I don't care how many hours per week Hillary works - or hours that are claimed on her behalf. If she wants to be our next president, I'm more interested in two things: her qualifications and what she has to offer the country.
As for her qualifications, her most prominent for decades has been being Bill Clinton's wife. To be sure, her fanbase will try to song-and-dance their way around that overwhelming prime cause, but to no avail. For who could possibly believe she could have risen to such heights if she'd been a single woman and one lacking social standing, wealth, or a powerful patron? Hillary reminds me of a technocrat who is particularly outstanding only because she has a powerful patron. But has her lengthy tenure as Bill Clinton's wife forged her into a leader who can truly stand on her own? I'm afraid we'll only be able to find that out if she gets elected.
Even her latest stint as Secretary of State wasn't very remarkable (name one notable achievement) and in fact shows us what kind of president she'd be - one who relies heavily on advisors and is risk averse. Ask yourself one question: Has she ever made a political decision on her own? Presidents are called on to do exactly that - although of course they also have advisors. However, especially in the case of presidents, they can't seek cover by saying "We made this decision" if a particular decision turns out to have been a bad one.
Why won't Hillary right this wrong?
QUOTE:
Clinton has been criticized for not giving credit to a ghostwriter in connection with It Takes a Village. The majority of the book was reportedly written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.[9] When the book was first announced in April 1995, The New York Times reported publisher Simon & Schuster as saying "The book will actually be written by Barbara Feinman, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Ms. Feinman will conduct a series of interviews with Mrs. Clinton, who will help edit the resulting text."[10]
Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work.[11] Feinman, however, was not mentioned anywhere in the book. Clinton's acknowledgment section began: "It takes a village to bring a book into the world, as everyone who has written one knows. Many people have helped me to complete this one, sometimes without even knowing it. They are so numerous that I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually, for fear that I might leave one out."[12]
:UNQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village
I'm sure Hillary Clinton, like many of us, have watched the Academy Awards. She has heard acknowledgements from award winners thanking their supporters and apologizing for anyone inadvertently overlooked. So who was she trying to kid by writing above, "...I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually for fear that I might leave one out."? I will go farther by saying, "Hillary Clinton wasn't trying to 'kid' anyone. She did worse that that; she called us stupid enough to believe that line of crap."
However, the tenth anniversary edition of "her" book, first printed in 1996, would have presented a golden opportunity for Clinton to include a proper acknowledgement by at least mentioning Barbara Feinman's name. The same Barbara Feinman whom Clinton thought of highly enough to engage in service for $120,000 for seven months work. In the same breath, Hillary could have named some of the others she'd left unacknowleged while apologizing to any others she might have inadvertently omitted.
But Hillary Clinton didn't do any of that simply because being Hillary Clinton means never having to say you're sorry.
P.T. Barnum supposedly said (though perhaps it was Abraham Lincoln), "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." To which a third party added this refinement, "You can fool too many of the people too much of the time."
As for the first quote, if one makes a career out of trying to fool anybody for even part of the time, everyone will eventually catch on to that - even the people who were initially fooled - and that will breed resentment. As for the second quote, Hillary Clinton may well succeed to the presidency by virtue of too many of us being vulnerable to being fooled just long enough to get her into office. And the rest of us will be stuck praying she doesn't sink us too badly.
I take as one small clue a certain truism: "Many women, no matter how talented and accomplished, feel that their best efforts just aren't good enough." That sentiment leads to a certain insecurity which makes them want to at least appear good enough. Which might have led to Hillary's attempt to withhold or minimize acknowledgement of (shall we say) "co-author credit" for one book - It Takes a Village - and one of her other books - Living History. It is a mark of the insecure that they wish to make themselves seem bigger than they really are.
As for my provocative title - "About Hillary Clinton's vagina." Some might protest my (apparent) reduction of the female to organ-centricity, that there's more to a woman besides her sexuality. To be sure, there are many women of whom this is true - just as there are many men (take Bill Clinton for example) of whom his organ is more centric than it should ever have been. There are perhaps as many as 100 women on this planet of whom this is not true at all - of whom their sexuality is self-acknowledged but only silently and then is either ignored or developed in an enlightened manner.
But far more than these 100 are the legions of other women who are close to making the leap needed to join them. And there are men who could become very good allies of such women. But also, there are too many men who will fall prey to their own base karmic tendencies and end up trying to exploit them - coming to see them more as vaginas than anything else. Men and women alike out there - tread carefully. Much is at stake.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle, former candidate for US President (in 2008 and 2012)
Founder of the Independent Contractors' Party
"Yeah, I admit to feeling a little slimy for having titled this essay as I did. But I did so after much soul-searching and without any fear of making a bad decision. However, should it turn out my decision was bad, I apologize in advance and hope that at least some of the points I tried to advance here will be recognized for their merits."
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
I'm sure Hillary Clinton, like many of us, have watched the Academy Awards. She has heard acknowledgements from award winners thanking their supporters and apologizing for anyone inadvertently overlooked. So who was she trying to kid by writing above, "...I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually for fear that I might leave one out."? I will go farther by saying, "Hillary Clinton wasn't trying to 'kid' anyone. She did worse that that; she called us stupid enough to believe that line of crap."
However, the tenth anniversary edition of "her" book, first printed in 1996, would have presented a golden opportunity for Clinton to include a proper acknowledgement by at least mentioning Barbara Feinman's name. The same Barbara Feinman whom Clinton thought of highly enough to engage in service for $120,000 for seven months work. In the same breath, Hillary could have named some of the others she'd left unacknowleged while apologizing to any others she might have inadvertently omitted.
But Hillary Clinton didn't do any of that simply because being Hillary Clinton means never having to say you're sorry.
Then there's the matter of karma
QUOTE:
And the Nirvana Sutra also says, "If all the desires and delusions of all the men throughout the major world system [one major world system equals one billion worlds] were lumped together, they would be no greater than the karmic impediment of one single woman.
:UNQUOTE: Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,Vol. 3, p. 20]
This is one helluva statement, especially coming from the Buddha! However, he also claimed that women could attain enlightenment - but only after being born as men in a future reincarnation. The issue of women in Buddhism as well as in politics is not at all clear. Especially, again referring to Buddhism, after considering stories of legendary teachers who shapeshifted themselves into female form in order to preach the Law, if that form was what was needed for a particular audience.
So one is forced to think, "What should I make of Hillary Clinton?" Is she the one who will, if elected, lead generations of young girls and women to aspire to higher goals? Or will she only be understood to say, "If you have enough drive and native smarts - you too can do what I did. But...only if you marry well."?
Or maybe female America will ignore that last question and shrug as they reply, "So what if Hillary vaulted to the top thanks in great part to Bill Clinton? Great movements have to start somewhere, even from flawed beginnings. However, once we get that first female president, others will follow in many fields of endeavor, for whom influential spouses will come to matter less and less as time goes on."
Perhaps that will turn out to be so. And that might serve to mitigate the Bill Clinton factor in Hillary's ascent. Which could be another way of saying, "The end justifies the means." For my own part? I remember something else the Buddha said toward the end of his life, which is this to the best of my recollection: "Don't follow persons, follow the Law." In this case, the "person" might very well be a shapeshifted male in the form of the one whom we see as "Hillary Clinton." Or is she a "devil pretending to be a Buddha?" Our mortal eyes can't penetrate these disguises. However, we can only hope our enlightened nature - which we all possess - can tell us if Hillary Clinton is preaching to us the Law or some devilish perversion thereof.
Closing Comments
I'm most afraid that Hillary Clinton will end up trying to please as big an audience as possible, though when push comes to shove and she has to make a polarizing decision, she'll waffle and will try to make that decision she hopes will please everybody.
These words about "fooling people" are worth remembering:
These words about "fooling people" are worth remembering:
P.T. Barnum supposedly said (though perhaps it was Abraham Lincoln), "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." To which a third party added this refinement, "You can fool too many of the people too much of the time."
As for the first quote, if one makes a career out of trying to fool anybody for even part of the time, everyone will eventually catch on to that - even the people who were initially fooled - and that will breed resentment. As for the second quote, Hillary Clinton may well succeed to the presidency by virtue of too many of us being vulnerable to being fooled just long enough to get her into office. And the rest of us will be stuck praying she doesn't sink us too badly.
I take as one small clue a certain truism: "Many women, no matter how talented and accomplished, feel that their best efforts just aren't good enough." That sentiment leads to a certain insecurity which makes them want to at least appear good enough. Which might have led to Hillary's attempt to withhold or minimize acknowledgement of (shall we say) "co-author credit" for one book - It Takes a Village - and one of her other books - Living History. It is a mark of the insecure that they wish to make themselves seem bigger than they really are.
As for my provocative title - "About Hillary Clinton's vagina." Some might protest my (apparent) reduction of the female to organ-centricity, that there's more to a woman besides her sexuality. To be sure, there are many women of whom this is true - just as there are many men (take Bill Clinton for example) of whom his organ is more centric than it should ever have been. There are perhaps as many as 100 women on this planet of whom this is not true at all - of whom their sexuality is self-acknowledged but only silently and then is either ignored or developed in an enlightened manner.
But far more than these 100 are the legions of other women who are close to making the leap needed to join them. And there are men who could become very good allies of such women. But also, there are too many men who will fall prey to their own base karmic tendencies and end up trying to exploit them - coming to see them more as vaginas than anything else. Men and women alike out there - tread carefully. Much is at stake.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle, former candidate for US President (in 2008 and 2012)
Founder of the Independent Contractors' Party
"Yeah, I admit to feeling a little slimy for having titled this essay as I did. But I did so after much soul-searching and without any fear of making a bad decision. However, should it turn out my decision was bad, I apologize in advance and hope that at least some of the points I tried to advance here will be recognized for their merits."
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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