I asked yesterday why so many people seem to hate Hillary so much. I got some great responses (see below).

But before looking at the replies I received it is worth asking why I should spend so much time on Facebook, as my fb friends have become wearingly aware, and on this blog, obsessing about the political situation in the US.

First, it is clear that, when any country in our day elects a leader, but particularly the US, they are electing a world leader. Increasingly, artificially created geographical borders between people are meaningless. There are no isolated countries. We are one world, one human community. We are all affected by the choices and decisions others make. November 8 is not merely a US election; it is a world event. We all share deeply in the outcome of the US electoral process.

Physical boundaries are no longer any barrier to the potential consequnces of national choices, nor any impediment to shared communication. So, we have a responsibility to be aware of the political situations in other places and to speak when we perceive a problem.

That’s the second point. While not wanting to draw simplistic parallels between the current situation in the US, and the horrifying realities of Nazism in the 1930’s, it remains true that bad things happen when people refuse to speak aloud the truth that they see.

On 18 May 1942 the New York Times reported that Nazis had machine-gunned over 100,000 Jews in the Baltic states, 100,000 in Poland, & twice as many in western Russia. The tiny article referring to these violent senseless antisemitic massacres was buried on an inside page of the newspaper. This was an egregious failure on the part of the media. But they were not alone. World leaders failed to speak; religious leaders, scholars, lawyers, scientists, and citizens in general failed to raise their voices in outrage at the atrocities of Nazism. There is clear evidence in the early years of Nazi reign that Hitler’s government was not completely immune to public opinion. But any pressure brought against Nazism was too little and too late because no one spoke in time.

Social media today comes in for a lot of criticism, much of it justified. But, today we have an unprecedented ability to communicate. And, if we use this privilege maturely, it can be put to good use.

Anyone with a voice, must use that voice to speak out against leaders who resort to the blunt tools of anger, hatred, prejudice, mysogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia. In the world of social media, silence is acquiescence. Who could say where a facebook or blog post might end up? Who could say how one other person might be influenced by a comment attached to a blog post or added to a facebook comment stream?

So, here are some voices that have spoken out boldly in an attempt to correct an unfair and deeply biased prejudice against a woman who by any standard of measurement is clearly a vastly superior candidate for president of the US.

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 Facebook: Michael Coleman There is a wave, a veritable tsunami, of anti-establishment fervour in the US and indeed beyond. It manifested itself, in part, in the Brexit result; it may have helped the political demise of Harper here; but it is most evident in the US. It is partly driven by economic uncertainty, partly by global political apprehension, and a veritable fury at those perceived to be part of the elite, the ‘1%’, who are seen to be the greedy sole beneficiaries of a ‘rigged system’. Times of doubt and nervousness often give rise to a yearning for a ‘strong man’ and pave the way for dangerous and potentially despotic political leadership. That is part of the Trump appeal, carefully stoked by savvy media play. Hillary is perceived by many as the ultimate ‘insider’, having been at the centre of political power for over a quarter of a century. And she has been alongside Obama, who is intensely disliked by his opponents for being black (there is a deep underlying racism in US politics, sadly). And she is a woman.

Like · Reply · 2 · 5 hrs

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August 4, 2016 at 8:55 am

bobmacdonald

I hope someone answers your question. It’s a good one. And I doubt that much of substance could be dug up. What I suspect is generic distrust of Wall Street and Knee Jerk hatred of misconduct such as was made public with respect to her husband.

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Facebook Robert Holloway The other aspect which sounds crazy is many women condemn her for remaining with her husband including sone Christian groups and the best part is the same people are convinced he is a womanizer. So why would you want them in the White House plus they attract monies to support her venture…

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And I was sent this link which all Hillary Haters who desire to be Honest Hillary Haters should read before passing on any more mindless hatred and prejudice:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/6/11/1537582/-The-most-thorough-profound-and-moving-defense-of-Hillary-Clinton-I-have-ever-seen

The issues identified and answered in detail in this piece are four:

  1. Dishonesty
  2. Scandal
  3. Money – she has a ot
  4. Wall Street

The author concludes:

Most of the people who hate Hillary when she’s running for office end up liking her just fine once she’s won. And I have every confidence that history will repeat itself again this November. As for myself, I have been watching Presidential elections since Nixon. And never in my life has there been an easier or more obvious choice than now. Trump is not merely a bad choice, he is (as many leading Republicans have already admitted) a catastrophic choice, unfit in every possible way for the office of the Presidency.
As such, I happily voted for Hillary in my primary. And I will proudly vote for her in November. Yes she will disappoint us all on occasion. Who doesn’t? But I think she’s also going to surprise a lot of people. She will fear neither consensus when possible nor ass-kicking when necessary. She will safeguard us from the damage a right-wing Supreme Court would inflict on the nation. She will stand for the rights of women, LGBT Americans, and minorities. She will maintain critical global relationships, and she will react to dangerous situations with the temperament of a seasoned and experienced professional. And in a nation that didn’t even allow women to vote until 1920, she will make history by shattering the very highest glass ceiling, and in doing so forever change the way a generation of young women view their place in our Republic.

She’s going to be a fine President.

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And then this fine word of encouragement:

August 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

Bruce Bryant-Scott

Thank you, Christopher. The website I showed you yesterday is http://fivethirtyeight.com/ , which is the website of Nate Silver. Silver is a statistician and is interested in forecasting election results based on aggregating polls, and he usually does so with great accuracy. He currently has Clinton with a 78% or 73% chance of winning (the difference is due to methodology), so it sounds as though the Hilary-Haters are definitely in the minority (albeit a loud one).

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 And then there is this brilliant summary which should be read in full, but says in part:

The intense misogyny is too overwhelming to ignore here, and sadly, we are all implicated in this system of oppression. Just this past June, Hillary was shredded by the media for the Armani jacket she wore. Really? The day she was announced as the Democratic Nominee for President, it was a picture of her husband that made the front page of the paper. This is some intense sexism at work. Did anyone ask what Bill Clinton was wearing and who designed it?…

When I try to ask people for specific examples of why they “hate” Hillary, or how has she been dishonest, all I get is “everyone knows she is,” or “that’s just the way I feel.”

Dear Hillary: How Very Dare You!