Stanley Fish’s February 3rd NY Times blog, “All You Need Is Hate,” got me thinking. (Note the Beatles mentality of the 21st century.) Fish, a professor of law, discusses what affectionately has become known as Hillary-hating. Hilary-hating is a distinct breed of political bashing. It’s acutely chauvinistic, callous, and aggressive (read: macho).
I kind of get it. I wouldn’t want Hillary as my mother — even if Bill Clinton were included as a package deal. (And moreover, maybe her criticism is due to society’s general dislike of aging women, and she shouldn’t take it personally.)
Still, Hillary haters are not your typical critics. They are borderline delusional and suspiciously fervent. I say suspicious because this type of bashing would not be accepted if it were on the basis of class or race.
Therefore, who are these Hillary haters? How hateful are they? Should I be scared?
I conducted my sociological research via Facebook. (And that’s legitimate!)
When I searched “Hillary” in the Penn network, this is what first came up: ”Hillary Clinton Has Gonorrhea.” Albeit, the group only has five members. So that made me think that maybe Facebook is part of an anti-Hillary conspiracy.
The second group that popped up was the “Penn For Hillary” group (which makes sense). Next, something random about Penn Hillel (which also makes sense). After that, Hillary groups take a turn for the worse: “Penn against Hillary”, “Anti-Hillary Clinton for President”, “One Million Strong Against Hillary.” And then my personal favorite: “Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich.” 3,960 members. Interesting.
Would a similar group, racist in its approach, have close to 4,000 smiling members?
The group “Barack Obama: Stop Running for President and Pick Me Some Cotton” doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
Racism is embarrassing; sexism, especially in the public arena, should be equally embarrassing. Grow up, Hillary haters.
Tags: Clinton, Facebook, Sandwiches
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February 5th, 2008 at 10:29 am
“They are borderline delusional and suspiciously fervent. I say suspicious because this type of bashing would not be accepted if it were on the basis of class or race.”
Who said that Hillary hating is based on gender? What’s worse - opposing someone based on their sex/race, or demonizing opposition as racist or sexist without actually considering legitimate arguments they might have. I’m fervently supporting Barack Obama over Hillary for a number of reasons, and none of them are because she’s a woman.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Um, while I can think of almost no one who would, on principle be against a female president (and indeed almost everyone agrees that a well-qualified woman with a respectable agenda would make an excellent president), most Hillary-haters, as you demonize them, disagree with her on points of politics, positions, etc. to such a virulent degree (as she is a polarizing and extremist figure) as to form facebook groups against her. That isn’t sexism.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Yay, Mitt Romney!!!!
February 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Okay, Ruben… so what are they? It just seems like you don’t like women. SENATOR CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
February 5th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
You know what is funny…ruben is the name of a sandwhich that i just love love love to eat (and you are totally right, ‘reuben’ (Get it?! like the sandwhich spelling!!!!!) and ‘duh’…telling a woman to stop running for president so they can go back to fulfilling their conventional role in society is totally not sexist at all brah.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:41 am
The majority of “Hillary haters” do not hate her because she is a woman. It has much more to do with her personality and political standing. To suggest that there would be this kind of animosity toward almost any other woman running for president is laughable. The problem the seemingly ubiquitous outlet for this often irrationally based hatred is to resort to the most demeaning remarks possible. Attacking and degrading her for her very gender, as inexcusable as it is, does the job in terms of putting her down as much as possible. Furthermore, it should be obvious why there isn’t a similar reaction to Barack. Completely ignoring the fact that he isn’t hated anywhere near as Hillary (if at all, really), the issue of racial equality and interaction in society as opposed to those of gender are much more prevalent, a much more addressed issue, and therefore a lot more of a sensitive topic. In other words, you can’t really get away with it.
February 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am
It may seem obvious to us who attend a liberal college in the North East that no one is against Hillary partly because she’s a woman or Barack partly because he’s black, it must be their ideas, right? But let’s face it, n the good ol’ Americana, they probably are.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Has anyone watched the debates? Really, the differences between these 2 on the issues are very limited…. basically it comes down to the fact that people don’t like Hillary’s personality and therefore will not vote for her …. really, is this so different than people voting for GWB because they thought they could have a beer with him? Look where that got us.
Personally, I voted for Hillary because I try to see past Obama’s ‘hope’ and ‘change’ speeches, and I beleive that hillary could get more done more quickly. Yeah, she’s polarizing - but guess what, that is how our government is… and the only way not to be polarizing is to make concessions - and when we have a democratic congress with a democratic president, I don’t want concessions. I want pure reversals of much of the crap GWB did to this country.
Remember - GWB claimed he was a ‘uniter, not a divider’… talk is cheap.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I don’t hater her, I just think she’s two-faced bitch and Obama would be better. But I would like having Bill back in the white house. Tough call.
February 6th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
i’m just a stanley fish hater. i can’t believe you actually read the shit he writes.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
What if what has driven some of Bill Clinton’s bizarre behaviors is Hillary’s mental illness?
I know people who went to the high schools she attended. She seems to have lied about her past, trying to get other people to identify with her. Her father was apparently psychologically abusive. Psychological abuse for extended periods of time is a major cause for Borderline Personality Disorder. 75% of Borderline Personality Disorder victims are female, and 3% of the females in the US have it. Borderlines tend to drive people close to them to extreme behaviors, even substance abuse and suicide. They sometimes become homicidal, too. Consider Betty Broderick and Susan Smith, among others. Partly it is because they are prone to intense rages to “protect” themselves from imaginary harm by others.
Borderlines are “master manipulators” in many cases. Many of them had to be to survive horrific childhoods. It was either learn to have BPD and hope to avoid more abuse and trauma, or die. I know there are some cases of BPD that were not caused by abuse, there seems to be a genetic component. But it’s not just genetic, it is also from learned parenting skills. Maybe Hillary got it from her father. BPs often pass BPD to their children because they learned from their parent(s) how to be abusive, and how to abuse children, and therefore pass BPD and/or other mental illnesses on to their children.
So stop and consider this — underneath Hillary’s manipulative tear-drop at a command politician’s shiny exterior could be a soul darkened by Borderline Personality Disorder from a childhood of abuse and the terrors it could be causing her. Don’t think that a Borderline can’t hide it. Most do. For a very long time. Sometimes their whole lives. But usually their families know there is something wrong with them, but lacking knowledge and having the threat of rages from the BP, they are often in denial about the problems, too.
Also consider why is it that Vince Foster really died? Even if he did commit suicide, it could still be Hillary is somehow behind his motivation. I’ve been the target of a Borderline rage more than once, and can say from personal experience it crossed my mind sometimes when experiencing it whether I was going to live through it or would die of a heart attack or stroke from the stress. Maybe Vince Foster psychologically cracked from a rage from Hillary? She might therefore have known why he might have killed himself, and know at some level that she was partly responsible.
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9608/27/whitewater/index.shtml
If Hillary has BPD, then the world would be a much safer place for somebody else who is not mentally ill to be US President. Borderlines usually use the power they have to destroy their enemies without mercy and without any semblance of ethics. They can be far more destructive than many with NPD, and much harder to detect, too. BPD is driven by the instinct to survive, probably more so than NPD. What stronger instinct is there?
If Hillary has BPD, she would help all the people of this world far more by outing herself and then working to educate everybody about this illness. It is hardly known to the general public, yet is one of the most pervasive and devastating mental illnesses. Hillary would show far more courage to fight to help herself and others with BPD than to run for US President. Thousands of people have run for US President. Nobody with a position like Hillary Clinton has ever dared to stand down the BPD monster and protect others from it.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:56 am
NOW YOU MIGHT VOTE FOR HILLARY? THINK ABOUT IT FIRST…
This is what happens when you have dirt on the Clintons :
1 - James McDougal - Clinton ’s convicted Whitewater partner died of
an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key
witness in Ken Starr’s investigation.
2 - Mary Mahoney - A former White House intern was murdered July 1997
at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after
she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White
House.
3 - Vince Foster - Former white House councilor, and colleague of
Hillary Clinton at Little Rock ’s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound
to the head, ruled a suicide.
4 - Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman.
Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to
the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown’s
skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was
being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal
with prosecutors.
5 - C. Victor Raiser II and Montgomery Raiser, Major players in the
Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July
1992.
6 - Paul Tulley - Democratic National Committee Political Director
found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992… Described
by Clinton as a “Dear friend and trusted advisor.”
7- Ed Willey - Clinton fund raiser, found dead November 1993 deep in
the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed
Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill
Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was
involved in several Clinton fund raising events.
8 - Jerry Parks - Head of Clinton’s gubernatorial security team in
Little Rock . Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection
outside Little Rock . Park’s son said his father was building a
dossier on Clinton . He allegedly threatened to reveal this
information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from
his house.
9 - James Bunch - Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported
that he had a “Black Book” of people which contained names of
influential people who v isited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas .
10 - James Wilson - Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent
hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater.
11- Kathy Ferguson, ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was
found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head.
It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases,
as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along
with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Kathy Ferguson was a
possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones.
12 - Bill Shelton - Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy
Ferguson. Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found
dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the grave
site of his fiancee.
13 - Gandy Baugh - Attorney for Clinton ’s friend Dan Lassater, died
by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was
a convicted drug distributor.
14 - Florence Martin - Accountant & sub-contractor for the CIA, was
related to the Barry Seal Mena Airport drug smuggling case. He died of
three gunshot wounds.
15 - Suzanne Coleman - Reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he
was Arkansas Attorney General. Died of a gunshot wound to the back of
the head, ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death.
16 - Paula Grober - Clinton ’s speech interpreter for the deaf from
1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one car accident.
17 - Danny Casolaro - Investigative reporter. Investigating Mena
Airport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his
wrists, apparently, in the middle of his investigation.
18 - Paul Wilcher - Attorney investigating corruption at Mena Airport
with Casolaro and the 1980 “October Surprise” was found dead on a toilet
June 22,
1993 in his Washington DC apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet
Reno three weeks before his death.
19 - Jon Parnell Walker - Whitewater investigator for Resolution Trust
Corp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington , Virginiaapartment balcony
August15, 1993. He was investigating the Morgan Guarantee scandal.
20 - Barbara Wise - Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with
Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29,
1996. Her bruised, nude body was found locked in her office at the
Department of Commerce.
21- Charles Mei ssner - Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John
Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small
plane crash.
22 - Dr. Stanley Heard - Chairman of the National Chiropractic Health
Care Advisory Committee, died with his attorney Steve Dickson in a small
plane crash. Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton ’s advisory
council personally treated Clinton ’s mother, stepfather and brother.
23 - Barry Seal - Drug running pilot out of Mena Arkansas , death was
no accident.
24 - Johnny Lawhorn Jr. - Mechanic, found a check made out to Bill
Clinton in the trunk of a car left at his repair shop. He was found dead
after his car had hit a utility pole.
25 - Stanley Huggins - Investigated Madison Guarantee. His death was a
purported suicide and his report was never released.
26- Hershell Friday - Attorney and Clinton fund raiser died March 1,
1994 when his plane exploded.
27 - Kevin Ives and Don Henry - Known as “The boys on the track” case.
Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the MenaArkansas airport
drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said,
due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the two
boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. Many linked to
the case died before their testimony could come before a Grand Jury.
THE FOLLOWING PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE
IVES/HENRY CASE:
28 - Keith Coney - Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a
truck, July 1988.
29 - Keith McMaskle - Died stabbed 113 times, Nov, 1988
30 - Gregory Collins - Died from a gunshot wound January 1989.
31 - Jeff Rhodes - He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a
trash dump in April 1989.
32 - James Milan - Found decapitated. However, the Coroner ruled his
death was due to “natural causes.”
33 - Jordan Kettleson - Was found shot to death in the front seat of
his pickup truck in June 1990.
34 - Richard Winters - A suspect in the Ives / Henry deaths. He was
killed in a set-up robbery July 1989.
THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD:
35 - Major William S. Barkley Jr.
36 - Captain Scott J. Reynolds
37 - Sgt. Brian Hanley
38 - Sgt. Tim Sabel
39 - Major General William Robertson
40 - Col. William Densberger
41 - Col. Robert Kelly
42 - Spec. Gary Rhodes
43 - Steve Willis
44 - Robert Williams
45 - Conway LeBleu
46 - Todd McKeehan
Quite an impressive list! Pass this on. Let the public become aware of
what happens to anyone who might damage the Clintonmachine. It’s a wild
ride being an FOB (Friend of Bill)!