"A Profound Disagreement:" Clinton Breaks the Political Sound Barrier"

[Captain_Nemo]

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/04/23/a-profound-disagreement-clinton-breaks-political-sound-barrier

By Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check
April 23, 2009 - 2:17pm

Yesterday was a day to go down in history.

It was the day that Hillary Clinton broke the political sound barrier.

It was the day that someone, finally, after many years of dissembling by so many, stood up to the perpetual hot air balloon that is Congressman Chris Smith and revealed that he has no more power in the face of facts than did the fabled Emperor with no clothes.

It was the day Clinton spoke the truth and thereby shattered the myth that has existed for so long that we could talk about family planning, reproductive health, women's rights, women's health or even human rights, and not say the word "abortion." It was a day in which the issue of safe abortion services as a fundamental component of women's health and rights was put back on the US foreign policy table.

To Smith's question as to whether the Obama Administration would be seeking to "overturn pro-life laws" in Africa and Latin America, Clinton replied firmly and without apology:

[MADem]

1. Now that was a great crack across a smugass jaw!!!

We have a very fundamental disagreement and it is my strongly held view that you are entitled to advocate and everyone who agrees with you should be free to do so anywhere in the world, and so are we.

We (the Obama Administration) happen(s) to think that family planning is an important part of women's health and reproductive health includes access to abortion, that I believe should be safe, legal and rare.

Clinton's statement was certainly the most courageous a Secretary of State--or any Administration official--has ever made on reproductive rights and one of the most courageous statements made by a Secretary of State of any kind, on any issue, ever, because it was made in the face of over 20 years of political silence on the issue. And it was made about an issue made increasingly taboo by the very stigma and silence that people like Smith have worked so hard to perpetuate.



Bravo, Madame Secretary.

[katmondoo]

2. Hillary gets more impressive by the day.

[tblue37]

13. YEs--I wonder if she realizes how perfectly suited she is to this job. I think

we lucked out getting her for SoS. I wasn't on the HRC bandwagon during the primaries (I was for Edwards first, then Obama), but even if I had been, I would be glad now that she didn't win, simply because she is doing such a smashing job as SoS that I hate to think of not having her in that position!

(I am also glad now that Edwards, my original choice, did not win--though obviously for different reasons. I do wish, though, that he had not crashed and burned, because I think he would have been a good cabinet pick.)

[Beacool]

19. Well, my sincerest hope is that she runs again in the future.

This is the woman who should be our first female president.

:fistbump:

[nichomachus]

33. He didn't crash and burn

He was assassinated (politically) by the corporatocracy just as Elliot Spitzer was. Cross the corporatocracy at your own risk.

Those who do the bidding of the corporations can consort with prostitutes and pay to be diapered in New Orleans whorehouses, or they can solicit sex from undercover cops in airport bathrooms -- and not suffer any real consequences. However, if you even look like you're opposing the corporations, you will be finished for any minor infraction.

[jaxx]

3. This is huge, the elephant just left the middle of the room.

I bet those fellas were sputtering when she got done with them.

From women everywhere, thank you Madam Secretary!

[NutmegYankee]

4. Now that wiped the smile off his face.

BAWHAHA! Bravo!

[EFerrari]

5. That was a great thing HIllary Clinton did.

:)

[Lyric]

6. Oh my god, HELL YES!

THIS woman of childbearing age thanks you profusely, Madam Secretary, as well as the Obama administration for standing behind you on this.

[Fla Dem]

7. Make sure you view the 2nd video and her smack down of Rep Inglis R-SC.

Hillary Rocks. Very, very impressive.

[malaise]

8. The complete video is on CSpan

Must see.

[DFW]

9. Republicans in Congress are faced with a dilemma they have never confronted before

Nowadays, when they try to grill such cabinet members as Hillary Clinton,
they are faced with people who are unafraid to speak their minds, and whose
minds are far smarter and quicker than theirs are.

This is equivalent to their being suddenly deprived of oxygen or forced
to give responses in Mandarin Chinese: they are dumbfounded, and at a total
loss to offer coherent riposte. These days, wandering the halls of Congress
are a lot of Republican wannabe emperors in dire need of a wardrobe.

[tblue37]

14. And not just cabinet members. I still laugh when I think about Al Gore saying,

"I know exactly what you are doing, and so does everyone else" to that smug congresswoman who was grilling him over whether he would profit personally from green initiatives.

[Johnyawl]

10. I watched all three of those videos on the RH site, and I just want to say...

...HILLARY SPANKED THEIR LITTLE ASSES!!

And sent them to bed without their supper!

:spank: :spank: :spank:

HRC has spent her adult life discussing policy with Bill, and honed those skills debating BHO during the primaries last year. Those three congressmen looked like minor league pitchers throwing at a big league hitter. they got humiliated.

Conressman dipshit(R) South Carolina: "Why did't you say that as Secretary of State?"
Hillary Clinton(D) Secretary of State: "I just did!"

[islandgirl808]

11. OMG in all three vids

madame secretary pwned them !!
so nice to have someone like her on our side :woohoo:

[Triana]

21. Hillary ROCKS!

You don't MESS with Madame Secretary, Mister.

:applause: ------> Hillary

[leftstreet]

12. K&R

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. Goodness, I got tears in my eyes.

What an urge to give her a big huge bear hug. Beautifully said, Madam Secretary!

ETA: Yet another example of an online article I should never have read the comments about. So many people who are damned lucky to be in the positions they are in to be able to cast judgment without having the slightest clue what the hell they are talking about.

[Beacool]

16. Thank you, Hillary!!!!!!!!!!

On behalf of the women of my mother's generation who saw many of their contemporaries burdened with children they couldn't feed or left sterile by a botched abortion, in some cases even dying; I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Here's to a remarkable woman.

:applause:

And here's to you too Captain for posting this article.

:pals:

[annabanana]

17. She is an impressive spokeswoman for women everywhere.

I love that she takes NO crap from those neanderthals..

[mopinko]

18. there is some beautiful video at that link

go hill. the woman is da bomb.

[Starry Messenger]

20. Holy Shit!

:bounce: That really felt like a liberation. Thank you for posting that. She looks really happy too. She's a lot classier than I am, but on her behalf I would like to post this to the Republicans--

[rateyes]

22. Dayum. She is in the exact job we need her. Thanks Madame Secretary.

[eridani]

23. Oh, snap! n/t

[saltpoint]

24. Good on Sec. of State Clinton for making it quite clear that she

was more prepared for this public exchange than her questioner and that if he had the notion of grandstanding to his idiot constituency on the far right of the national spectrum, he'd have to choose a more gullible and less prepared person to do it with.

[Egnever]

25. Holly cow Go Hillary!

That was an amazing smack down. All three of those clips were just incredibly satisfying.

[Hekate]

26. I want to give this woman a standing ovation. She is brilliant and speaks the truth.

This is wonderful.

Hekate

[Grinchie]

27. Pro-Life is another term for Sexual Repression

Many on the Right believe that sex is just something that one does for procreation, if this were true, we'd only have sex about 4 times in our lives, considering that people want to have on average 2 children.

Sexuality is looked down upon by the right, and they are taught to repress it from a very young age, told lies about it, and are inititiated to unhealthy sexuality from all the rest of the repressed people in school.

In fact, human reproduction is a consequence of a healthy sexuality, and not the other way around. However, the way Morals are branded upon the public, a very unhealthy, unsatisfying form of sexuality afflicts the majority of the people. This unreleased energy escapes in neurosis and other mental illnesses, creating a frustrated, repressed, and obedient society.

Instead of allowing individuals to learn what is good or bad, Morals such as banning contraceptives, instill further anxiety on top of a natura sexual drive. The fear of conception becomes a source of neurosis itself.

[noiretextatique]

34. it's also pro-death in third world countries

where starvation is a reality people face.

[Spurt]

28. I'd like Smith to explain...

...just where it is decreed that any US congress critter is entitled to determine abortion laws on the other side of the planet.

[NorthernSpy]

29. Good!

:applause:

[Psychic Consortium]

30. She has found the spot where she will shine and become the best SOS in history. nt

[datasuspect]

31. pro-lifers sleep in the same bed as eugenicists.

[Canuckistanian]

32. "The time for the gentleman has expired"

That is so true on SO many levels.

Good to see Hillary advocating for good, intelligent reproductive health measures.

[ohheckyeah]

35. Great statement by

Hillary Clinton. She laid it all out there.

[eppur_se_muova]

36. I wish she had said "By pro-life, Senator, you mean anti-choice."

Everyone is pro-life -- even women who have abortions. The issue is whether women have any choice in the matter.