Political Links...regarding the villification of Hillary Clinton during this election

1. Some Questions for Bernies Sanders Supporters

2. IF you are a Liberal and Think Hillary is Corrupt You are Rewarding 25 Years of GOP Smears

3. The Puzzling Vilification of Hillary Clinton - A Psychoanalysis

4. Bill Maher Explains Hillary Hatred Perfectly

5. The Best Way to Vilify Hillary Clinton - The GOP Spends Heavily to Test it

It's an interesting discourse on our deeply ingrained sexism. For many, completely unacknowledged and unselfaware. Reminds me a little of the Buffy hate in the Spike/Angel wars in fandom, and the Hermoine hate in the Harry Potter fandom, not to mention the Doctor Who, Supernatural, GoT fandoms. Mainly, and interestingly enough, from female fans.

6. Edited to add this article on Facebook, which links to a 1996 New Yorker Article on the topic:

1996 article Hating Hillary by Henry Gates

( Hillary hating has become the national pastime.. )

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1078093752256030&set=a.102236856508396.3404.100001662458374&type=3&theater

"In the course of a single conversation, I have been assured that Hillary is cunning and manipulative but also crass, clueless, and stunningly impolitic; that she is a hopelessly woolly-headed do-gooder and, at heart, a hardball litigator; that she is a base opportunist and a zealot convinced that God is on her side. What emerges is a cultural inventory of villainy rather than a plausible depiction of an actual person."
—Henry Louis Gates

The quote above comes from a fascinating article called “Hating Hillary”, written by Gates for the New Yorker in 1996. Even now, 20 years after it was first published, it’s a fascinating and impressive piece, and if you have a few spare moments I strongly recommend it to you. (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/02/26/hating-hillary)

And I’m reading pieces like this because now that Hillary has (essentially if not officially) won the Democratic Primary, I have become increasingly fascinated by the way so many people react to her. In truth, I sometimes think that I find that as interesting as Hillary herself. And I can’t help but notice that many of the reactions she receives seem to reflect what Gates referred to as “a cultural inventory of villainy” rather than any realistic assessment of who she really is and what she has really done.

To conservatives she is a radical left-wing insurgent who has on multiple occasions been compared to Mikhail Suslov, the Soviet Kremlin’s long-time Chief of Ideology. To many progressives (you know who you are), she is a Republican fox in Democratic sheep’s clothing, a shill for Wall Street who doesn’t give a damn about the working class. The fact that these views could not possibly apply to the same person does not seem to give either side pause. Hillary haters on the right and the left seem perfectly happy to maintain their mutually incompatible delusions about why she is awful. The only thing both teams seem to share is the insistence that Hillary is a Machiavellian conspirator and implacable liar, unworthy of society’s trust.

And this claim of unabated mendacity is particularly interesting, because while it is not the oldest defamation aimed at Hillary, it is the one that most effortlessly glides across partisan lines. Indeed, for a surprisingly large percentage of the electorate, the claim that Hillary is innately dishonest is simply accepted as a given. It is an accusation and conviction so ingrained in the conversation about her that any attempt to even question it is often met with shock. And yet here’s the thing: it’s not actually true. Politifact, the Pulitzer prize-winning fact-checking project, determined for example that Hillary was actually the most truthful candidate (of either Party) in the 2016 election season. And in general Politifact has determined that Hillary is more honest than most (but not all) politicians they have tracked over the years.

(no subject)

The shooting in Orlando was horrific, I'm trying not think too much about it -- since there's nothing I can do. Deadliest Shooting in US History according to reports, death toll has risen above 50. The shooter purchased his semi-automatic legally and had a license. Can we all agree to ban semi-automatic weapons now, please?
Make it a crime to own one? And a crime to manufacture one? Melt them down and create a memorial to all the victims of gun violence?

2016 has turned into a really tough year? Hasn't it? No wonder I keep getting ill on the weekends.

Today, though, was actually quite lovely as long as I ignored the news. There's a reason I don't tend to watch it. Went out for a long brunch with Uhura, where we sat outside and just chatted. A fun church service with a marching jazz band. And a beautiful summery day, with blue skies and a warm breeze.

(no subject)

So, I'm watching the Tony - and Lin-Manual Miranda wins the Tony for Best Score (music and lyrics), for his acceptance speech? He recites a sonnet that he wrote honoring what happened in Orlando, today.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to write a sonnet?