March 10, 2016 4:49 AM

Hillary Clinton: A blood-drenched, boner-killing, venom-dripping hellbeast who's out to destroy America??

Hillary-hate is often, but not always, the province of men. It is often, but not exclusively, Republican; conservatives launched The Hillary Project to stop her candidacy back in 2013. (“Hillary Clinton—the name alone strikes dread in the heart of freedom loving Americans.”) And it is often, and unacceptably, embraced by otherwise progressive men, who abandon their principles and their common sense in order to trash her, demonize her, and loudly proclaim to anyone who will listen that they Just Don’t Like Her. You know Hillary-hate. You’ve seen it before: It’s Tucker Carlson proclaiming that “when she comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.” It’s Chris Matthews scolding Clinton, when she criticized Bush’s homeland security spending in 2005, by saying that “you look more witchy when you’re doing it like this.” It is sainted progressive icon Jon Stewart getting huge laughs, off a shot of Clinton smiling politely, with the line “that look is where boners go to die.”

I long ago endorsed Bernie Sanders as the Presidential candidate I feel is best prepared at this moment in time to lead America into an uncertain future. That doesn’t mean I don’t like or respect Hillary Clinton- quite the contrary- merely that I feel Sanders is more qualified and equipped with better goals and ideas. I harbor no ill will or animus towards Clinton…but it would seem that I might just be a minority among my gender. Even worse, Hillary haters may ultimately be enough to put a Republican in the White House.

I know people who, though they can’t definitively articulate the reason(s) why, hate Hillary Clinton with a burning passion…and they’re not all men. My Facebook feed is dotted with women who express their abject hatred for her, often using the word “bitch”…or worse. It’s astonishing, really…or perhaps not so much when you consider that she’s been in the public eye under intense (some might say unfair) scrutiny since 1991 when her husband was running for President.

Hating Hillary Clinton has become a combination of cottage industry and a raison d’ etre for many who recoil at the sight of her or the sound of her name. It’s become a visceral and deeply personal animus representative of what she once called “the politics of personal destruction.” There’s no shortage of people who’d like nothing better than to see Hillary Clinton shamed, utterly defeated, and personally destroyed. It’s ridiculous and unbecoming of people who refer to themselves as human beings, but there it is.

There’s no one else in public life who elicits such strong opinions, whether positive or negative. I suppose part of it might be men (and, sadly, no small number of women) who are threatened by successful, powerful women. Or it may just be reminiscent of what Charles Krauthammer called “Bush Derangement Syndrome”…or it’s current corollary, “Obama Derangement Syndrome.” “Hillary hatred” has taken on a life of its own; no longer does it need to be justified or explained. It just is, and those afflicted by it quickly become True Believers. They’re ready, willing, and able to believe anything that paints her in a poor light, no matter the veracity (or lack of same) of the allegations.

It includes things like the “If only people knew” sort of innuendo and allegations:

“They wouldn’t understand that the Clintons used Arkansas state troopers as pimps.”….

“They wouldn’t understand that Clinton and Mrs. Clinton privately hired PIs to harass the women who were sleeping with him.”

“They wouldn’t understand the repeated thwarting of election laws and financial caps on fund-raising.”

“They wouldn’t understand the funny money coming out of China and other parts of Asia.”

“They wouldn’t understand that she stole White House furniture.”

That such accusations are more often than not second-hand (or worse), thinly sourced, and/or completely fabricated and filtered through the “Big Lie” bull horn that can provide even the vilest and most egregious lies with the patina of truth seems not to matter to those who hate Hillary Clinton with every fiber of their being.

The media coverage of Hillary Clinton is a lesson in paradox: She’s the “most admired woman” in America, but no one is “excited” about her presidential campaign. She’s inevitable, but she can’t win an election. And even when she wins a debate, she still lost it.

This might seem like an indication of what we already know — that the former secretary of state is an extremely polarizing candidate, whose very name is treated as a curse word or a reason to break out the Holy Water during the Republican presidential debates. The New York Times’ Mark Leibovitch wrote earlier this year that “divisive” has become almost associated with her very name: “Clinton has worn the polarizing badge more than any other politician since the word came into its unfortunate vogue.” But as Leibovitch argued, Hillary’s status as a divider is less a product of her politics than our own.

The critiques often come couched in code words- she’s “polarizing,” she isn’t “relatable,” she’s “not trustworthy,” she’s “vindictive”…I could go on, but I think my gentle reader gets the point. Much of the bile directed at Clinton is horribly ugly, irredeemably sexist, and distressingly visceral and personal. It’s not nearly so much about her competence or her qualifications to be our next President. It’s about an intense, borderline irrational desire to see Clinton destroyed utterly, with the smoking wreckage of her persona and public life left to molder along the side of the road to be metaphorically urinated upon by those who hate her. Just. That. Much.

This makes sense when you consider the millions of tax dollars spent by Congressional Republicans on a succession of hearings on the tragic attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Despite pleas from Ambassador Steven’s father not to politicize the death of his son, Republicans have engaged in one of the worst and most transparent witch hunts in this country’s history. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-IL) openly admitted the political nature of the multiple investigations- they weren’t intended to learn the truth about what happened in Benghazi, but rather to politically wound Clinton and, if possible, destroy her Presidential aspirations.

This is what happens when lies, propaganda, and disinformation become the coin of the realm and the basis for Americans deciding who they’ll vote for.

If you doubt that truth is the first casualty of politics, just listen to a Hillary hater discourse at some considerable length about their disdain for her. Then ask them a simple question: “Why?”…and be prepared for an emotion-laden response short on facts and evidence. “Hillary hatred” has become such an article of faith that no longer do those afflicted with it feel the need to justify or support their animus. It’s become an accepted fact, despite the pronounced lack of facts behind it.

America deserve better.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 10, 2016 4:49 AM.

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