General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStop Asking Powerful Women To Fix Bad Men
Clinton, too, was asked to account for her relationship with Democratic Party donor Harvey Weinstein. During the 2016 campaign, she was accused of feminist hypocrisy because in 1975, while employed by a legal aid clinic, she defended a child rapist in court. For 30 years, shes been held personally responsible for everything her husband has done or been accused of, including cheating on her in the most publicly humiliating way imaginable and allegedly assaulting three women. During a presidential debate, Donald Trump repeated a line frequently heard in both right- and left-wing circles, that Clinton not only stood by her man but viciously attacked the women who accused him of sexual assault. Politifact rated this claim mostly false, noting that, although Bill Clintons first presidential campaign deployed tough tactics to defend against stories of consensual sex, Hillary was largely silent when it came to allegations of sexual violence. No matter. She was just as responsible as the alleged rapist, according to conservative commentator Tomi Lahren and seemingly half of Twitter.
And now, when the Oval Office is occupied by an admitted sexual predator accused of misconduct against 19 women, the burning question of the day is, Why didnt Hillary Clinton, who is not currently running for office and seems unlikely to ever again, fire an employee accused of sexual harassment 10 years ago?
When Clinton answered the question at length in a Facebook post last week, she was pilloried again for her decisions, which include (1) listening to the victim, believing her and taking immediate measures to separate her from her harasser; (2) enacting non-firing but non-trivial consequences upon said harasser; (3) believing in second chances; and (4) having a different opinion in 2018 than she had in 2008.
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For decades, these men traded not only on their power, privilege, money and networks of loyal friends, but also on cultural stereotypes of women as liars and gold diggers, to silence their accusers and bolster their own reputations. They felt emboldened to continue their abuse, safe in the belief that their voices would always be trusted over those of girls and women.
Although Clinton is the subject of so much ire in part because she has more power than nearly any other woman in the world, the reality remains that most women are not in a position to single-handedly fix the problems that men have created. Not Meryl Streep or Kate Winslet or Greta Gerwig, in an industry where last year only 1 percent of the top-grossing films employed 10 or more women in key behind-the-scenes roles, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film. Not even Clinton herself, who despite winning nearly 3 million more votes overall, could not overcome Trumps appeal to rural voters in crucial states and Russian interference in the election. And certainly not women like Tondalao Hall, who deserve community support, not punishment for a mans actions.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-harding-hillary-clinton-harassment_us_5a7491c3e4b01ce33eb25aec?lcn
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)Something a GREAT woman used to tell me.
yardwork
(61,690 posts)yuiyoshida
(41,835 posts)50 Shades Of Blue
(10,031 posts)mopinko
(70,178 posts)having my (now ex) husband blame me for everything they did. even when they were teenagers acting out.
deurbano
(2,895 posts)mom. In other words... guilt... about everything all the time. I still fight that in myself.
mopinko
(70,178 posts)and they blame it on me.
yup. heavy, heavy stuff.
and it is a pattern that i have seen over and over- the person who does the most is the lightening rod for blame, and those that ought to be doing get to sit on the sidelines and point fingers.
one of them told me that growing up she barely was realized she had a dad.
her brother suffered terribly from his dad's absence. making money was always the most important thing in his life. the kids were mine. he was just barely there for them. but whatever is wrong w them, that's all my fault.
and yeah, i do internalize it. ruminating all the time about what i did wrong and how i failed.
deurbano
(2,895 posts)You cared more and did more... yet (not unlike Hillary Clinton) you got blamed more. Not fair, but it's certainly a familiar story. We get blamed from without and blame ourselves from within... even when we know better. It's not your fault; you did the best you could, especially given the lack of support. We can't all be trained psychologists... and even my friends who ARE mental health professionals say they are not always able to effectively apply that knowledge to their own situations with their own kids... especially in the teen and young adult years. I hope your two kids will come to have a more generous and informed understanding of the situation over time.
mcar
(42,366 posts)Geez, I feel bad my kids have allergies.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Life long Dem, voted for Bill twice, voted for and supported Hillary in 2008 and and supported Bernie Sanders in the primary and voted for Hillary in the general this last time.
I read the NYT story on this and the read some responses here a few days ago.
Paraphrasing.
1.There was a process and he was fired.
- No, from the article despite her campaign managers urging to fire him Hillary opted to keep him on. She did move the young lady to another position and later fired her campaign manager.
Sider was fired years later on a different but related political job for a similar offense.
2. Well he was sent to counseling.
- No, accordinding to two sources in the NYT article, he never attended the counseling.
The above was sycophantic suupport.
This can be stated again and again and everyone involved can feel good about themselves but I doesn't seem to change the story.
Me.
(35,454 posts)was that G. Thrush was sanctioned for more than kissing on the forehead and in the exact same way as the member of HRC's campaign except he was only suspended for 4 weeks instead of five and now has a big fat book deal w/Haberman. The NYTimes has a lot of nerve.
George II
(67,782 posts)...to another position. We don't know if it was a promotion to try to make up for the abuse, we don't know if it was an area that she was hoping to work before the incidents, etc.
All we know is that there were discussions about the incidents, a proposal was made to resolve it, and the victim was amenable to the proposal.
There's a lot more behind this than has made it to the news reports, and many people are making judgments basewd on incomplete information or maybe even inaccurate information.
"and later fired her campaign manager"... Patti Solis Doyle was fired after HRC's third place showing in Iowa.
"Well he was sent to counseling;
- No, according to two sources in the NYT article, he never attended the counseling."
Was Hillary supposed to drive him there?
Meanwhile, nary a word from the media about the NYT's continued protection and shielding of disgusting serial harasser Glenn Thrush and and the sanctimonious Haberman's continued collaboration with him on the lucrative book deal.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210153310
lunamagica
(9,967 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,389 posts)It's pretty obvious that she scares the shit out of GOPers and Putin.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)in terms of large forces fighting to determine who will get the great wealth being created, who will rule nations, and who will be ruled.
That long view is already showing clearly that all the RIGHT enemies have ranged against Democrats as the defender of power, and wealth, to the people. I'm very proud to be their enemy in turn.
And I'd love to be able to vote for Hillary again. I'd do so for so many high purposes, but I'd also be happy to do it just to spit in their faces.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)Eyeball_Kid
(7,433 posts)IMHO, this is the time to be united against Trumpy, Russia, and the right wing media. We have common adversaries who are hellbent on dissolving the nation, and we'd like to keep the civil liberties that make the above discussion germane. We are in danger of losing those civil liberties. This is a fight for the future. For our children. It is not a game.
mcar
(42,366 posts)Which is why I stand up when our nominee, who won the popular vote and would be President right now if not for Comey, Russia, the media, 3rd party "conscience" voters is continually trashed by, among others, those same people we are supposed to be "uniting" with.
I won't forget, ever.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)is absolutely the wrong path.
mcar
(42,366 posts)Right, left, media - Hillary is to blame, held to an impossible, always changing standard. I'm glad to see this but now I'm once again.