Greater good, not lesser evil

Point of view

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I quote Chris Hedges who, after the Democratic convention, wrote in Truthdig (July 26, 2016): 

The parade of useful idiots, the bankrupt liberal class that long ago sold its soul to corporate power, is now led by Sen. Bernie Sanders. His final capitulation, symbolized by his pathetic motion to suspend the roll call, giving Hillary Clinton the Democratic nomination by acclamation, is an abject betrayal of millions of his supporters and his call for a political revolution.

More than 60 percent of Americans don’t trust Clinton and I count myself among them (and I’m not a millennial); young women want nothing to do with her. She paints herself as a progressive, but nothing in Hillary’s long experience has borne this out.  For her, the progressive label is just a political device.  Moreover, as a woman, the next time I hear that some woman is voting for Hillary because she is a woman, I think I will go running down the street like a mad woman, screaming at the top of my lungs: NO, NO, NO! (Think of all those other women: Margaret Thatcher, Sara Palin, Michele Bachmann, Phyllis Schlafly . . . and the list goes on).  As a feminist, I cannot see Clinton as a champion of women; her track record, policies & positions, have had a less than liberating effect on woman.  Yes, a female politician can be just as clever, just as bold, and just as idealistic as a male politician. She can also be, as in Clinton’s case, just as shrewd, just as Machiavellian, just as ruthless, just as hawkish, just as corporatist as any man.  So is it sexist to criticize Clinton because of her gender?

It’s not sexist to criticize Clinton’s closeness to governments that engage in human rights abuses (especially the abuse of women), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, for example.  It’s not sexist to criticize her closeness to Henry Kissinger and George W. Bush (both of whom should have long ago been brought up on charges for war crimes).  It’s honest. And it’s not misogyny that makes people oppose her positions . . . some of Clinton’s ideas are not at all feminist, and the mantle of feminism is shielding some of her most sexist policies. Her selection of Tim Kaine certainly did nothing to assuage the fears of feminists.  If Hillary Clinton as the first woman president is supposed to be empowering for women and girls, why do I feel so powerless.

We’re being told to choose between a buffoon, a demagogue, and a calculating warmonger. This is not democracy.  That is why I will be voting for the Greater Good.

Irene Diaz-Reyes is a resident of the northwest Bronx. Point of view is a column open to all.

Irene Diaz-Reyes

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