I Looked at Hundreds of Hillary Photos and Found The Most Amazing Thing In Common

[bigtree]

by Leela Daou (wife of former adviser to Hillary Clinton, Peter Daou)

I was born in the United States of America. I am a navy blue passport-carrying American citizen. English is my native tongue. Yet many people treat me like I don’t belong here.

I am of Indian descent. My parents are from the south of India. I am a tall woman. My skin is a darker shade of brown, my hair is jet black with wildish curly tendencies, giving me what has been called an “ethnically ambiguous” appearance. My dark eyes reflect the experience of a life lived outside of what is considered ordinary.

Since I was a very young child, I have been asked the question, “Where are you from?” Ninety-nine percent of people are unsatisfied with my answer: “I’m from New York.” Without fail, they all proceed to ask the following question: “No, where are you really from?” My further explanation (in clearly unaccented English) of being an American (born and raised) is met with sheer incredulity. As if someone who looks like me cannot possibly be from the same place that they are. The icing on the cake is this: “How do you speak English so well?”

My earliest memory of this line of questioning was from teachers and classmates at the age of 5. Yes, 5 years old. Imagine that. Before my identity was even fully formed, I was essentially told that I didn’t belong. Not only did I not belong, but my answers of my own identity were not acceptable and required further questioning.

At the age of 5, I had to ask myself difficult questions. Why don’t they believe me when I tell them who I am? Am I not trustworthy? Could it be possible that they don’t accept what I have to say just because I don’t look like them? Can I trust them? If I wasn’t really an American, what was I? When I held my hand over my heart with my classmates each morning to pledge my allegiance to the flag, I had to ask myself if I was really part of this “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”



Three decades of fielding these nearly daily questions has certainly not fostered a sense of confidence and belonging as an American. I’ve just learned to tolerate the little indignities, to keep my head up, and to go on about my life. Because who has the time or energy to focus on anything else other than working to move forward?

I know I am not the only American who has felt this way. There are millions of people in our country who look like me and millions who don’t. Millions who were born here and millions who were born elsewhere and made the choice to become American citizens. There are the millions of marginalized people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, and religious affiliations who have fought and are still fighting tirelessly to be seen and have their voices heard equally.

There are millions of us who have been told by fellow Americans and certain presidential candidates that our voices aren’t the ones that really matter, that we don’t really matter.

That is why I’ve been so cynical about politics and politicians. That is until I met Hillary Clinton.

My husband, Peter Daou, is a former adviser to Hillary. He is of Lebanese-American descent. At first glance, we are not your typical couple, and our marriage added another layer of questioning and scrutiny from the judgmental, exclusionary public to our life. It’s not easy to be on the receiving end of disapproving looks every time you walk down the street with the person you love. Having become accustomed to not being accepted by society at large, this was just another unpleasant aspect of my life that I had to deal with.



One evening, very unexpectedly, Peter and I ran into Hillary and a few of his former colleagues. Peter always spoke of Hillary with the utmost respect and admiration. He spoke of how intelligent and disciplined she is, and of how kind and thoughtful she is, always, even in the midst of a world of never ending work and incessant attacks on her integrity.

Seeing her in person for the first time, I could see all these things in the way she carried herself with such ease and dignity. Though she was on her way out of the building, though she was surrounded by a large group of people, she walked over and embraced Peter then took a moment to shake my hand, look into my eyes with a smile, and connect with me.

The former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady, one of the most accomplished and admired women in the world, genuinely and wholeheartedly acknowledged me in a room where I would otherwise be overlooked. She welcomed and embraced me and my husband. She made me feel for that moment, that my presence really mattered.

That is something that I see in the faces of the millions of Americans that support Hillary. Looking through photos of Hillary on the campaign trail, I see a beautiful mix of faces, a mix that America was always meant to be. And I see women who look like me beaming with pride and hope.




You can feel the emotion of Americans from all walks of life, who are finally being acknowledged and embraced for who they are, just as they are. That the lives and concerns of all Americans are valid and valuable. We feel, some of us for the very first time in our lives, that we truly matter and our voices are being heard.

No, we are not all out in the streets shouting at the top of our lungs. (Although some of us are!) We don’t all have the time, or the physical ability, or don’t feel safe enough to signal our public support that way. But we are all hard at work, taking care of our families and communities and proudly casting our ballots for the candidate who cares about all Americans. She listens to us. She trusts us. And we trust her. When we tell her who we are, she believes us. That is why she has 12.9 million of our votes.

And it’s why, despite the unceasing personal attacks on her, the non-stop media chatter about her supposed “unlikability,” the horrible insults from her political rivals, we stand strong for her and always will.

Because of Hillary Clinton, many of us finally feel that we belong, that we’re truly Americans. In the deepest and most enlightened sense of that word.

read: http://bluenationreview.com/i-looked-at-hundreds-of-hillary-photos-and-found-the-most-amazing-thing-in-common/

[riversedge]

1. That was-and is, a lovely article by Peter. Thanks for posting.

[SidDithers]

2. DU rec...

but be prepared for the shitstorm, for posting something connected to Peter Daou.

Sid

[bigtree]

6. most of that is invisible

...to me.

Good for kicks, tho.

[onehandle]

3. They look like 'likely voters' to me.

Unlike the billions that line up for Sanders, who did not vote.

And unlike the thousands that line up for Trump, who will be drunk that day, and will forget to vote for Trump in the GE.

[yallerdawg]

4. What a commentary!

[NCTraveler]

5. K&R

You can feel the emotion of Americans from all walks of life, who are finally being acknowledged and embraced for who they are, just as they are. That the lives and concerns of all Americans are valid and valuable. We feel, some of us for the very first time in our lives, that we truly matter and our voices are being heard.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. K & R.

[mcar]

8. This is lovely!

[Triana]

9. Very lovely. It should be mentioned who owns/runs Blue Nation Review

From December 2015 - - -

Sale Of Blue Nation Review Gives Hillary Clinton Camp Its Very Own Media Outlet

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton ally David Brock is acquiring a media outlet, sources involved in the negotiation and sale of the site tell The Huffington Post.

True Blue Media, a newly formed company incorporated by Brock, has acquired progressive news website Blue Nation Review. BNR’s previous owner, MOKO Social Media Limited, will retain a 20 percent stake in the new entity while Brock will hold the remaining 80 percent equity balance. The sale was finalized Monday night.

THE REST:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-brock-blue-nation-review_us_564f0f3de4b0879a5b0a7bc5

[TwilightZone]

10. Yes, because no one saw it the first 4,000 times it was posted on DU.

[sheshe2]

12. ;)

[Baobab]

25. Hillary's policies are pretending the extreme concentrtion of wealth doesnt exist.

She's against expansion of public health care and education.

She wants to privatize them both globally using coercive trade deals.

That is a deal killer for me.

[realmirage]

44. If only you had the facts. Go right now and read

Hillary's plan to regulate Wall Street. You've latched on to gossip that Hillary isn't against income inequality. GOSSIP. Smear attacks. Knowledge is power.

[Armstead]

48. Check back in 8 years....See how much proghressive reform will have occurred

A candidate closely aligned with Goldman Sachs, Monsanto and other Robber baron Corporations and Banksters is not likely to bring the core changes that are needed to bring the system back into balance.

[realmirage]

53. Closely aligned as in someone offered

her a shitload of money to show up and speak, and like any smart person, she said yes? I'm sure you personally would slam the phone down on people offering you lots of money to just talk. You couldn't possibly think to yourself that you'd take these fools' money and still regulate them...

But listen, I know that your emotions won't allow you to see that Hillary has always been a liberal, and will be a fine president. In 8 years you'll finally see that.

[Armstead]

56. Her whole life is in those circles -- and it was dump to accept if she was planning on running

The speeches are just a symptom of how she shares the worldview of those Robber Barons.

(And FYI.....Hell if someone offered me a measly $10,000 for a speech I'd accept...But I'm not a politician.)

[realmirage]

59. You didn't understand my original post

[Armstead]

61. She has nice sounding policies -- The Clintons always have

Reality has often been different.

GW Bush alone was not responsible for the deep decline in America after 2000. The path was paved by the policies and actions of the Clinton administration and the DLC wing of the Democratic Party.

I'd rather we move on from that, instead of repeating the same mistake of believing the Clintons rhetoric and campaign promises.

[realmirage]

62. I know you believe the deregulation

that occurred under Bill is to blame more than 8 years of W. Except that there are many credible experts who have exposed that myth. I'd rather not have to do the research to find the articles for you. Please do so yourself and at least find out what the counter argument is. True scholars always read the counter arguments without bias. What they teach you in college is that you cripple yourself intellectually when you only get your information from one type of source, or from one group's perspective.

[Armstead]

64. I didn't say the ELECTION of W

They were a consistent bridge between Reagan-Bush 1 policies and Bush Jr. policies.

They allowed the ongoing merging of huge banking and corporate interests, the sale of government and merging of policies...and continued to build the framework and architecture for banks to become huge and immensely powerful to the point of being "too big to fail." And to act badly and stupidly enough to crash the economy with their greed.

And it wasn't just financial deregulation. For example, Clinton oversaw the telecommunications reform Act that has allowed an obscene concentration of media ownership, and aloso allowed a handful of Internet Service Providers to control the information infrastructure.

Overall the Clinton administration was just another phase of the process that Reagan and the GOP set in motion in 1980.

The chickens have come home to roost.

And we need something new to correct that -- not a continuation of more of the same under the same people who perpetuated the problems.

[realmirage]

65. So you're saying don't go back

in a time machine and vote for Bill Clinton?

Hillary is running, not Bill, and her proposals are there for everyone to see. If you think you'll get the same results with Trump as you will with Hillary...

Like it or not she's our candidate and the job now is to hold her to her word. In 4 years if she fails, vote her out. In that case I would gladly join you in getting rid of her.

[Armstead]

67. Please read the very bottom of my posts at the sig line

I do not like at all that we are returning a couple (and they are partners) who are representative of an approach that is past its sell-by date, and is not what is currently needed.

Whether Bernie or not, we should have been able to come up with someone better than that.

[realmirage]

68. But you have to work with the reality

And the reality is it's Hillary. Many people just didn't believe Bernie could win a general. I'm still not convinced. He hasn't been hit hard by Hillary or The GOP so of course he's polling well. If he was the nominee it would be a whole different ball game. Like her or not HRC is a known quantity and she is STILL winning despite all the things thrown at her and her husband over the decades. One thing is certain, they always win. The Clintons were accused of MURDER and they still won. Impeached over a GOP faux outrage campaign? Still won. Still high approval ratings. This whole email thing is nothing compared to previous attacks. But it's all the GOP has this time around.

If you don't pick a candidate that can win, nothing else matters. And she's a real liberal. You will see that when she picks her Supreme Court nominees. You will see it over the next 8 years.

[realmirage]

63. You're also assuming

that her proposals are the same as bill's were 20 years ago (they clearly aren't)

[azurnoir]

57. well as far as I can tell the metric for liberal is

to nominally claim support of women's reproductive rights and some LGBT right's anything thing else seems to be either off the table or verbally mentioned depending on current conditions and focus group

[Baobab]

54. Thats just the cover up - read the real plan here

http://www.wikileks.org/tisa

http://www.pnhp.org/sites/default/files/Nick%20Skala%20GAT%20and%20Health%20Reform.pdf


https://www.citizen.org/documents/WTO,GATSandfinancialservicesderegulationFORUPLOAD102108.pdf

https://www.citizen.org/documents/Memo%20-%20Unanswered%20questions%20memo%20for%20Geneva.pdf

https://www.citizen.org/documents/WTO-FinancialCrisis-ReportersMemo.pdf

[realmirage]

60. I can't right now

I'm on the phone with the galactic leader about the aliens in disguise running the CIA

[Baobab]

69. No, you're in denial.

You said:

>"I'm on the phone with the galactic leader about the aliens in disguise running the CIA"

Sounds like you've been stuck in the informationally challenged USA.

Welcome to Earth:

jobs:

education:

http://www.eua.be/Libraries/publication/EUA_Statement_TTIP.pdf

http://www.world-psi.org/en/tisa-another-leaked-document-reveals-secret-talks-promote-health-tourism-privatisation-and-raise

http://www.pnhp.org/states_flatline/State%20Health%20Reform%20Flatlines%20IJHS%20-%202008.pdf

[Bad Dog]

11. Nice heartwarming story but,

there's no such thing as unaccented English. Everyone has an accent, even Americans, there's lots of different American accents.

[floriduck]

55. Agreed. Even Bernie has one. Hillary has at least two, one in north and one in the south.

[Bad Dog]

58. When I was on holiday in Mexico an American woman told me I had an accent.

As if "accent" is short hand for foreign. Rather strange considering we were in Mexico. We don't use "accent" in the same way, probably because we've got so many for such a relatively small country. I moved about a lot as a kid, my accent tends to change depending on whom I'm talking to, I tend to pick up on it without thinking. Not many people who live in the south can get away with Geordie, but I lived in Newcastle for three years as a kid.

[sheshe2]

13. Beautiful, bigtree.

Just look at the diversity!

[auntpurl]

14. What a great article!

Loved it.

[Surya Gayatri]

15. Beautiful, just beautiful. No better testimony in favor of the Clinton candidacy.

[Baobab]

26. When I am rich I want to buy my own media outlet to sing my praises too.

not.

That's not the way to gain respect, IMHO.

We're all in this together.

[MineralMan]

28. Let us know when you are rich enough to do that.

You can post it right here on DU. We'll be here. In the meantime, you can post other things here, anytime you wish.

[Baobab]

30. The point I was trying to make was that its not okay to do that if its not clear you own the company

Its not "news" its "opinion".

[MineralMan]

33. Of course it is opinion. It is the opinion of the writer.

Did anyone claim that it was news? I didn't see any such claim.

Did you think it was news? Do you think that DU is only for posting news?

Of course it's opinion. Most of what is posted on DU is opinion from whatever publication or media outlet.

[bigtree]

16. kick

[bigtree]

17. kick

[bigtree]

18. »

[Number23]

19. Lovely piece. K&R

[Lucinda]

20. KNR

[bigtree]

21. kick

[vintx]

22. I wasn't gonna post anything, cause it's just a nice thread. But then I saw this, and just thought

well, why not share the love?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2072239

[bigtree]

23. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512072228#post6

[TransitJohn]

24. What is up with the elementary-school quality photoshopping in those pictures?

Signs and flags going through each other? They're literally all composites of people, as if specific people of color were shopped in next to each other. I wonder if they were composed to try to augment the narrative declaration of the opinion piece? Bush league.

[Spacedog1973]

31. Shutter speed

Photoshopping isn't worth the effort when its possible to get a photo obtained normally of the same thing.

[realmirage]

47. A flag is being waved in front of a still poster. No photoshop

Nice try.

[MineralMan]

27. I wish I could do more than simply recommend this post.

This is the 2016 election. This is what matters. This is why Hillary Clinton will be our next President.

[seekthetruth]

32. I just barfed a little.

The pictures show such happy, ethnic faces......

Something the Clintons would hurriedly get "out there"......

And you still trust these people? It's a game to them.

[bigtree]

34. no, we're just a game to you

...you've made that perfectly clear with your post.

[seekthetruth]

35. I barfed because of the obvious photoshopping

A flag disappearing into another one? Obviously someone created this to invoke an emotional response.

Probably to continue to try to have people associate Hillary with love and caring.

Sorry, I'm not duped. The people in that photo have a right to education, healthcare, and an economic system that is designed to work so that collectively everyone has a chance.

Continue with Hillary? All you'll see is more of the same bullshit. We can nit pick at Sanders all you want, but it still won't change the fact that for millions of people out there, Hillary just is not trustworthy. Polls show that.

[bigtree]

43. there's no photoshopping

...you've made some sad posts here.

I'm just going to go ahead and block you from my view.

[seekthetruth]

46. Not agreeing with you is sad?

Sorry, I have a mind of my own.

[Tarc]

36. Posts like this is this is why Sanders lost the primary

[seekthetruth]

37. Huh??

Now you'll claim I'm a scary white male...... right? That's in the script, yes? Claim I'm some sort of "bro" because I won't support the girl in the room? Get people to associate Sanders' face with angry white males? Gimme a fucking break.

We need a black lady for president instead of some privileged white woman!!

Just more fucking pandering to cover up the baggage. Of course I love diversity, but it's disgusting and disingenuous to use the faces of minorities to try to sway opinion.

[Tarc]

38. Doubling-down?

After "Killer Mike" didn't deliver South Carolina on a platter, Sanders largely wrote off the PoC vote. Someday there'll be some reflection on the wisdom of that decision.

[seekthetruth]

39. Another gotcha.....

....look at the big picture.

[Tarc]

40. 3,033,824 votes, 270 pledged delegates

That's a nice, big picture...

[seekthetruth]

45. You should look outside of this DU bubble some days ya know.....

All those votes were cast before the events of the past few days came down.

If she would have been cleared, then sure she would have gotten away with her indiscretions and she would have continued her corporate march towards the nomination. But that didn't happen.....she tripped over her own arrogance.

But, needless to say I'm arguing with a blinded mindset so nothing I say will amount to a hill of beans because her supporters can't, aren't willing, or choose not to accept that she's part of the problem in this country.

Plus, they're holding onto fears of a single word: socialism.

[realmirage]

49. You should change your username, you're not even

seeing the truth in an actual photo of a flag being waved in front of a still sign. When emotion has taken over, the truth becomes invisible. Calm down, and go read up on Hillary's actual proposals. You'd be surprised to find out she's always been a liberal.

[seekthetruth]

66. You assume I haven't?

You assume I haven't studied, listened, thought about, or critically analyzed what she is proposing?

You think I haven't considered the changes in policy during the 80s and 90s, and that she represents more of this?

Your nick is fitting.....a mirage. Something that is actually not there......like her trustworthiness or honesty.....

[Armstead]

52. He didn't write off anything

It might help if you'd actually pay attention.

[Armstead]

51. yes because he's a racist pig

[anotherproletariat]

41. Thank you for your personal story. You are so right! nt

[realmirage]

42. Top notch article

[Armstead]

50. Admirable goals -- But I don't see Clinton as a prime catalyst for that

In terms of actually encouraging a Big Tent America, she's an average politician. Good but not great..... Obama deserves much more credit.

Many, many people at all levels have and continue to work to build a more inclusive America. Including Bernie Sanders.