I Despise Hillary Clinton, And It Has Nothing To Do With Her Gender

[KamaAina]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isaac-saul/i-despise-hillary-clinton-gender_b_9160682.html

In the last few weeks, as Bernie Sanders has inched closer to Hillary Clinton in the primaries, her more ardent supporters have responded by attacking the sexism of “Bernie Bros” and their online comments.

Without question, there has been a disheartening amount of seemingly sexist comments made about Hillary from people who you would otherwise expect to at least support her unenthusiastically. But the response from the Hillary supporters has basically been a general blanket statement that goes something like this: “Bernie Sanders supporters hate Hillary because she’s unlikeable as a woman, and her policies really aren’t that different than his. If she were a man they’d be singing a different tune.”

We are now no longer Sanders supporters, but a “sexist mob.“ It’s a provocative and completely baseless claim. But it’s working. The idea that Sanders supporters are somehow unique in having some online anger issues completely ignores the ever-present atmosphere of the Internet and how people interact with those they don’t agree.

From the sexist comments I’ve read, which there are a few, I offer this: I do not believe Sanders’ supporters, many of which are young men like me, hate her because she is a woman. I believe they hate her for who she is and much of what she stands for. But in that hatred, some of the most immature supporters are using her gender as a way to express their vitriol and disapproval. Is this any better? Probably not. Is it different? Certainly, yes. Is it unique to Sanders supporters? Obviously, no.

[Buzz Clik]

1. This shit can't end soon enough.

[IamMab]

26. Notice the running theme? It's still Never Their Fault. They will always be the victims, forever.

Didn't register to vote? The system is rigged!
Didn't register to change parties by a certain deadline? It's all corrupt!
A few rallies of a couple thousand people didn't translate into a victory in a state with millions of people? How can we possibly be losing??? ((I shit you not, there's a thread on GDP today with pictures of the rallies and this very quote.))
Every news show isn't about Bernie 24/7? TEH MEDIA BIAS!!111
Sanders is losing by over 3 million votes? Those votes don't count, because they're black and Southern!
Super-delegates may influence outcome? Super-delegates are the spawn of Satan!
Super-delegates may flip to Bernie? Bernie is entitled to those super-delegates, which now are not the spawn of Satan, unless they don't flip to Sanders, then they're still Lucifer Jr!

The common denominator to all of these problems is the Sanders supporters. Well past time for them to take a hard look in the mirror and self-assess.

[Buzz Clik]

31. +1.... and don't forget exit polling....

[IamMab]

33. How could I forget exit polling? It is THE smoking gun, after all, that "proves everything"...

Thanks for the reminder!

[Sancho]

69. Oh yea...and there's more!!

Dozen's of unions - the one really fighting for salaries and jobs - analyzed the records, questionnaires, and policies of the candidates - and they picked Hillary even though a post on Facebook said it was a conspiracy!

Hundreds of politicians and elected officials who worked with Bernie and Hillary for years endorsed Hillary!! Establishment hacks didn't pick a 30 year veteran of Congress because he's an outsider!!

[IamMab]

70. Excellent points!

The only thing Bernie is "outside" of is Reality.

[Demsrule86]

87. Very much like the right wing tea types

Always the victim...Bernie lost because people liked Hillary more...that's all folks.

[Live and Learn]

75. We agree. Stop giving us sold out candidates. nt

[FarPoint]

2. Bernie let things go ugly.

He chose poorly, ultimately defeating his purpose and goals. He drew first blood with hateful attacks, claiming all is wonderful, targeting delegates etc...Made this Primary Season taste bitter.

[Logical]

5. Lol, you are making most of that up! Nt

[FarPoint]

10. No, you just choose not to look...

See Bernie for being a dreamer without a plan and turning your cheek when he goes desperately down the path of falsehood claims.

[rhett o rick]

53. How absurd.

They are making it all up. Nothing to back up the "misstatements".

[amborin]

12. HRC campaign swiftboated & smeared Bernie, that's all they have

[pnwmom]

20. You don't know what swift boat means, clearly. n/t

[ieoeja]

36. Swiftboat: (1) paint a hero's actions as non-heroic; (2) paint a civil rights activist as racist.

I would say "swiftboat" is the perfect description of the attacks out of the Hillary camp this election.

They did the same thing in 2008. Obama was much better on LGBT issues than Hillary. But that did not stop them from 24x7 attacking Obama on LGBT issues.

They would have almost certainly attacked him as racist had he not been African-American. They had to resort to the dog-whistle strategy to try and make up for that loss.

[dchill]

76. +100% correct!

[rhett o rick]

44. The Clinton campaign has tried to paint Sanders as dishonest. That's SwiftBoating.

Clinton has a known integrity problem. She lied about the need to invade Iraq and most Americans haven't trusted her since. How can one say that Bush lied about Iraq without saying that Clinton lied about Iraq. She gave the same speech.

[FarPoint]

34. Swiftboated ...now that is another example from the Sanders Team of making things up.

Such a term is very manipulative and disingenuous. John Kerry, now he indeed knows what it is like to be swiftboated....Bernie Team,well once again and again playing the false victim card....making thing up to gain sympathy from the small donors.

[ieoeja]

40. See post #36. n/t

[Maedhros]

41. Your posts lack substance or even verisimilitude.

/ignore list.

[TM99]

43. Capeheart pushed

a bogus story that Sanders was not the man in the photographs in Chicago during the civil rights era in the week before SC.

Even after being proven wrong, he doubled down and refused to recant or apologize for his smears and baseless accusations.

That is called swiftboating.

[synergie]

54. HRC has not laid a finger on Bernie, there is plenty that's coming out about him

that could easily expose Mr. Purity as nothing of the sort. You and Bernie have been "swiftboating" HRC. Swiftboating is when you make attacks on character and credibility based on lies, allusions and outright dishonesty. You're engaging in this right now and Bernie has been doing so for quite some time.

Projecting your own misbehavior when the facts say otherwise is something that CONS do, why do you feel the need to adopt their tactics?

[TM99]

83. Let's see those facts.

I have plenty at my disposal to prove it is the Brock/Clinton machine doing the swiftboating from Capeheart to Lewis to 'discredit & disqualify' and on and on.

The only projections are coming as usual from the Clinton camp. Brock learned at the feet of the master of swiftboating and y'all pretend that laying down with a dog will spare you from the fleas.

[synergie]

84. Oh really? Do share this "evidence" of 'swiftboating' you claim to have at your

disposal. Capehart is not affiliated with the Clinton campaign, nor did he say anything that was factually incorrect or even abusive of Bernie, and Lewis was asked a question and responded to it specifically and factually. So, unless you have something that's actually factual and shows that your favorite Bogeyman, Brock or the Clinton campaign or anyone else has actually said anything about Bernie, you're pretty much out of luck here with this particular lie.

Bernie's NRA backing and the votes he placed in exchange are part of public record, as are his rape fantasies and his votes that denied rape victims access to basic and necessary information, and a litany of other things that prove that Bernie is perfectly fine about compromising on pretty important things when it serves his personal interests, and so on. That's not even touching Jane's financial improprieties and the fraud she committed, which got her fired.

As usual projection is what you guys do, insulting the Clinton camp and screeching about Brock. Bernie and his camp have been known to play quite dirty in the most underhanded ways possible, as his previous contests have proven. Swiftboating is what CONS do, and only one campaign and one group of supporters have embraced the RW vision, smears, attacks and nastiness and it has not been Clinton or her supporters. You guys are certainly proving what masters of RW tactics you are, and that your own colonies of fleas are someone not biting you, but those who point out that you're the only ones covered in them.

Its amusing that you have demonized Brock, but embrace his fellow Anita Hill hating CON, Cenk. Take a dip dear, projection won't save you from the consequences of the company you keep, the behavior you engage in and the RW nature of your attacks.

The indictments you and the RWer dream of might be coming, for the only people who broke actual laws here, Bernie and Jane. Lying about things on financial documents is an actual violation of law.

[TM99]

86. Wow, you are some piece of work

aren't you.

Capeheart's partner is a Clinton campaign worker.

Yes, he did say something which was proven factually incorrect. The photographer confirmed who Sanders was. That you defend him and spin this is all the bullshit I need see from you to know you are so full of it that it is pathetic.

Bernie HAS NEVER won or run a negative campaign ever in VT. That is factual. Clinton was a racist POS to Obama in 2008, that is factual.

Yes, indeed swiftboating is what cons do, like your buddy, Brock. Now what was it he said about Anita Hill? Oh yeah, she is a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty.

Oh, and now you are peddling some bullshit about Bernie and Jane lying on financial documents? This while your precious is under investigation by the FBI.

Yeah, you have demonstrated exactly what kind of foolish person you are, what talking points you will spew (whether paid to do so or not is irrelevant), and that is all that really needs to be said.

[Maedhros]

21. "Hateful attacks" from Bernie himself?

That statement is shockingly ignorant on its face.

[libdem4life]

28. We have a unique situation where reporting someone's positions,

whatever they may be at present, is considered "hating". When these positions...past and present... are recorded, one may expect immediate denial and general flack from Her Flock.

[Buzz Clik]

32. No. Just his surrogates. I like Bernie (not his policies). His fan club? Um... no.

[rhett o rick]

50. Not true. You have absolutely nothing to back that up. Was it merely a "misspeak" like Clinton's

approval of the Reagan's position on AIDS? Or a "mistake" like Clinton's vote for the Iraq War.

[Marr]

78. Do you actually think anyone is going to believe you when you say the campaign that

pushed this photo of Obama when running against him:



...were the innocent victims when the primary season against Bernie Sanders went negative?

C'mon. I doubt even your fellow Hillary supporters believe that.

[VulgarPoet]

3. I've been smeared as everything from misogynist to Neo-nazi for being a biracial man who

has IMMENSE qualms about Clinton's policy decisions; and not even just by her supporters, but by her high profile surrogates who she obviously agrees with, if she hasn't walked back their reprehensible garbage. I feel safe in saying screw every single one of 'em, and I will be waiting for the day of their utter public irrelevance with bated breath.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

4. I don't think Bernie supporters would have any problem....

...voting for a woman with a similar political background to Bernie.

Many/most/all would be proud to do so.

Just not Hillary.

That's not being sexist.

[VulgarPoet]

6. I'd been hoping for Warren, personally. Dr. Stein seems like a fine second choice. nt

[pnwmom]

14. Oh, yes, they would all LOVE to vote for a woman who lacks the ambition

to be President.

That's part of her allure. She's not threatening.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

25. Who lacks ambition?

Not familiar with these two names.

[mythology]

39. I suspect the poster means Elizabeth Warren

And they said lacks the ambition to be president, based on Warren not running this year. Obviously Warren has ambitions, but running for president is a very different ballgame than for the Senate.

Jill Stein is the Green party candidate for president.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

42. Thank you.

[pnwmom]

48. She lacks the ambition to be President. Not ambition -- but the ambition to be President.

So she's a nice safe choice for those who don't really want a woman to be President -- especially an ambitious one.

[Miles Archer]

71. I'm sure that's exactly how Lloyd Blankfein describes Clinton.

"That's part of her allure. She's not threatening. "



As far as the ambition thing goes, I think that what a lot of people object to is that Clinton's campaign is perceived as being rooted in personal ambition, as opposed to doing what's right for the country.

Notice I said "perceived as." I'm not the guy you have to convince, and it's on a much bigger scale than DU, too. People don't like her, people don't trust her, and yeah...she might just get enough people who do like her to make her our next President. I get that.

I'm not going to play the game of guessing if your swipe was aimed at Elizabeth Warren, but if it was, feel free to list your accomplishments here and we'll see how they stack up to hers.

[Bleacher Creature]

7. Why is today "unhinged rage day" on DU?

Despise? Really?

[Tarc]

27. The closer we get to convention time, the more desperate they get

I think they're finally starting to come to grips wit the fallibility of #berniemath, and there aren't many clubs left to play. Note today there is quite an uptick in Emailgate foolishness.

[ieoeja]

45. You can not spend months calling Bernie supporters racist and sexist then expect them not to ...

... end up hating you with a passion.

It has been said many times here, what the fuck made them think that attacking your opponent's supporters was a good campaign strategy?

[VulgarPoet]

62. Yeah, I've hit a very "fuck 'em" point in terms of how I feel about the vast majority of 'em.

I'd write a poem about it, but I've been out of spoons since maybe February-- it'd come out looking more O_O-worthy than Catullus 16.

[apnu]

79. People have a case of the "Mondays"

[Logical]

8. Most of the "sexist" bernie supporters LOVE Warren!! Hmmmmmmm!

[ismnotwasm]

9. Boy I've heard this shit before

"I'm not sexist but"..

[pnwmom]

11. If young Democrats were expressing hatred of Ben Carson in nasty racial terms

and the claim was made that they didn't hate him because he was black, would anyone here accept that argument?

The sexism that has been unearthed during this campaign among Democrats is shocking and disheartening.

[KamaAina]

13. Ha! You just compared your candidate to Ben Carson!

[pnwmom]

17. I compared her to someone young male progressives hate as much as they hate Hillary.

But for no good reason -- and yet they're not expressing their hate in racial terms.

[ieoeja]

51. We don't hate Ben Carson. Why would we? He did not spend months calling us racist and sexist. n/t

[pnwmom]

56. Of course you don't. Because he's a sexist, too. nt

[ieoeja]

58. And there you go! n/t

[pnwmom]

59. Yes, he thinks men need to "re-educate women" and that's just fine with you. No problem.

http://www.rawstory.com/2013/10/fox-news-ben-carson-re-educate-the-women-because-they-get-all-riled-up-over-abortion/

[ieoeja]

61. And there you go again! n/t

[leftynyc]

37. Juvenile emoticon notwithstanding

The poster did no such thing. Try using actual facts next time.

[jillan]

57. Kinda hard to be sexist when you are a woman and a mother! Kinda hard to be told I have a problem

with strong women when I have been in management for 25 years, one of a few women that made it into management in a male dominated field. AND now own my own business.


Calling me a sexist because I don't support Hillary is a joke! But not as hysterically funny as when I am called a Bernie Bro.... I'm still laughing at being called an Obama Bro from 8 years ago.

[pnwmom]

80. No, unfortunately, it isn't. But I'm not accusing you of being sexist.

Just the supporters who use sexist language against Hillary, and there are many.

[bettyellen]

72. excellent point- no one here would excuse this shit if it was racist.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Voting for someone because of gender is the same as voting against someone because of gender.

Sexist.

[pnwmom]

18. Voting for diversity is NOT the same as voting against diversity. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Is voting for a Socialist contributinng to diversity?

How about a 3rd Party?

How about Clarence Thomas? A vote for "diversity"?

[pnwmom]

23. No. Socialism isn't a trait, it's a philosophy. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. A very diverse philosophy.

I've voted for Socialists for president and a woman for president.

You?

[Throd]

67. Voting for the sake of diversity is pretty dumb.

Sarah Palin as veep would have been historic.

[Lizzie Poppet]

55. Precisely!

The argument is, basically, "because vagina."

I ain't buyin' it.

[panader0]

82. You are correct.

I am sure that there are many such voters, in the general populace, and here at DU.

[snot]

16. I'd just like to say,

I do not believe that most Bernie supporters are sexist, and of course a great many aren't male (has anyone seen any actual percentages? Because based on what I've seen first-hand, I'd be surprised if they were more than 50% male).

I realize there may be a few genuinely sexist "bro's" out there, but I also realize there could be sock puppets pretending to be "bro's"; either way, I think they're disproportionately vocal and/or have received extremely disproportionate amounts of attention from the corporate media.

Hillary's positions, even after her purported leftward shifts, are NOT the same as Bernie's; and her record is certainly NOT the same as Bernie's; and these differences fully justify Bernie's supporters in continuing to fight for their candidate. The Bernie supporters I've met personally – and I've met quite a few in the course of my work for his campaign – are as open-hearted and liberal on "racial"- and gender-related issues as they are on so many others.

[pnwmom]

19. In the primaries, exit polls show a large gender gap, with men less likely to vote for Hillary.

[realmirage]

29. You hate her because talking points are delicious

Too delicious to read the label to find out if they're something you should be swallowing

[KamaAina]

30. I don't hate her. I merely dislike her.

It's the author who "despises" her.

[realmirage]

35. So why post it, which is the same as endorsing it?

[KamaAina]

38. Because it makes the point that this is not about her gender.

That's why.

[MFM008]

46. whatever

[Sheepshank]

47. I despise Bernie and it has nothing to do with his heritage

...doesn't stop BSers from calling me an anti-semite however

[Faux pas]

49. Yeah

demonization is the tool of the wicked. We know who the wicked are, and, it ain't the ones feeling the BERN.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

52. how very fancy of you. nt

[Progressive dog]

60. Bernie hasn't inched closer, he has

continued to lose. He has not continued to lose because he's a sexist (even though there is some evidence that he is). He has continued to lose because Democrats are voting for Hillary instead of him.

[Jitter65]

63. Nothing to do with her gender, but everything to do with your Karma.

Such harsh feelings drive Karma direction.

[Mike Nelson]

64. The writer of this essay...

...despises Hillary Clinton and claims it is not sexist. I believe the writer. I admire Hillary Clinton and don't "despise" either her or Bernie Sanders. Sure, there are sexist reasons for people to despise Hillary. But not all are sexist. In my own group of friends, I know a Donald Trump supporter who is not a sexist, bigot, racist... I've known him since childhood and he's just disgusted with politics. He does not follow it closely. He likes Trump's call out on the Iraq war and how he speaks about other politicians. He thinks "Make America Great" means something entirely different than I thought he would... so, people can have perspectives I don't see. Back, to despising Hillary - I would never state that, but I believe the writer does despise her and accept that it's not for sexist reasons. To each her own.

[Miles Archer]

65. I don't hate her, but I don't like her, and it has nothing to do with gender

I just don't like her.

And I'm not voting for her.

And the endless stream of people who feel that they have to "justify" that is distressing.

If you could do a "personality swap" between her and Sanders, I'd feel the same way about him that I do her.

[LexVegas]

66. Ah..the excuses for sexism. Written on a Cheetos stained keyboard for all the world to see. nt

[KamaAina]

68. I can't stand Chee-tos.

[bettyellen]

73. Making excuses that sexist comments.... are not sexist? Gas lighting is a thing, people.

[CharlotteVale]

74. K&R

[CincyDem]

77. Sounds like "I got nothing against women...some of my best friends are women". lol n/t

[Doctor_J]

81. I've never seen anyone with a greater sense of entitlement than Mrs Clinton

Her supporters never mention issues. Just vicious attacks on Sanders and anyone who dares to bring up her far right ideology.

[bobthedrummer]

85. I painfully learned my lessons about the Third Wayers, I hoped for reform-now I loath them KamaAina,

and gender has nothing to do with that at all.

K&R.

I'm 1 of the 99%.

[JTFrog]

88. Bullshit.

Last edited Mon May 2, 2016, 09:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Many of the same folks who claim it has nothing to do with her gender are the same folks who rationalized their votes for Edwards and Kerry.

Sorry, not buying it. DU has archives.