Hating Hillary

Probably the oddest thing about this year’s presidential race is the number of people who hate Hillary Clinton. Because I have admired the woman for decades, I’ve been trying to figure out where this extreme dislike comes from. So I put out some queries and here are some of the answers I got.

1. She is a criminal, she is untrustworthy, and she is a liar. I lump these in together because they are all simply part of the Republican propaganda machine.  She has never been charged with a crime, she has proven her trustworthiness over and over in her long service to the country, and her speeches have been deemed more factual than any of the other candidates.
2. She is vapid, ignorant, and shrill. Again, I lump these three things together because she is obviously none of these. She is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and reasoned candidates I can remember. So the words are simply fill-in-the-blank dismissives for not liking her. But the people who used these and similar words against her are not lying when they say they hate her. There must be a reason, but these ain’t it.
3. She voted for the Iraq War. Okay, here’s a real reason for voting for someone else, but only if that person voted against the Iraq War. It is not, however, a reason for disliking her personally.
4. She’s a fucking dyke. Well, that would be interesting, but she’s probably not, and the person who stated that is obviously someone who hates the entire LGBT community. It is more anti-Hillary propaganda that has hit home for homophobes.
5. She’s not Bernie Sanders. This was and is a stupid reason not to vote for someone in a national election, but not a reason to hate her. Go ahead and hate the system if you want, but not the woman who is probably as close to Bernie in actual philosophy as any other American  politician in history.
6. Benghazi, emails. More Republican talking points. She did nothing illegal and nothing that other people in her position—Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice—had not done previously.  Again, these non-issues are simply excuses for not liking her—not real reasons.
7. Because she’s a woman. Ah, yes. i have read excellent articles showing how sexism has infected the electorate. But I knew this was true even before I started my investigation. Sure, there are going to be a lot of men who won’t vote for a woman. There are also going to be the Phyllis Schlaflys of the country along with people like Michelle Bachmann, who stated that because her own presidential bid failed, God doesn’t want a woman to win.  But that’s just the expected sexist backlash. It’s totally reactionary and moronic, but no reason to hate Hillary personally. 
8. Because she seems so self-satisfied. Now this was the weirdest one of all. I mean, isn’t that what we’re all striving for—to be satisfied in our lives? Why would anyone hate her for that?
9. Monica Lewinsky. At last! Just when I was despairing of ever really finding out what I wanted to know, someone online mentioned—almost in jest—that maybe someone would bring up Monica’s name in a debate. Because, folks, it was always my suspicion that it is the history of Monica and Bill that is behind the whole Hillary-bashing thing. And as it happened, I saw this on that same day that the “self-satisfied” quote surfaced. Boing!

Everything came together. People hate Hillary because her man went astray and not only did she forgive with and stay with him, but she continued to thrive in her own life. I suspect that many people don’t’. Many people lose their spouses in similar circumstances and they become bitter. How could Hillary be satisfied with her own life when her man cheated on her? Isn't she ashamed? She must be a ball-busting bitch, she must be frigid, she must be asexual, she must not be able to please her man.

So it turns out to be sexism at the core of Hillary hating after all, but a particularly virulent and insidious kind—the kind that blames a woman for her husband’s infidelities. It is a kind of sexism that spews from both sexes. It is a great irony that this sexist nonsense is directed at someone who has done as much for women’s rights around the world as anyone else alive.