Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Three Reasons why we Must Vote for Hillary Clinton



On Feb. 9, Bernie Sanders gave Hillary Clinton a serious drubbing in New Hampshire - defeating her by OVER 20%. 

Sanders was particularly popular with young(er) voters. At my age, “young” means just about everybody. But for now, I’ll just define “young” as people who are, say, about as old as my children and younger, which means around forty or less...

So let me tell you young folks why you are making a grave mistake if you plan to make Bernie Sanders the Democratic presidential nominee:

ONE: Sanders will NEVER be elected president of the United States. Never. One thing which young people don’t see is the unbridgeable chasm that separates reality from idealism. Only through experience does one learn to appreciate the difference. When I was young, I campaigned for Gene McCarthy, George McGovern and other Quixotic figures. It felt real good. And none of them were ever elected.


Other things being equal, I would probably vote for Sanders myself. But other things are NOT equal! 

On February 9, I saw the Bill O’Reilly’s, Megyn Kelly’s and the other reactionary jackals on Fox News laughing, jubilant about the size of Sanders’ victory over Clinton. They were almost ready to start campaigning for Sanders, whom O’Reilly called “Che” and “Fidel.”

Don’t you see that nominating Sanders as the Democratic flag bearer ASSURES the victory of his Republican rival, NO MATTER WHO THAT TURNS OUT TO BE? Whether it is Trump, or Kasich, or Bush, or Cruz, or Rubio, ANY ONE of them will win. Electing an avowed socialist to the presidency of the United States of America is an IMPOSSIBILITY. It would be easier to elect an atheist Muslim polygamist murderer than to elect a socialist.

TWO: She is the best qualified for the job.

THREE: Why is this country not deeply ashamed over its steadfast inability to put a woman in charge? The record is clear. The excuses always change. With Hillary, it’s “not that she is a woman; she just is not the right woman; she can’t be trusted, blah, blah.” With the next female candidate, they’ll come up with some other ad hoc bs. Meanwhile, women have been in charge in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Israel, Pakistan for crying out loud, and innumerable other countries. But not in the good old USA.

It took the US half a century longer to grant women the right to vote than it did to do so for blacks (15th amendment: 1870; 19th amendment: 1919).

Obama’s victory over Hillary eight years ago can plausibly be attributed to the fact that sexism trumps racism, when it comes to entrusting someone with decision-making power.

Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem were right, the other day, when they scolded young women because many of them are too pro-Sanders.

From the nineteen sixties onward, there arose something called “Feminism,” remember? (I hated it at first, just as one tends to hate a bitter but necessary medicine).

There was talk of very subversive things, for example women having the right to control their own bodies. Imagine that!

In 2016, we read here and there that some states (Texas for instance) are considering outlawing abortion altogether. Who is to say that the US Supreme Court might not become so reactionary as to, at some point, declare Roe v. Wade unconstitutional? The Nazis’ slogan was “Kinder, Kuche and Kirche.” It’ll never happen here, right?

Look, my female friends: Wouldn’t now be a good time for you to get a little bit pissed off?
© Tom Kando 2016
leave comment here