Hillary And Young Women

Hillary becoming president is different from Indira Gandhi or Benazir Bhutto becoming Prime Minister, or even Margaret Thatcher. The gender churn that I see following Hillary like a tornado's tail, I did not see with the others. There seems to be a basic structure to sexism that seems to be the exact same across cultures and income brackets and so this churn has global implications and I am uber interested. And to me the most surprising part is why aren't at least 80% women rallying behind Hillary? Gender is more defining for women than race is for black men. Hillary Clinton is not any more dishonest and untrustworthy or unreal than Barack Obama. She is definitely more qualified now than Obama was in 2008 and Bill Clinton in 1992, and I am safely quoting Obama on that.

Barack Obama was the most promising president when he started in 2009. Let's face it. There was no other black president track record. It was 100% promise, 0% track record. And even now, eight years later, a black man needs to be super duper qualified to become president. This country remains racist. Trump is proof.

Hillary is the most qualified presidential candidate since the country was founded. The Clintons have attracted so much venom on national stage because these are people from modest backgrounds. There are not too many dynasties in Arkansas. Call it classism. Bill Clinton's origins are quite Democratic.

Martin Luther King had to struggle also against black folks when he fought segregation. Sexism has widespread female support.

If Hillary is at least equally qualified to Barack Obama is it not unfair he became president first? Strictly chronological logic wise, yes. It was unfair. Obama is still a young man. But in terms of race and gender it makes more sense Obama went in first. Being president does not shield you from racism. Hillary needed to see. And she saw. In many ways gender is a tougher nut to crack. The gender churn of the election campaign will likely be eclipsed by the gender churn she will see in office. The churn might be global. But it has to be that way. Gender will be a persistent topic. I don't know of a better way to make progress on gender except by talking about gender. Sometimes it might make tactical sense to talk about other policy issues to make progress, but mostly there will be no avoiding it. And the progress will depend less on how enlightened her views are and more on how much 160 million women are willing to engage and make the call.

This is not about symbolism. This is about making concrete, measurable progress on gender.

Domestic violence is the number one security threat on the planet right now and has been for a long time. There are education, health and micro credit issues. There is plain basic democracy.

This is one planet, one world. No walls are possible or even desirable. On that note, as they say in New York, there is a bridge on the East River I would like to sell Donald Trump.

Women have to want a first female president. How can you not? I so badly wanted a first black president I had precisely zero personal expectations of Barack Obama. He could have snoozed for eight years and I would not have broken a twig. Because a first black president was such a major breaking of barrier. A first female president is a much bigger breaking of barriers. Sexism is sickness. It is a heart disease. It drags everybody down, not just women. Hillary Clinton getting into the Oval Office liberates both men and women. Young men, take note.

Donald Trump is a sick human being. This guy is not just offended by Mexicans and women, he is offended by the very idea of democracy. This is the fascist the founding fathers predicted might come along. And now he is here.

If Donald Trump becomes president, 2016 will be  for America what 1945 was for Britain. America as you know it is over. Britain remained a democracy. America is not going to be that lucky. Modern fascism does conduct elections.

In my personal memory the choice has never been more stark in an American election. And my readings of history say the same thing. Not in the time of Napoleon, not in the time of Hitler, America never flirted with fascism until now.

All human beings have been created equal by the Creator. That eternal spiritual truth was put to test by putting a black man in the White House. And it is time to put a woman in there. Because all human beings have been created special.

Young women and women in general don't struggle with Hillary. What they struggle with is their internalized sexism. The culture is so steeped in sexism, the media in this country is so saturated with sexism, it is but understandable that women have internalized much of the sexism. But they do have to struggle against it. You can kick the can down the road, but for how long?

Emails and Benghazi and pretty much every slob of mud thrown at her for decades now has been facts-free sexism, completely unhinged from facts and logic. The FBI found no wrong doing on emails. Respect the verdict, or fire the FBI. There is not a third option. A population that could not load Windows onto a computer is all riled up about the deep intricacies of one email server that has caused precisely zero harm. On Benghazi, go after the Department Of Defense. If that is not good enough for you, go after the president. The common sense thing would be, though, to hold Al Qaeda responsible.

There was nothing to Whitewater, absolutely nothing, nada, zilch.

Hillary Clinton is a dream candidate. She by now probably knows every side to every issue. She really really knows her stuff. She knows the policy stuff, she knows the politics. She probably knows half the world leaders by name. Most world leaders on stage have already worked with her. That is surreal.

It is tougher to be president of America than it is to be a surgeon. Donald Trump is GED. Don't take this guy to your surgery table. Unless you happen to be suicidal. In that case most definitely keep this dude at bay.

Hillary would be a great person to have as president even if she were male. She just knows her stuff. You could think of her as a political astronaut. She is a rocket scientist when it comes to public policy.

She is much appreciated globally. Like there was this time when Obama was more popular in Canada than in America. Send him over here, they kept saying. God heard them and gave them Justin.

One hopes Hillary's rise in America will see women rise up to high political offices all over the world. Japan might be next after Germany, Britain and, hopefully, America.