I’m Not Going to Be Nice About this Shit

NB:  While I’m happy to have discussions in my comments section, I’ve already deleted several comments that repeat Russian bot talking points and slurs that have long been discredited.  I’ll delete any others that appear.  There’s actual research about who voted for Clinton in the primaries and the general, what words she used most in her speeches, what policies she advocated, etc.  Your irrational hatred for Hillary Clinton simply demonstrates your unconscious sexism.  Please take it elsewhere.  Thanks in advance.

Hillary Clinton’s book, What Happened is due to be released September 12th, but some passages have already leaked.  One, in particular, has gotten a lot of press.  You can read it above.  Headlines such as “Clinton Blasts Sanders” make it sound as if she says terrible things about him.  Of course, any time a woman says anything less than adulatory about a man, she’s being a shrew and a bitch, she’s castrating him, she’s “blasting” him.  But look at what Clinton really says.

1.  She and Bernie Sanders agreed on so much.
2. Sanders shared her horror at Trump becoming President.
3. She appreciated Sanders’ campaigning for her in the general election.
4. Sanders was correct that Democrats needed to strengthen their emphasis on working families.
5. Sanders was correct that, due to our insane campaign finance system, there’s always a danger of spending too much time courting donors.
6. Sanders engaged a lot of young people in the political process for the first time, which is extremely important.
7. She wishes Sanders were a Democrat.

So that’s 7 positive things.

Let’s look at what else she says.

1.  Sanders resorted to innuendo and impugning her character.
2. Sanders couldn’t, when challenged, name a single position or vote that Clinton had changed due to a financial contribution.
3. His attacks caused lasting damage and paved the way for Trump’s attacks.
4. Sanders got into the race to disrupt the Democratic Party.
5. Sanders is fundamentally wrong about the Democratic Party.

So that’s  5 negative things.  (Maybe.  We can dispute whether #4 is negative; Sanders himself would probably agree that’s why he got into the race.)

That’s what it’s like to be a woman in America.  You says 7 positive things and 5 negative things about a man and you’ve “blasted” him.  OK.

The liberal bros have been out in force on Twitter demanding that Clinton shut up, complaining that she had the nerve to write a book and give her side of the argument, and shrieking that it’s time to “move forward.”  Look, Clinton’s book is already a best-seller and her speaking tour sells out of tickets within minutes.  Millions and millions of women (and some men!) like her and want to hear what she has to say.  No one is making you buy or read a book you don’t want.  But the days when the liberal bros got to police what women say, when they can say it, what tone they have to use, and how many pats on the head it would take to turn a few factual criticisms from a “blasting” to a reasonable discussion — those days are over, my friends.  And if you are so sincerely concerned with “moving forward,” well, then do so.  Even Hillary Clinton, with her terrifying powers of being a woman who says things, can’t, just by writing her memoirs,  stop you from moving forward.

So, go for it.  Move forward.

Champion a candidate or candidates you think can win in 2018 or 2020.  Draft the platform, slogan, message, or campaign strategy that you’d like to see the Democrats pursue.  Write (Please!) the article or book that explains how Democrats can win in spite of gerrymandering, voter suppression, a hostile media, foreign interference in our elections, Citizens United, etc.  Hopefully, you’ve got more than “Visit Wisconsin.”  Fundraise.  Phonebank. Canvass.  Register voters.  Run for office yourself.  Not only can Hillary Clinton’s book not stop you, but, through her new organization,   Onward Together, which is “dedicated to advancing the vision that earned nearly 66 million votes in the last election and encouraging people to organize, get involved, and run for office, [and which] will advance progressive values and work to build a brighter future for generations to come,” she might even help you.

But if you’re not doing those things, if, instead, you’re spending your time having a fit that a woman said something less than admiring about a man, then forgive me if I don’t believe you care nearly as much about “moving forward” as you do about moving backward, to the good (for you) old days when the liberal bros got to tell the rest of us what to do, what to say, and how we could say it.  I’m so old I remember those good old days, when women were told that our place in the movement was on our backs or in the back room making coffee and running the mimeograph machine.  I’m so old, I remember Robin Morgan’s beautiful Goodbye to All That.  Some of you bros may be too young to have read it.  I invite you to do so now and get used to it.  Otherwise, you’re going to have as difficult a time living in the 21st Century as your brothers on the right.

I think Hillary Clinton was very nice to Bernie Sanders in her book.  I, on the other hand, am not nearly as nice as she is and I’m not going to be nice about this shit.