With the California primary less than a week away, it's time to get real about my issues with Hillary.
Hillary Clinton. I see her appeal. She’s
smart, strong, educated and has had a long, powerful career. She is a woman, something women would love to
have in the Presidential seat. I’ve heard enough people (enough to write this
next sentence) say that she is more “presidential” than any of the other candidates.
Not sure I see that one clearly. What does is mean to be “presidential”? What
does that look like? Wear a suit? Have dignity when you speak? And then go
behind closed doors and you are the worst criminal on the planet.
Let's talk about this. This woman is terrifying. Her campaign, including her Super
PAC, has received a lot of money from big business, including from fossil-fuel
companies. This woman is owned by the most terrible people and business’ on the
planet. In addition, she has accepted
millions from foreign governments and while serving as Secretary of State, The
Clinton Foundation (illegally) accepted an insane amount of money from
countries that fund Hamas, harbor terrorists, suppress women, and regularly
execute gays and lesbians.
She supports fracking. She takes money from prison
lobbyists, a big red flag in these dark days of mass incarceration. She changes
her mind. A lot. She doesn’t seem sincere what-so-ever and nearly every word
that comes out of her mouth feels calculated.
In addition, Hillary:
-supports torture, including freezing temperatures and waterboarding, which the US classes as a war crime.
-supported the US-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006.
-has an undying support of Israel, with no regard for Palestinian Human Rights.
-backed a fascist military dictatorship in a coup to overthrow Honduras’s elected government in 2009.
-signed an agreement committing $124 million tax dollars to the building of the Caracol sweatshop assembly park in the north of Haiti.
-has expressed support for US government control over the Internet
-With Clinton as Secretary of State during Obama’s time in office, the US increased sponsorship of Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest supporter of militant Islamic groups such as the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiban. Not to mention one of the worst offenders of womens’ rights in the world.
It is Hillary’s history of violence, however, that really
disturbs me. Her foreign policy is history takes violence to new levels. Hillary
supported US invasions and attacks against Haiti in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995.
She supported Bill Clinton in the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia In 2000 and favored
continuing the illegal US embargo against Cuba. She supported the US’s illegal
bombing and invasion of Afghanistan and voted for the illegal US invasion of
Iraq, a major crime of aggression and terrorism. She strongly promoted a regime
change in Libya, a violation of international law.
Let’s discuss the repercussions of some of those decisions.
Afghanistan: Around 220,000 Afghans have died and millions
are refugees. The war has cost us close to $700 billion with long-term medical
bills high as $2 trillion.
Libya: About 30,000 people died and hundreds of thousands
have become refugees. After the murder of Libya’s leader, Mohammed Quaddafi (a
man that wanted to see an Africa independent of America and British
imperialists,) that Hillary backed, the country descended into civil war and
ultimately fed weapons to Boko Haram in Nigeria, and fueled ISIS in Syria and
Iraq. Hillary found the fact that, and the way is which, Quaddafi was killed,
hilarious, laughing and saying “We came, we saw, he died.”. He was executed by
having a bayonet rammed up his rectum.
Yemen: Over 6,000 Yemenis have been killed and another
27,000 wounded. Ten million people don’t have enough to eat, and 13 million
have no access to clean water. Yemen is highly dependent on imported food, but
a U.S.-Saudi blockade has choked off most imports.
Iraq: Anywhere from 400,000 to over 1 million people have
died from war-related causes. 2 million have fled the country and another 2
million are displaced. The war continues and has now turned into a turf war
with the Islamic State, which emerged from the Sunni insurgency against the
U.S.-installed government.
Syria: The Syrian refugee crisis is the worst refugee crisis
the world has ever seen. Half the country’s population has been displaced —
including four million Syrian refugees abroad. Over 250,000 have died in the
war.
Let’s move on to feminism. Having Clinton in the seat could
provide much stronger support for policies that are critical for women, like
equal pay, paid maternity and family leave, universal child care, and
reproductive rights. But Bernie promises this too, and without any of the other
crap. Hillary’s feminism covers the white, middle class woman. This is yet
another place where I am at odds with Hillary. I am concerned with women, all
women, from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. There are a lot of
issues that affect low-income women, immigrant women and women of color that
Hillary is not going to address. Free tuition, a $15 minimum wage and Wall
Street corruption tackles the roots of poverty – an issue that disproportionately
affects women – and an issue that Hillary’s policies and plans do not address
enough or appropriately. It’s all about a feminism that is intersectional, something that Bernie strongly stands for.
Trust me, as a hard-core feminist, I would love to finally
see a woman in the presidential seat. I would love to see at least half of the
cabinet’s seats filled by women, as Hillary promises. But I am not going to
vote for a woman for president just because she’s a woman- otherwise I would
have voted for Sarah Palin (not that I am comparing the two). I’m not going to
put the value of a female president over the value of a president with good
values.
My views on income inequality, social justice, economic equality, finance
reform, racial and criminal justice, climate change, foreign policy and
education are more important than any loyalty I feel to another woman. I'd much
rather cast my vote for a man (Bernie) who is looking out for everybody than
for a woman who’s only looking out for herself, and her cronies.
Needless, to say, I am voting for Bernie. But not because he
is the lesser of the evils. No. I am emphatically “feelin’ the Bern”. Bernie
isn’t perfect, but he IS the feminist, socialist, no bullshit campaigner for
economic reform, climate change, education, women’s rights and the end of capitalist
oppression that we need. His views are clear and have been the same for the
entirety of his career. He has captured people with his promises of a
revolution and with him as President, we have a much better shot at one.
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