Sunday, January 20, 2008

Something about Clinton ...

These days Americans have two hobbies -- (American) football and hating Hilary Clinton.

I don't get it, although years ago i ... kinda did it myself. It was while I was in college and Hilary was the First Lady(ok, let me take this opportunity to say that this first lady/gentleman(?) business in a democratic society is a very, very dumb idea. You can't not want royalty and want it, too). At the time I was defending Bill Clinton saying that what made him into the liar that he became were the puritanical questions he was being asked regarding a matter that didn't concern the public ... the way some evidence may be inadmissible in court if obtained through illegal means ... So he cheated; let his wife deal with it.

Also, I thought, of course he's a manipulative first class liar -- that's how he functions so well as an American president. And to top that he's a lawyer by training! Why were people slapping his wrist for the very skill he's been using to bring the Palestinians and Israelis to the same table? Mind you ... I didn't absolutely adore the guy, especially because he'd a tendency to distract the media from his personal life by bombing random locations in Africa.

One day I was talking to a girl named Carol in my house and I mentioned that I didn't care much for Hilary Clinton. It turned out Carol had interned with Hilary the summer before and she asked me why I didn't like Hilary. When it came down to it, I had no tangible reason other than the fact that even back then, America didn't like liking Hilary. The sentiment was contagious and apparently I'd caught some of it. So what's wrong with her? She was unlike any other First Lady who'd preceded her. Her education equaled that of any man around her. She had a successful career until she paused it to actively promote husband's career. Hell, she'd to change her maiden name to Clinton to appear like a 'normal' American wife so Bill Clinton could win his elections. Some criticized her marriage saying that it was more like a partnership:
To some, her marriage looked like a merger. Former candidate Michael Dukakis only read about Swedish land- use planning in his spare time; the Clintons talk about similarly dense topics with friends over dinner in the huge kitchen in the statehouse.
Well, I am sorry for Dukakis that whoever he's married to likes talking about the best sale in town, or how their last croak pot burned the food on one side, but for a married couple to take interest in the same things is hardly a point to be shamed about.

Carol calmly refuted each one of my (lack) of arguments. Since then I've been sold on Hilary.

Last week when Hilary lost in Iowa and supposedly had that breakdown moment, my co-worder who's never hesitated to express his distaste for Hilary Clinton retorted, 'I would never vote for a President who cries in public, male or female'. Over the course of the day I had convinced him that he was just hater. Yup, a hater. He'll take whatever Hilary does and give it a negative twist.
In this case he'd been complaining that she was too calculated and couldn't be trusted, and now, when she supposedly had an emotional moment, he struck her down for exactly the opposite reason he'd struck her before. Finally he said that she'd probably faked it. I continue with my argument that once again, he'll take anything about Hilary and dislike he for it. For that one instance, I had him admit that he was, perhaps subconsciously, looking for ways to explain her behavior unfavorably.

I think Barack Obama's alright. Hey, anybody that gets enough Ethiopians (on an average day politically apathetic people, unless it comes to demonstrating in DC) to actively support him, organize fund raising events, etc, gets my attention. If I were American I would consider voting for him. Consider is the key word. He surely got the dreamy catch lines ... the kind of lines I would have embraced when I was in college, I would love to embrace now, but alas, I've grown too cynical. Still, I wouldn't go as far as Bill Clinton to call Obama's campaign , 'the biggest fairy tale' i've ever heard (but ... there's something positive to be said about Bill Clinton for making that statement in reaction to his wife's first 'loss' at the polls.)

B Obama's weakness point for me is every time I hear Michelle Obama speak I can't help but think that I would definitely vote for her. The woman's on fire ... I wouldn't be surprised if she writes her husband's speeches.

So yeah, basically I think less of Obama, the man, because he has a stellar wife .. whereas I think people should not dismiss Hilary Clinton because she's a stellar (or scumbag, depending who you talk to) husband. You ask how than am I different from all the people who dismiss Hilary for the wrong reasons? Coz I'm not going with the popular crowd, that's why! I'm an independent hater ... yup, yup.

But seriously, I think Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton have the same take on many issues so picking one over the other on that isn't much help . So she's shown signs of changing her mind over the years. Good for her, and America! Shouldn't a leader in a democratic state be molded by the desire of the people, unlike G W Bush who marched to America to into a disaster called Iraq and insisted on keeping it in the same disaster in the name of 'strong leadership'? Yes, it would have suited me better if she'd been against the war from the start, but at least she's learned from it. And while we're the topic of voting, missing important votes because one's out campaigning don't impress me at all, Mr Obama.

The fact that Obama's black has no play in my world. He's as much black, as I am, as she's female, as I am. Besides, voting for a person for their color or gender is as bad as voting for a person because they hold similar 'values'. To me what Hilary has that even her husband didn't have to deal with is this hobby of Ameirca that likes disliking her. To me, enduring so many years of being in and out of public life and scrutiny, being humiliated by her husbands affair, putting her carrier on a back burner for her spouse's sake ... and surviving all that to become a New York senator shows strength worth every respect.

Much love to Obama, but so much more love to Hilary.

I probably should read this over again, but am about to be de-stuck from Salt Lake City airport.