" her--its not because they don't like any women or her as a liberated woman--it has more I think to do with the fact that she is complex and difficult to understand. She has an opaque public image.
She is merely protecting herself. I have a feeling that this is the habit almost of a lifetime but increased by her experiences. I am old enough to remember when she was somewhat more open.
And maybe it makes me a terrible person to say this, but I'm not sure if I understand her either. Or because I find her difficult to understand (particularly certain votes she's made in the senate etc.) it's also hard for me to like her.
Why do you think you understand Obama? He is an artist. He has cultivated who he is.
It is surely okay if you don't like her and don't wish to vote for her for that reason. That is your choice. I don't vote for candidates based upon likability. They all become celebrities. Have you ever noticed the invisible glass between celebrities and the rest of the world. Remember that people liked George Bush? I never liked him. I never trusted him.
Yes, we can elect a person that we don't like. And maybe with time in power people could grow to like her more. But what if that doesn't happen?
I think the question is, do you have to be liked in order to lead? People liked Jimmy Carter. He became an extremely ineffective president. People feared Lyndon Johnson. No matter what some may say, he was for many years an extremely effective legislator and, for some issues, he was an extremely effective arm-twister. People misunderstand what Hillary Clinton was saying about Johnson. I don't think she was saying anything against MLK or JFK. I think she was saying that she is very tough. Well, she isn't Johnson's caliber in the Senate and she doesn't have his experience, but she certainly is tough.
Is there a symbolic battle at stake only--or is there something tangible that matters about this fight?
Yes. I believe she can win.
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Progressive Bias
I've stopped listening to progressive radio and reading many left leaning blogs because many progressives have apparently decided that you can't be a progressive unless you support Obama. Can't help noticing that Move-On has given me the finger of late... So I'm sending my money to Hillary Clinton now and after that to every organization I can find that is targeting Republicans instead of cannibalizing their own.
I am especially upset about the charges that the Clintons had "played the race card." It was the Obama camp that rushed to South Carolina with four pages of talking points on race after Hillary Clinton dared to suggest that MLK needed LBJ to pass the voting rights act. (He did.) Further it was Obama who spoke of MLK and Jesse Jackson to Black audiences and told them he needed their help. Seems to me that is playing the race card and it was fair game for Bill Clinton to comment as he did.
I am supporting Clinton because I think she is the most competent person for the job at this time. I like her health care plan best and if Paul Krugman thinks her economic plan is better, that is good enough for me. I hated her war vote as much as anyone but I am absolutely certain that we would not have invaded Iraq had Clinton been President. Finally, I think Clinton can win with a coalition including the Hispanic and the Women's vote. My fear with Obama is that white men will gravitate to McCain and without a woman to vote for their wives will follow.
soisam