Patterico's Pontifications

4/16/2015

Why Would A Women’s Rights Activist Even Have To Make Such A Request Of Hillary In The First Place??

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:05 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Hillary Clinton has historically been seen as one of the leading feminists and staunch supporters of women’s rights of our time. Her latest effort in supporting women worldwide was the formation of the “No Ceilings” campaign which seeks to ensure “full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life.”

With the launch of her presidential campaign, Hillary is once again receiving the support of feminists, who are for the second time pinning their hopes on her being elected. As she morphs into a “family-oriented” candidate who retains her feminist cred, her supporters blissfully ignore any controversy surrounding her and continue to lay flowers at her feet:

The surprisingly moving video announcing Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency shows that Democrats have finally found an authentic version of pro-family politics.

The campaign announcement suggests that this will be a very different sort of Clinton campaign than we saw in 2008, one that emphasizes gender and so-called women’s issues instead of running from them. And whatever you think of Clinton, it’s a triumph of feminism—or, at least, a certain kind of feminism—that issues like family leave and childcare are about to be at the center of a presidential contest.

But make no mistake, they are counting on her to fight hard for the cause:

A sleeping giant is stirring out there — the rage of senior boomer women sickened by setbacks to women’s rights. Younger women are also waking up to the blatant bias being exercised by a new generation of Gen X male leaders.

Hillary Clinton is just the candidate to breathe fire into the giant and unleash a hard-charging neo-feminist movement.

But winning isn’t just about winning over women. Well aware of the perils of being a bulldog feminist, Clinton will be running on a new persona: the kick-ass grandma who will fight for a fair deal for middle-class families and children.

Yet in spite of Hillary’s iconic feminist stature, journalist Raheel Raza still felt it necessary to make an ironic request as she recognized Hillary’s feet of clay:

A prominent Pakistani-born women’s rights activist is asking presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton, to pledge not to accept donations from foreign nations that oppress women. Raheel Raza, the Canadian journalist behind the documentary film Honor Diaries, is requesting all the presidential candidates, from both parties and both “men and women,” to sign her pledge.

This week, Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for President,” said Raza in a statement. “As a woman, I congratulate her, but as a women’s rights advocate, I’m concerned about the $13,000,000-$40,000,000 the Clinton Foundation reportedly took from regimes that persecute women, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE.”

Raza’s pledge is not limited to presidential campaigns, asking candidates to promise to “never take money from regimes that oppress women, even after I leave public office, including any libraries or foundations in my name.”

“If you’re running for President—and if you want women’s votes—you should sign ‘The Pledge to Women’ and say ‘no’ to money from regimes that forbid women to vote or run for office,” said Raza.

The Clintons’ foundation has said that it will continue to accept donations from a specific set of Western nations, though not from the Middle Eastern regimes that persecute women. The related Clinton Global Initative may, however, still allow participation from those regimes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

I’m reminded of Camilia Paglia’s passionately blunt no-holds-barred assessment of Hillary in which she shreds the illusion that is Hillary, feminist icon:

“[H]illary does not have it. Hillary is a mess. And we’re going to reward the presidency to a woman who’s enabled the depredations and exploitation of women by that cornpone husband of hers? The way feminists have spoken makes us blind to Hillary’s record of trashing [women]. They were going to try to destroy Monica Lewinsky. It’s a scandal. Anyone who believe in sexual harassment guidelines should have seen that the disparity of power between Clinton and Monica Lewinsky was one of the most grotesque ever in the history of sex crime. He’s a sex criminal. We’re going to put that guy back in the White House? Hillary’s ridden on his coattails. This is not a woman who has her own career, who’s made her own career! The woman who failed the bar exam in Washington. The only reason she went to Arkansas and got a job in the Rose law firm was because her husband was a politician.”

And she also sums up Hillary, presidential candidate:

It remains baffling how anyone would think that Hillary Clinton (born the same year as me) is our party’s best chance. She has more sooty baggage than a 90-car freight train. And what exactly has she ever accomplished — beyond bullishly covering for her philandering husband? She’s certainly busy, busy and ever on the move — with the tunnel-vision workaholism of someone trying to blot out uncomfortable private thoughts.

–Dana

Obama to Sign $141 Billion Increase to Debt (or Deficit, or Something)

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:26 pm



It’s bipartisan!

In the end, most of the opponents were hardline Republican fiscal hawks who complained that the permanent “doc fix” wasn’t fully paid for, including Sens. Ted Cruz (TX) and Marco Rubio (FL). It is projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to add $141 billion to the deficit in the next decade.

Notably, numerous GOP fiscal hawks who have a background as physicians put aside their deficit concerns to vote for the measure, including Sen. Rand Paul (KY), Sen. John Barrasso (WY), Rep. Tom Price (GA), Rep. John Fleming (LA) and Michael Burgess (TX). The Medicare benefit cuts were a draw for some conservatives.

“Thanks for all your hard work, Mitch,” Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) whispered to McConnell on the floor seconds after the bill passed.

I don’t know what that means, add $141 billion to the “deficit” over the next decade. The deficit is the annual shortfall, subtracting expenditures from receipts. Adding $141 billion to this number “over the next decade” makes no sense to me. $141 billion per year? What are you people trying to say? How’s about you spell it out for once?

For now I’ll assume the best, as reflected in the headline: they mean “debt” and not “deficit.” I’m sure I’m wrong.

So.

Rand is for fiscal responsibility unless it’s inconvenient, which it generally is. Ted Cruz is for fiscal responsibility all the time, so (conventional wisdom says) he can’t possibly be elected.

If conventional wisdom is correct, we are screwed.

Which, it is generally is. And we generally are. Screwed, that is.

Jeb Bush: I Don’t Need to Go to Chipotle, I Make It At Home

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:10 pm



Well, he is Hispanic, after all.

Democrats Behaving Badly, Chuck Schumer Edition (UPDATE: Ancient Story)

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:20 pm



UPDATE: This is an old story, as it turns out. But a good one. See UPDATE below.

What a surprise that Chuck Schumer is an ill-mannered boor!

Sen. Chuck Schumer apologized today after word got out that he called a flight attendant a “bitch” for ordering him to follow the rules and turn off his cellphone before takeoff. . . . Schumer and his seatmate, [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand, were chatting on their cellphones when the plane’s captain told passengers to turn them off.

But the two Democratic senators ignored the order and kept talking — prompting a flight attendant to ask them to follow Federal Aviation Administration rules, according to a House Republican aide who was seated nearby.

Schumer asked if he could finish his call. The attendant said “no” because the plane was waiting for him to finish so it could take off. The state’s senior senator ended his call, but then launched into an argument with her, claiming he was entitled to continue his chat until the cabin door was closed.
“She said she doesn’t make the rules, she just followed them,” the aide said, according to Politco.com.

“Bitch!” Schumer remarked to Gillibrand after the attendant walked away.

Meanwhile, as Dana notes below, Hillary parked the luxurious Scooby Van in a handicapped zone.

Democrat politicians. They don’t have to behave like you and I do. Because, you see, they’re just better.

UPDATE: Ha! The dangers of taking stories off Facebook, without checking the date, illustrated. This story is five years old. Thanks to prowlerguy, who (unlike me) bothered to look at the date.

Odd thing is, I don’t remember hearing about it at the time.

Hillary Clinton, Champion Of The “Everyday People”?

Filed under: General — Dana @ 6:06 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Remember when Hillary announced the launch of her campaign and told us that she wanted to be the champion of “everyday people”? You know, because she’s like one of us? Well, in Council Bluffs today, those “everyday people” were momentarily forgotten when the Scooby van was parked in a handicap zone. Entitled much?

https://youtu.be/5PzXdq_IV9s

According to this report, for most of her meeting with Democrat operatives, the van was parked in a regular stall. Her staff backed it into the handicap stall before her meeting ended.

No comment from her campaign.

–Dana

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: That video was removed quickly, huh?

Quick Links

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:37 am



Hillary did not leave a tip at Chipotle. I don’t typically tip at a Chipotle. If I were running for President and eating a burrito as a media stunt, I probably would.

Small-town Michigan auto repair shop guy says he would not serve the openly gay. It’s different from the pizza place story in two ways: 1) he posted the sentiments online rather than answering a question from a reporter, and 2) he does not confine his views to participating in a gay marriage. Maybe he wants a GoFundMe lottery ticket. I support his freedom to associate with who he wants, and I also think he’s too judgmental. Let the market take care of people like him.

Westboro Baptist Not to Picket ISIS After All. After being challenged to do so, the cretins claimed to be willing to do it, but now they’re seemingly backing out. I guess they discovered ISIS hates gays almost as much as they do?

Jonathan Adler: What does it take to convince libertarians and conservatives that climate change is a problem? He says evidence of human contributions to warming is “substantial” — even “without relying upon the conclusions drawn by computer models or contested studies, such as Michael Mann’s infamous ‘Hockey Stick.’”

Marco Rubio would attend a gay wedding. Ah, but would he eat a burrito? Would he tool around in a luxurious van? Would Big Media drool over him if he did?

Hillary wants to amend the First Amendment. Remember: the Citizens United decision grew out of an attempt to suppress criticism of Hillary.

Our poll on your pick for President is still live. Go make your choice. Almost 1000 votes in, it’s neck and neck between Cruz and Walker, with Cruz holding a slight edge.


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