Reply #8: I'll step into this minefield. [View All]

[bleever]

First, by saying that I read your posts with interest and appreciation for the depth of sincerity you bring to your writing.

Second, by saying that the minefield is not the creation of one poster here, or one position, or one expression of passion or outrage.

The minefield is this amazing confluence we are blessed with of a competitive woman candidate for the presidency, along with a competitive African-American man. This convergence of the stars of history is wondrous to behold, and fraught with all the questions so many people of good will have been trying to resolve, through each generation, in order to fulfill the ideal of an America that moves ever forward towards fulfilling the promise of its ideals to all people. All people.

But my opinion, plainly put forth here, is that H2O Man never implied that Hillary has the power of Nixon to suppress the media, or to say that her defense of her daughter's honor made her the equal of the outlaw that Nixon chose to become in his quest to squelch all dissent and allow him to violate the law. But H2O Man is, I believe, smart enough to know that in the hard-knuckled world of politics, power needs always to be checked, and that attacks against the media need to observed closely. Nobody observes more closely, I think, the intricacies of the interaction of politics, media, and public perception than the Clintons. This is to their credit, but there is an inherent danger in how a politician exercises her own voice when pushing back. This too has its own intricacies and dangers, and this is what I took to be the central point of the post referenced in the OP.

I think that there has been a hyperbolic dimension to the protests of those who claim that H2O Man is painting Hillary as Nixon in a pants suit. He has defended her against many of the base attacks against her character and motivation that we've seen here on DU.

This is such a tremendously sensitive issue for all of us that even talking about how we've defended our own wives and daughters against discrimination, insensitivity, and all the vagaries that go into disadvantaging women, there is still for some a stinging sense of being unheard.

Some of those who've felt unheard here on DU are people I have respect and affection for. Were we to sit together and eat, and watch each other's kids, and make sure that everyone got home safely, it would be a little better. But it's still pretty hard.

Pretty damn hard. But I think those of us who are sincere and thoughtful and caring can, and will work through it.