What a happy, historic moment it was when Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination as candidate for president of the United States last week. It was as celebratory as when Barack Obama was nominated and went on to win the presidency – twice.
Hillary! The waves of joy in the Philadelphia convention center were palpable, even via television. And how historically appropriate that her hard-won triumph happened just blocks from Independence Hall where 240 years ago the Founding Fathers dared to startle the king of England by declaring independence and proclaiming all men are created equal. Sad to say, our Founding Fathers left out “women.” It took so long, but finally – at long last – women can hold their own in every way with men and be recognized legally, socially, intellectually and – slowly but surely – economically as equals. Gutsy trailblazer Hillary is one of the major innovators for that long-delayed attitude adjustment.
In China, years ago, she dared to proclaim to the entire world with its ears wide open: “Women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.”
From her very beginnings, post law school, Hillary was a fearless, hard-working, in-the-trenches champion of women’s and children’s rights. She still is. She fought constantly for a half century on behalf of women’s rights, children’s rights and human rights in general. All of the passionate speeches at that Democratic National Convention testified to her fierce and tireless work at every remarkable stage of her life: as a young lawyer, wife of an Arkansas governor, First Lady, New York U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State and two-time presidential campaigner. The word “indefatigable” might as well have been coined just for Hillary.
In her life of public service, she had to put up constantly with the mixed messages of a systemic sexist society. When she was assertive, she was called shrill and pushy. When she nearly broke down in tears during the 2008 campaign, she was lauded as “finally” showing her “human” (read feminine) side. She was constantly caught between a rock and a hard place, a restrictive spot defined and redefined by sexist throw-backs (men and women).
In introducing her mother at the convention, Chelsea Clinton said she is always asked how her mother can stand the hostility tossed at her year after year. Chelsea’s answer was simple. It’s because “She never, ever forgets who she’s fighting for.”
Hillary, said her daughter, is “a listener and a doer. She’s a woman driven by compassion, by faith, by a fierce sense of justice and a heart full of love.”
Those of us who have admired and championed Hillary for decades have known those granitic qualities in her from the get-go. Most people would not be able to survive the kinds of slanderous assaults Hillary has endured for at least 40 years. We would cave and crumble. Not Hillary. All of the relentless nastiness seems to have made her even stronger, more confident and more determined than ever to fight the good fight.
Her “untrustworthy” ratings are high, yes, but that’s largely because of the barrage of verbal attacks that are repeated so often, ad nauseam, that too many people tend to believe, in knee-jerk fashion, the slanderers – same way they believe, unthinkingly, baseless parroted gossip. Hillary’s handling of emails was, to be sure, careless. She has admitted many times it was a mistake; she has apologized, but, yes, she should explain once and for all how and why the email mess happened. Any explanation, however, will never be good enough for the Hillary-haters who are so fiendishly fearful of her success that they are dedicated lock, stock and barrel to sabotaging anything she attempts to do.
Let haters whine. As people in a nomadic tribe in North Africa often say when they’re packing up their tents: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”
And that is exactly what Hillary has done through so many difficult decades: moved on, forged ahead, battled the powers that be, rolled up her sleeves for the hard compromising work it takes to enact legislation to better people’s lives. Meantime, the dogs – her rabid critics – barked, yelped, howled and snarled. They still do – that loud yapping from spoilsport losers and jealous contenders.
Forge onward, Hillary! Help level the playing field and lead us into a progressive future, one in which all Americans are valued and in which, if we work hard, we can enjoy a decent living and some measure of contentment, happiness.
This election may be the most crucial in 100 years. With Hillary Rodham Clinton as president, there will be a renewal of hope, a new world ready to be born. The alternative – electing a loud-mouth egocentric loose cannon – would likely be a disaster of divisive nastiness and dangerous instabilities.
