No, I’ve not been watching the political conventions. It’s been hard to avoid the coverage and commentary, but for the most part I’ve succeeded. I just tune in late each evening to find out what the highlights were.
So far two moments have stood out, both from the Democratic Convention. I happened to turn on the TV Monday night just in time to catch Michelle Obama’s remark about waking up every morning in a house that slaves built. That’s going to stay with me for a long time. A simple statement that said so much. And provoked such reflection.
And then last night I happened to catch the moment in this video. And I don’t think my reaction is what the DNC hoped for. When the “glass ceiling” shattered and Hillary appeared, I cringed. The “woman card” again! It offends and insults me. As I’ve noted before, gender is not a qualification for the office of president, nor does it make you any more or less suited for the job. I will not base my vote on a candidate’s gender.
At the same time most women in the audience were bursting into tears of ecstasy, I was wondering what all the male voters in the country were thinking. Is this approach going to appeal to them? Is this continued theme of breaking the glass ceiling going to alienate male voters as much as it appeals (supposedly) to women? Democrats speak of party unity, and then risk dividing it by gender. It felt more like the Democratic Women’s Convention than the Democratic National Convention.
All I know is that when the “glass” shattered, I cringed. And not for the first time.
It’s not like I wasn’t a part of the original wave of feminists (Gloria Steinem, et al). I just wasn’t all militaristic activist about it. I could support all their goals without burning my bras (who wants droopy, bouncing boobs?) or screaming like a banshee at public demonstrations. And truth be told, I always liked and appreciated the gentlemen who opened doors for me. Still do.
But again, my point is, I cringed. And that’s not the way I wanted to feel about the candidate who will most likely get my vote.
Did you watch Bill’s speech? He shed a LOT of light on Hillary’s background. I had no idea what all she’s done from day #1 out of college. It made ME tired listening to how much she has done – and everything she fought for was to help people – make life better for them.
No, I didn’t watch. I’m not crazy about Bill and expected only the typical biased, sweet (and carefully calculated) stories any husband/politician would tell about his wife/politician.
Too bad. It really provided a lot of insight as to who Hillary is.
You really think he’s in a position to speak objectively?
Of course he’s going to do all he can to put her in good light with the public. But most of what he said were facts, not opinions. He provided his insight, of course. But to hear about everything she had done before she was even 30 years old! OMG! I got tired just listening to all her accomplishments. And each and every one of them involved helping people – fighting for their rights. I was not expecting to hear about this part of her life, but very glad I did.
There was a local station that did some fact checking on his speech and they found some shading of the truth on several things. One thing, as I recall, was giving her all the credit for starting the use of generic drugs to treat more AIDS patients in Africa (or something like that) when in fact the program had started several years before she came into the picture. But I’m sure the GOP will elaborate on her “shortcomings” in the weeks to come. Maybe Trump will ask Putin to look into that …
The next 3.5 months are going to be interesting.
She broke it as a smirking Big Sister. Wearing Red. I too cringed but I also beamed, but then I read about you wondering how many men (and women!) were alienated.
As gender is not a qualification for elected office, neither is “sexual orientation” (or lack thereof).
As I’ve said elsewhere, this photo makes me think of collusion between the Trumps and the Clintons. I’m STILL wondering if the whole point of Trump’s gaining the nomination was to ensure her victory. I think this pic is from 2005(?)
https://piedtype.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/trumpsclintons.jpg
I don’t trust anything politicians say and only a tiny bit of what they do. Every word, every action is carefully calculated. Every. Single. One.
I’m not a big fan of either of the Clintons, but I viewed the nomination as a big step forward for our country as we progress toward true equality and equal opportunity. Someone has to be first for change to occur. Some men will not support Hillary because she is a woman, and I’m told that also is true of some women. That also is true of Trump, but not because he is a man.
Well, that sounds pretty sensible. Besides, I suppose if the Dems hadn’t nominated her, a lot of people would have said it was precisely because she’s a woman. Kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.
It is NOT a big step forward when your party leadership throws your opponent in your own party UNDER THE BUS. They straight up lied about not favoring Hillary Clinton over Berni Sanders. They even apologized for doing so. I am not saying I am pleased with Donald Trump. He suffers mightily with Hoof-in-mouth disease. The glass ceiling she hit was flawed and had major cracks in it. If this were an athletic event she would be placed in the same category as other Hall Of Fame prospects …Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza…NOT NOMINATED. Do you think Hillary could find a few of Bill Clintons Rhode Scholar buddies to help America understand and re define what cheating really is? THE REAL DANGER HERE IS WHY VOTE AT ALL WHEN THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED?
Sanders was treated poorly, and everyone knows it. I might have even been in his camp if I thought he could beat Trump, but I think Clinton has a better chance of doing that. I don’t like Hillary, but the thought of a Trump presidency is flat out terrifying.
John–are you referring to the Mike Piazza who recently was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame?
Agree that the real danger is people will not vote in November. American citizenship carries the privilege of helping decide which candidates will be best for the country. It’s a shame more people don’t exercise their right to do so.
Hopefully to keep the world safe from donald trump, (lower case deliberate-)
What caught my eye was the bit about the White House and its being built by slaves and the thought struck me Presidents Washington & Jefferson (1 & 3) both held slaves and are greatly revered; President John Adams (2), did not, and seems to be not well thought of at all, why is this?
I don’t know, but I doubt it has anything to do with whether or not they owned slaves. That was 80 years before the Civil War and owning slaves was accepted practice among wealthy landowners.
I agree with your sentiments on this, PT. One thing does puzzle me about this election, however. One candidate is qualified for the position and the other is not, so why all the arguments? The fate of the nation, and maybe the world, hangs in the balance.
It doesn’t puzzle me; it scares me that so many people apparently support a candidate like Donald Trump, that so many people think he would be a good president of the US.
All of the doubts I had about Hillary faded away when I heard her mother’s story. I had to believe it—you just don’t make up a story like that. If it’s true, and I’m going to say it is, I can understand her better, and like her a great deal more. Her mother came from adversity, and no doubt influenced her daughter and gave her the grit and determination she obviously has. So much bitterness toward her, guys. Give your head a shake. And the glass ceiling thingy? It exists.
I was very favorably impressed with her speech this evening. I heard everything I wanted and hoped to hear. And this time I heard it directly from her, which I think made all the difference. Up till now it seems like everything I’ve heard about her in this election cycle has come from someone else — and all biased one way or the other.
I know. CNN, Fox news, and even our beloved and respected CBC has had it in for her. I keep thinking, “What else does she have to do to win people over?” I think and hope that some of her past transgressions may have been repaired during the convention. We can’t let evil win.
I think of it more as idiocy (Trump) than evil, but either way, we can’t let him get his hands on the reins of power.
I am no longer looking over my shoulder or watching what I say because of what the menz might think. I’m thrilled that a woman is finally getting a chance to become President. If that’s playing the gender card, so be it.
I’ve never been one to worry about what the men say vs. what the women say. I usually just think about what people in general say. In this case, however, gender has been made a very big issue, so I’ve wondered how that affects men vs. women. Overall, like so many other issues, it appears to be a wash — some men and women care a lot about her being a women and some men and women don’t care one way or the other.
You know, if either the Dems or Repubs would have nominated a woman who WAS NOT a blatant liar, I might have been happy to vote for her. However, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary (or Trump for that matter) if she (or he) were the only one running.
I’m sure you’ve noticed how I’m just bursting with enthusiasm over one of them.
/snark
But… to my dismay and in spite of what you know about her, you appear ready to vote for someone who is a habitual (if not congenital) liar. I cannot comprehend that.
Trump has to be stopped. It’s that simple.
the JFK solution????????
Trump hasn’t a chance in H*ll of being elected, so why vote for the liar who will (according to mainstream logic) inherit the presidency anyway?
If everybody thought like that; that trump hasn’t a hope in hell of getting elected, then the odds are that he will win by default because nobody will bother going to the polls to vote for anyone else.
The only way to stop him is by everybody getting out and voting for what they might consider is the lesser of two evils.
Just a thought from an Antepodian who believes in compulsory voting and socialism 🙂
Beari’s got it right. Voting against the man is the only way to ensure he doesn’t get elected. And the votes all have to be for Hillary, not divided up between her and a bunch of third-party candidates.The GOP will try to divide and conquer. We can’t let that happen.
@ LordBeariofBow Just so we’re clear: You said that, not me.
Okey dokey XD I take full responsibility
@ ImALibertarian I want to make sure he’s buried so deep that we never have to worry about him again. If and when I can agree that he doesn’t have a chance in hell of being elected, I might consider a candidate other than Hillary.
I share your perception. I too noticed Hillary’s triumphant focus on breaking the glass ceiling – the night of her nomination and again the next day. Had I had time to post on my blog, I would have called it “This is What People Don’t Like About Hillary.” First woman President? Great news. But Hillary, it’s not about you! I contrast this with the nomination that occurred 8 years ago – did Obama gloat in his acceptance speech about being the first African-American candidate? Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think so. We all KNEW it, but Obama had enough class to know better than to call attention to it himself.
I remember it as you did. Obama never crowed about being the first African-American candidate. And I never asked or expected Hillary to break that ceiling for me. She apparently felt the need to do it for herself. After all, how many woman aspire to the White House? Our ceilings, if there are any, are much lower — businesses in our communities, etc.
Obama’s class, dignity, humility. Sure don’t see anything like that in Trump. Trump embodies just about everything I was taught not to be.
Your views on President Obama I believe are shared by the world OUTSIDE the US of A,I think I can safely say that he is well respected and liked here in Australia.
That’s good to hear. There are some really rotten things being said about him by some people in the US.
Yes we get the reports here but it seems to be the Australian way by making up their own minds when it gets down to the nitty gritty not what they read or see in the media, but of what they see and hear from the peson, and we certainly get to see quite a lot of the President.
That’s the problem we’ve had here up to now. We’ve seen way too much of Donald Trump and not nearly enough of Hillary herself. I tend to discount the media and the various campaign spokespersons. I want to hear the candidates themselves, what they have to say and how they say it.
That’s the only way, although I must admit I find it very hard to listen to Mr trump, I may be hard of hearing but his voice grates
I can’t stand listening to him. He says ignorant, insulting, often irrelevant things and does it with a terribly arrogant attitude. I have to turn him off the second he shows up.
Then do I take it that Mr trump cannot count on your vote ? ;evil:
Yes sir, you may.
👿