How Supporting Hillary Clinton Became the Least Millennial Thing To Do
By now, we’ve all seen this meme floating around on social media:
Haha, I get it, it’s SO funny. Bernie is that cool bro you’d love to grab a beer with and Hillary is the uptight prick that ruins the fun. But like, everybody knows that these are just memes and they aren’t supposed to be taken seriously, right? It’s fine.
Actually, it isn’t fine. It isn’t fine at all.
If this was the only example of sexism from the campaign trail, I might be able to understand. I’m a millennial, I get memes. I’m not so obsessed with my candidate that I can’t understand.
However, it’s not the only example. We have quotes like this:
Or this:
I could go on, but this article lists even more examples from the 2008 election that Hillary Clinton endured. I am disgusted.
How did it happen that the individual honored by Americans as being the world’s most admired woman a record 20 times has suddenly become the poster child of greed and manipulation (IN A YEAR WHEN DONALD F-ING TRUMP IS IN THE RACE)? It’s easy: attack her personality. It’s so much easier for people to believe that she is shouting because all women shout to get what they want, right?
Worse still, the most serious of the attacks on Hillary are now coming from the progressive base of her own party. The most vocal group has become so obsessed with creating a so-called revolution that they’ve become blinded by reality. Taking Republican attacks and intensifying them — that’s a fantastic way to win the White House in November.
Let’s talk about this: Bernie has been an elected official longer, and while being an advocate all his political career, has affected almost no lasting change:
Seriously? This is the man, someone who has been an elected official longer than Clinton, who will lead us through the future? Who will defeat ISIS? Who will negotiate trade deals, enact gun control regulations, and repair the criminal justice system? I have no evidence to support that.
Bernie supporters will now say “yes, but at least he didn’t change his views to get elected. Hillary’s a flip-flopper.” YES. SHE CHANGES (some of) HER VIEWS! I’m proud of that fact! Would you rather have an elected official who openly admits mistakes (which, as humans, WE ALL MAKE), such as the Iraq War or marriage equality than one who stubbornly refuses to change? Over twenty years, I would hope that ANYONE’S views would change! That’s what a civilization does — grows, adapts, and LEARNS. To expect that the views that we have in 2016 will be the same that we will have in 2036 is naive. Furthermore, don’t we rail against Republicans who refuse to change their views in the face of overwhelming support (climate change — 97% of scientists agree…)? At this point, I’d take a Marco Rubio who admits to climate change rather than knocking him for changing his views.
Ultimately, a Democrat belongs in the White House — a Democrat being the individual who wins the nomination from the DNC. Should that be Bernie Sanders, I will #FeelTheBern so much that I’ll need full-scale burn treatments, because I know that in order to support my lifestyle, to better the experience of people like me or people without some of the privilege I have, WE NEED A DEMOCRAT. However, I think that person who has the experience, the knowledge base, and the vision to move our country forward in our current political climate is Hillary Clinton. I implore each of you to focus on the issues rather than anti-feminist rhetoric that is so unbelievably pervasive in this cycle.
