Forged in Fire

A young woman being interviewed this morning on MSNBC said of the election, “there will be plenty of chances for a woman president.” “This is a once in a lifetime election with Bernie Sanders.” I thought to myself, wow! How has it happened that young women apparently have no connection to the history of their gender? Do they understand that women have been the most oppressed segment of any society on the planet since the beginning of our existence. This is a fact. While we have made progress, our country ranks 69th in the world in leadership roles for women in politics. In the United States, women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920, when the 19th amendment was ratified. Our constitution is 226 years old. George Washington took the first oath of office in April of 1789. In 226 years there has never been a woman vice president, or president. Ever. There has never been a majority leader of the senate who was a woman. Nancy Pelosi was the only woman Speaker of the House, and history will show she did her job better than most men before her, and certainly after her. Women carry a majority of the population and yet the percentage of women in politics is miniscule. At the rate we are going, it will be 2085 before women are equal to men in leadership roles.

To hear a young woman say there will be many more chances for a woman president tells me she is uninformed, naive, and doesn’t take seriously the election before us. However, I will take her remarks seriously, and address them through my 70 year old eyes, my experiences, and my hopes for a better understanding in this country.

For me, this “is” a “once in a lifetime” election. We actually have a chance to open the door to the oval office, give a respectful nod to history, and say, “ok, it’s time.” Time for a new perspective.

Hillary Clinton was a young college student once. She had a mind of her own, opinions of her own. Much like that young woman who was interviewed today. Most of us from the 60”s had political views. We all witnessed the assassination of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King. Women started to think out loud about injustice, inequity, reproductive rights, war, money. In my mothers generation, that was not the case. In her mothers generation, the silence was a given. Hillary Clinton didn’t get to this campaign by default. She worked hard year after year as a woman in a man’s world. The world of politics. This has been for her, an arduous, difficult road, littered with accusations, innuendo, national embarrassment, and media bias. She is still walking down that road. Most of us would have called it a day long ago. The insults alone have been withering, degrading and liable. So when I hear a young woman take so lightly the journey that Hillary Clinton has been on, it makes me sad, and shocked at the lack of gratitude she is worthy of receiving. I have seen comments on FB from young women who say “Hillary makes them want to throw up. I’m not part of the sisterhood,” and comments on FB and Twitter that I will not give service to. There are comments saying she shows no joy or they don’t like her personality, or her voice. Really? She’s running for president, not auditioning for a stand up comedy routine. She is a serious person with serious answers. Isn’t that what we want in a president? I still remember being young, idealistic and naive. I remember punching a guy who spoke ill of Bobby Kennedy after he was assassinated, so I understand the passion for Bernie. What I don’t understand is the amount of hatred, vitriol, and total disrespect for Hillary. This is stunning to me.

But, it also makes me angry. I was asked last week,”what has Hillary Clinton done?” No one asked that of Barack Obama in 2008. His resume paled in comparison to Hillary’s resume of today, and, in fact, her resume of yesterday. In 2008, the historical significance of Obama’s election to the presidency loomed over the country. It turned out the youth vote, which had been stagnant for some time. Where is the same consideration and respect given to the historical election of the first woman president? We hear talk of political revolution. It is in front of us. It is the election of a woman to the White House. But it has been dismissed in favor of Bernie.

I have said ad nauseum, that I like Bernie and will vote for him if he is the nominee. All grownups in the democratic party will do that. Bernie is offering everything we want. Everything a young person wants. Everything I want. But, there is a reason why Bernie didn’t answer the question about why single payer didn’t pass in his home state of Vermont. There is a reason why Bernie didn’t answer Chuck Todd’s question about Afghanistan, and other questions about foreign policy. He is caught up in his own rhetoric. He has one mantra. The Iraq vote, wall street, single payer, and free college. He knows that it will be near impossible to legislate any of those issues unless we get a democratic congress, both house and senate. At this moment, Bernie has two congressional endorsements. Out of 535. Now that may change. But unless it does, he cannot bring the down ticket candidates with him. Hillary has a much better chance of that. However, the perfect candidate doesn’t exist. As I said once, you will find the only person who is in total agreement with you, in the mirror.

There has been non stop criticism of Hillary for taking money for speeches. How self righteous of the electorate. A libertarian would say, well, whatever the market will bear! But those words, I guess, are meant for a man, not a woman, and certainly not Hillary. And apparently it isn’t meant for countless politicians who have done the same. Hillary said she would overturn citizens united as well, and tackle campaign finance reform. The criticism is unyielding about her ties to Wall Street, big donors. When she was a senator, she represented wall street, they were her constituents. While we don’t like it, that’s how being a representative works. And let me point out that while we are stuck in the system of citizens united, super pacs, and outrageous money in politics, you must be able to compete in the general election. Nobody ever thinks about the amount of money it now takes to set up campaign offices in 50 states, or the wages paid out for advisors, or campaign managers in those states, or the “free” Hillary and Bernie bumper stickers we all got in the mail. This is a country of 320 million people, and the phenomenal task of reaching as many voters as possible, takes a lot of money. There is a way to fix this problem, but until you have, again, a democratic congress and a will to do it, it cannot be done.

Bernie can oversimplify the solutions to our problems. He can wave his arms, raise his voice, tell us what we want to hear in his adorable, grandfatherly way. I get that. But Hillary can’t. Because she’s a woman. And because she’s a realist. And I get that too. While Bernie has chosen the issues that inflame the base, he is ignoring the issues he doesn’t have an interest in. Foreign policy is extremely important, but Bernie falls far short on a basic knowledge of this issue. Sure, he can hire others to tell him what to do, but as president he is ultimately the voice that the world hears. While Bernie has said he believes the Michigan governor should resign, it was Hillary who was engaged early and asked what could she do to help? She has talked to the Obama administration and asked for funds, and today she is flying there to support their efforts. Now, if Bernie was doing this, his supporters would say, “wow, look how much he cares about children.” “Isn’t Bernie great?” But for Hillary, it’s, well, she knows a political opportunity when she sees it.” No mention of how she has been fighting for children for decades, because she cares.

We are all aware of Hillary’s Iraq vote. 58% of democratic senators voted for the Iraq resolution, including John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Diane Feinstein. These are all intelligent, serious people, as we all know. They all regret their vote. Now, should John Kerry have been made Secretary of State? Should Joe Biden not be a two term Vice President? Should Diane Feinstein not be acknowledged for authoring the assualt weapons ban in 1994? Or be heard as the voice on the Select Committee on Intelligence since 2009? Or the chair of the Rules Committee? We, as democrats ridicule the purity test on the republican side of the isle. The right wing nuts, we call them. But perhaps there is an element of purity in the Bernie campaign that we need to recognize. The debate on “progressive and liberal” is a distraction and not worthy of note.

Hillary Clinton has been asked to provide transcripts of her speeches when she was paid money. Now, if you think she is being treated equally, I have news for you. When has any candidate in the history of this country been asked to provide transcripts of “his” speeches that he was paid to give? The answer is never. Bernie is adept at saying he has never run a negative ad. But what he and his campaign have done is imply that if you get money from super pacs, or wall street, you are bought and paid for. You are corrupt. And he does all this over and over again without mentioning Hillary’s name. While Bernie claims to not have Super Pacs, he does receive large sums of money from outside groups. National Nurses United, which has given money to other groups supporting Bernie, and Friends of the Earth which is a 501c non profit organization, which means there is no limit to the amount they can give to his campaign, nor are they responsible for disclosing their donors. While these organizations do not claim to be super Pacs, they are running ads for Bernie and giving large amounts of money, to his campaign.

While Bernie and his campaign have been busy tying Hillary to Wall Street, I would ask that you read a recent CNN report about fundraising in the democratic party. Bernie has never been a bystander in this. So, it’s time to put away the notion that Bernie is innocent in his ascent to prominence in the democratic party. Raising money to get elected by the only means available, doesn’t make you a bad person. What it does, is give you the opportunity to change those means. Bernie has been in politics for 26 years. What has he changed? Or as I was asked about Hillary, what has Bernie done? What qualifies him to be president?

The most qualified person running for president is Hillary Clinton. Those are the facts, and must be acknowledged, though grudgingly by many. She is a woman. This is the revolution. She has suffered the slings and arrows of the gop, the media, and the most offensive trolls to date. There are among the Sanders supporters, a group who lack maturity and whose only purpose is to rabble rouse. I am ashamed of their behavior. This is a campaign for the President of the United States. Respect must be shown to those who take that risk, who put themselves and their families out there for the ultimate assessment of their character, their motives, their competence and their knowledge.

“Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.” I would submit to you that Bernie has not been tested. He has not been through the fire. I would say to the young women of today, “do not for the sake of idealogy, choose the wrong road. Ideology must be checked at the door to the White House. Because that is when the test begins. That is when strength is paramount to your cause. That is when the work begins and governing is difficult, and must be met with compromise.

I would say to the young women of today,

“Great women are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser women to light the flame.”