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| Every young person seeing me wear this pin has enthusiastically liked it. |
Bullshit.
Hillary Clinton was the only woman with the elephant hide to
withstand the withering criticism that standing at the top of the ballot
requires. Having endured decades of hostile media labeling her ‘a bitch’
(translates ‘nasty woman’), at our moment in history she was the right woman to
lead my generation’s charge against the highest glass ceiling of American
society. Please read Hard Truths by
Hillary Clinton for a compelling contemporary history of the world. Because of
her willingness to take society’s stones and arrows, there now stands a phalanx
of younger women who will take up the battle she waged.
Hillary at the top of the ticket helped 95 pro-choice Democratic women win election to the US Senate, US
House of Representatives, state and local offices. For example, consider these four
new female US senators.
- Kamala Harris - an African American and Indian American from California
- Catherine Cortez Masto – winning Reid’s Nevada seat, our first Latina senator
- Tammy Duckworth – representing Illinois, first Thai-American senator
- Maggie Hassan – current New Hampshire Governor who defeated a rabid Republican
For the full list of 95 pro-choice Democratic women
supported by Emily’s List, go to:
You can also find Emily's List on social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyslist
Instagram: http://instagram.com/emilys_
Emily’s List
For those of you who don’t know, Emily’s List is a
30-year-old organization that encourages women to run for public office,
teaches them how to run campaigns and helps fund their campaigns. EMILY
stands for Early Money Is Like Yeast
(it makes the dough rise).
Thirty years ago a handful of Democratic women looked at the
lack of female representation in US congress and began poking around to find
out why this was the case. They learned that when women announced a desire to
run for office, their party leaders said, “You can’t win so we’re not giving
money to your campaign.” With no money to build a campaign, they did indeed
lose their elections.
With nothing but a Rolodex of friendly contacts, these women
began raising money to fund the early stages of women candidate campaigns. One
woman at a time, they began helping elect women to US congress. Emily’s List
has supported every Democratic woman in congress today.
Over time, Emily’s List discovered that they needed to seek out and
encourage women to become political candidates. More recently they realized they needed a
pipeline of women gaining exposure and experience at the local and state
levels. Thus this year’s crop of 95 pro-choice Democratic women winners up and
down the local, state, and national levels.
Emily’s List sends out information about the women they are
supporting. As a potential funder, you give directly to the campaigns of those
women you choose. I personally funded our four new senators, some returning
female Democratic women senators, and some who ran great campaigns but did not
defeat their Republican Koch-funded opponents; women such as Katy McGinty in
Pennsylvania and Deborah Ross in North Carolina. Please note that these two
women did better than two of the males picked by the Democratic Party: Evan
Bayh and Russ Feingold.
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| This sign will remain on my lawn. I am proud of Hillary's campaign. |
The People’s President
Hillary Clinton has won at least 1.5 million (the number
keeps growing as votes continue to be counted) more votes in the general
election than the Dumpster who won enough Electoral College votes to become
President-elect. Hillary’s victory was won by those who represent the values
for which she ran: inclusivity, higher wages, working together, fighting for
clean energy to combat the growing disaster of climate change, love trumps hate, and more. Her victory represents a far larger margin than Al Gore won in
2000.
The racism, bigotry, and misogyny that characterized the
campaign of The Dumpster are a direct result of decades of untruths propagated
by the Fox Lie machine and major media all owned by wealthy conservatives. Fed a
constant diet of entertaining falsehoods, people have lost the ability to
discern fact from fiction. Many people found The Dumpster’s outrageous lies and Roger Ailes-fed slogans supported their predispositions, failing to subject these to
a truth test. Is it even possible to ever again have a free press that informs
rather than entertains?
Hillary Clinton is clearly The People’s President. Even with
thousands of Democrats stricken from voter registers in Republican-held states,
unabashed voter suppression through difficult poll locations and extreme ID
requirements, vicious intimidation, and vote buying by the Koch Hispanic
outreach program, a preponderance of individuals in these United States believe
in the basic American values represented by Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.
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| I stand with a proud line of Hillary supporters. The Eugene GOTV run by young people succeeded in electing a Democratic woman as my areas's state representative despite gobs of outside money for the Republican. |
Grassroots Democracy
Our federal system of government is in tatters. Since the
Supreme Court foisted Citizens United on our democracy, the financial powers
that have always threatened our democracy have escalated. Republicans have
hamstrung our legislative functions. With these ‘big business’ proponents now
in control of the House, the Senate, the presidency, and soon the Supreme Court,
all checks and balances are lost. Washington will be nothing but an on-going
circus and entertainment machine. There will be no policies for the benefit of
common ordinary citizens, only for the rich and powerful.
This being the case, I have come to the conclusion that
it is up to grassroots activists working at community and state levels to forge
a new style of ‘Stronger Together’ government. California Governor Jerry
Brown gave the battle cry by proclaiming that his diverse and populous state
will not be bludgeoned into accepting the draconian, hate-filled, and outdated
ideas spouted by The Dumpster and his loyal followers. In two years Jerry Brown
transformed a state bankrupted by Republican Arnold Swartzenegger into a
healthy economy. Thousands of people in major cities across the nation heard
Brown’s clarion call and have stood up to support a new form of grassroots
democracy.
Concerned citizens can create sanctuary cities to protect our
most vulnerable residents, raise the minimum wage to rebuild a middle class,
continue to build and escalate clean energy businesses and jobs to fight
carbon-induced climate change, and engage young people in a new style of
community and nation-building (thank you Bernie Sanders). Such efforts could
provide a beginning point for all those states that want to participate in a
new form of government for and by the people.
Perhaps it is illusory to postulate that modeling a new
future might attract the interest of open-minded citizens in Republican-controlled
states and counties. However, if it is true that some people in this occupied
territory voted for The Dumpster not out of the racism and bigotry represented
by gun-toting white supremacy believing men but because they truly want change
and are willing to work for it, then perhaps it is possible to hope for a
national awakening of civic engagement.
As a human community, America elected a dedicated and
compassionate woman to lead the country. As a corrupted political system,
America gave power to an unworthy man. John Kerry, a respected world statesman,
was swift-boat advertised out of the presidency. Al Gore, a Nobel-prize winning
environmental activist, was hanging chadded out of the presidency. It’s time
for grassroots democracy to create new political systems.
Wake up, America.
Wake up, America.
