It is quite clearly one of the most bizarre election cycles ever seen. While it might be tempting to tack the phrase, “In living memory”, on to that last sentence, I find that I don’t need to.
In short …
Trump : Misogyny, racism, xenophobia, bankruptcy, corruption, rape of a 13 year old, sexual predator with multiple women verifying this, and on and on and on … = Not a problem.
Hillary : Emails = She is a crook, lock her up
FFS, this is insane.
She is perhaps one of the most lied about candidates ever and has almost single handedly inspired an entire new segment of the economy that basically consists of crackpot websites that simply manufacture fictitious stories and headlines crafted to suck in clicks and generate revenue from the ads they promote.
The observation that this is going on is also ripe for satire, and so comedy writer Andy McDonald recently did just that within the comedy section of the Huffington Post.
His article is of course a classical clickbait headline …
and then follows that with a tag line that reads … “Her empathy for those less fortunate is DISGUSTING.“. The word, “empathy” might of course be a tad baffling and unknown for many Trump supporters, so I can indeed see many of them seriously clicking “Like” for this article, reading it, and being quite convinced that she truly is evil incarnate.
Often you see people on FB touting the term “Wikileaks” as “evidence” of just how corrupt Hillary is. What you can also be damn sure of is the following:
They have never actually read those Wikileaks “revelations” themselves are are simply parroting stuff they heard on Fox News or via some clickbait source.
If asked, “Can you show me one of her emails that is clear decisive evidence that she is indeed evil and corrupt?”, then you all you will get is a link to either Fox News or some Clickbait, or perhaps a suggestion that you should research it, or even the old chestnut fallback of “Clearly you have not been paying attention”.
What is truly delicious about Andy’s satire piece is how he takes some of the actual emails, and then surrounds them with the popular clickbait rhetoric as a contrast. For example …
Her heartless thirst for evil and darkness knows no bounds. Just look at some of these real emails released by Wikileaks.
Secretary of the Demonic Underworld Hillary Clinton tries to help a 10-year-old Yemeni girl:
Do you recall Noon i Ali(?), the ten year. old Yemeni girl who got herself divorced? I met her at the Glamour awards last year. There was a CNN story last few days about how unhappy she is, still living at home, not attending school and quite angry that her life is not better. Is there any way we can help her? Could we get her to the US for counselling and education?
WIKILEAKS
2016 “Mark of the Beast” recipient Hillary Clinton tries to get medical supplies to desperate doctors in earthquake-ravaged Haiti:
Mark, emergency room doc, is w Paul Farmer; Pier is his orthopedic surgeon wife. Is there any way to help asap? This should be the highest priority. Coulc one of the medical teams alreay there move over to help? Could Gen Keen or UN get the supplies and generators they need to them at first light?”
WIKILEAKS
But the Dark Lord’s lust for malice doesn’t end there!
Also food and water?
WIKILEAKS
MY GOD.
Oh the horror … (shudders).
Seriously now … pause and ask yourself this. Can you ever honestly see Trump writing emails like those?
What is also quite frankly hilariously funny are the comments under it. I joked earlier on about Trump supporters not understanding that it is satire. To those that might feel such a comment was a cheap shot, then I can only suggest that you go check out the comments because clearly some reading it really thought it was yet more evidence of just how evil she is
What do people who actually deeply investigate her discover?
Do they find an individual who lusts for power, manipulates, is corrupt, strives to simply better herself, and is devoid of any basic human decency?
I would be “dead rich”, to adapt an infamous Clinton phrase, if I could bill for all the hours I’ve spent covering just about every “scandal” that has enveloped the Clintons. As an editor I’ve launched investigations into her business dealings, her fundraising, her foundation and her marriage. As a reporter my stories stretch back to Whitewater. I’m not a favorite in Hillaryland. That makes what I want to say next surprising.
… There are no instances I know of where Clinton was doing the bidding of a donor or benefactor.
… As for her statements on issues, Politifact, a Pulitzer prize-winning fact-checking organization, gives Clinton the best truth-telling record of any of the 2016 presidential candidates. She beats Sanders and Kasich and crushes Cruz and Trump, who has the biggest “pants on fire” rating and has told whoppers about basic economics that are embarrassing for anyone aiming to be president.
Karoli Kuns, managing editor of Crooks and Liars, was not a Hillary fan by any measure and so dug into the emails. She read them all in an effort to dig for dirt. What she found completely changed her mind …
I have a confession to make: In 2008, I was one of the most ardent Hillary Clinton haters on the planet. I was ferocious about how much I didn’t want her to win the primaries, and I rejoiced the day she gave her concession speech.
…Her tenure as Secretary of State, of course, led to the bogus email scandal, which in turn led to the slow-drip release of the emails on her home server. I decided I was going to read them.
In those emails, I discovered a Hillary Clinton I didn’t even know existed.
I found a woman who cared about employees who lost loved ones. I found a woman who, without exception, took time to write notes of condolence and notes of congratulations, no matter how busy she was. I found a woman who could be a tough negotiator and firm in her expectations, but still had a moment to write a friend with encouragement in tough times. She worried over people she didn’t know, and she worried over those she did.
And everywhere she went, her concern for women and children was clearly the first and foremost thing on her mind.
In those emails, I also found a woman who seemed to understand power and how to use it wisely. A woman of formidable intellect who actually understood the nuances of a thing, and how to strike a tough bargain.
I read every single one of the emails released in August, and what I found was someone who actually gave a damn about the country, the Democratic party, and all of our futures.
She watched along with all of us as the Affordable Care Act made its way through Congress, with the same anxiety and aggravation many of us felt, and she rejoiced when it finally passed. She knew the Democrats who voted against it in the House, and she knew the ones who put their political careers on the line in support of it.
The Hillary caricature you see in the press is not the Hillary Clinton I came to know by reading those emails.
Yes, she had powerful friends in powerful places — though I didn’t actually see any emails from Goldman Sachs. And yes, she approached those friends the very same way she approached people on her staff, or people she met in the course of being Secretary of State. She rejoiced in their joys and shared their sorrows. They weren’t just ticks on a political scoreboard. They were friends.
You could tell there were some squabbles internally with other members of the Obama administration, but there was also unflagging, utmost respect for the man who occupied the White House – the office she fought so valiantly to attain.
It’s a hard thing to swallow one’s pride and step to the side, but Hillary did it with class and with dignity. Not only that, she made the most of every minute of her tenure as Secretary of State. Not a day went by where she shirked the duty vested in her.
In short, she proved herself beyond what any other candidate has done, and she did it professionally, assertively, and without drama.
Here’s something else I learned about her through those emails: She’ll fight. And she’ll fight hard. She won’t shy away from a renegade Congress and she won’t always play nice. But she does play by the rules, which is more than I can say for a lot of the candidates on the other side.
Here’s one more reason I believe in Hillary. My daughter first voted in 2012. This will be her second general election, and she is excited to have our first woman president succeed our first African-American president. She, too, believes that Hillary Clinton is someone who will not only preserve President Obama’s legacy, but build one of her own, one of inclusion and inspiration.
That’s history she – and I – can both believe in.
On 8th November you have a choice … please make sure that the choice you make is fact-based and not myth-based.
