Mirror, Mirror

I see myself in Hillary Clinton, I suspect a lot of women do. I'm strident when attacked. I work hard for what I believe in. I will make compromises and accept progress in half-strides if I think it benefits the greater good. I think universal, mandated health care is the best solution for the 40 million Americans that don't have health insurance. On a personal level, I've put up with the dalliances of a unfaithful man because I thought he was my soul mate, because he understood my drive and my art, and believed in me intellectually. And sometimes, especially at the office, I can seem cold and calculating because I do my fighting behind closed doors and not in the open, where I'll usually just hold my tongue.

I actually hope a lot of women see themselves in Hillary, not because the above qualities are necessarily something to strive for, but because they are all very human qualities. And I don't think Hillary has been allowed at any step of the way to be human. Apparently a female politician in the U.S. has to be twice as smart as a man, work twice as hard, cry twice as less, be warm twice as much, and not spend money on haircuts and pantsuits that are broadcast on national television, before the world will accept her or her ability to handle the nation's highest office. I simply can't imagine someone asking a male politician to respond to accusations that he's not likeable.

I'm not saying that people should vote for Hillary. She has a record, the experience and a platform to be judged on, just like Barack Obama. But she has inspired the wrath of a media, many a liberal, and the right wing simply because of her gender. Their reactions--which run the gamut of smoke blowing to T-shirts with the C-word on them-- are immature and uncalled for. They say much more about the person taking the cheap shots than the woman they are directed at. Taking a look in the mirror Hillary-haters. Americans are passionate about our country and our participation in the political process. But when you are reduced to elementary-school tactics to attack a Senator, when you HATE, that's capital H-A-T-E, a presidential candidate, there's something else going on.


Some notes:
Erica Jong, with a similar sentiment on Hillary's behalf, an intern sent me this one.

Paul Krugman on the difference between Hillary and Obama's health care plan.

Gary Kamiya, on Barack's journey of racial identity, and why he supports him, from Salon.com.

And, finally: I've been rereading a collection of writings by Washington Post correspondent and Vanity Fair contributor Marjorie William called The Woman at the Washington Zoo. Her husband, Timothy Noah of Slate, selected the pieces in the book after Williams died at 47 of liver cancer, some of the pieces are online at the book's website and at her page at the Washington Post. This last words of Noah's introduction: "The insight and effervescence and sweet sadness and tart humor of Marjorie's words will always keep part of her alive. The mere fact that you never knew her and loved her as I did is no reason to deny you the intense pleasure of her company." The essay she wrote about her young daughter dressing up for Halloween always brings me to tears, and the essays on politics made me think.