I still haven’t dealt with all of my feelings about Hillary Clinton. I’ve been so focused on the President-Elect and how sh-tty the next four years are going to be that I won’t let myself think about Hillary Clinton and what happened on her side of things. Did she make mistakes? Absolutely. Was she a flawed, imperfect candidate? Of course. Was I still proud to vote for her? Yes. And while she made some mistakes that helped her public undoing – like ignoring the need for more money and attention in the Rust Belt – I still feel strongly that the overwhelming reasons for Clinton’s defeat were not her fault. It was a tidal wave of ignorance, racism and sexism, combined with a media structure hellbent on false equivalencies, combined with the FBI’s blatant attempts to influence the election in favor of Trump. I could go on. But what’s the point?
I really just wanted Hillary Clinton to go away for her own good, drink mojitos on a beach and play with her grandchildren. But she stepped out in Washington last night because she was being honored by the Children’s Defense Fund, for her decades of service. She told the audience:
“Coming here wasn’t the easiest for me. There’ve been a few times this past week where all I’ve wanted to do is to curl up with a good book, or the dog and never leave the house again. I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election. I am too, more than I can express. But…I didn’t get in to public service to hold high office.”
Instead, she reminded the crowd, she’d decided to become an activist and use her law degree to help children. Clinton later circled back to her election defeat, urging people to not “lose heart” and to “stay engaged on every level.”
“We need you. America needs you. That’s how we get through this,” she said, echoing the words of President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders. “I know this isn’t easy. I know that over the past week, a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country they thought it was,” she said, adding “Listen to me when I say this: America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Never, ever give up.”
“I may be older now, I’ve seen my share of ups and downs, but I still believe we can make the impossible possible,” she continued. “America is still the greatest country in the world.”
I’m just so sad. She wouldn’t have been a perfect president, but she’s reasonable, she’s sane and she was held to a completely different standard than an unhinged lunatic. While I know Hillary Clinton’s political career is over now, it says something about her character that she came out to this event and used the appearance to draw even more attention to this organization. That’s what she would have been like as president too.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Hmm okayyyy
People keep saying she ignored those disenfranchised in the rust belt- but I heard loud and clearly that she wanted to boost infrastructure and sustainable energy for american to become a leader in green energy money making jobs. I feel she did address those left behind due to steel going to china. I heard loud and clearly that trump tower was built with chinese steel illegally procured during sanctions. It’s like- she said it and we’re using that as an excuse that “waaa waaa the rust belt was ignored”. The reality is that uneducated white males needed someone to hate and who better than a white woman bleeding heart liberal with more sympathy for marginalized people than their lazy complaining white arsess.
Can we really say that though? I’m thinking a Nordic country might be better at this point like we descended into pre-Nazi times
Came here to say that too
No we really shouldn’t call ourselves the greatest country in the world when we don’t value human rights. Or the majority of the states not people don’t value human rights.
I watched her appearance earlier this morning and cried. She looks like she has been crying hysterically for a week straight.
She is trying her best to give us hope and to forge inclusion. I can’t fault her for that. It just makes me so sad all over again.
DING DING DING!!! that’s really it, I told my bf, America flat out lost the right to them fancy high ideals claims ( frankly b*llshitodinous claims to begin with, BUT!) the idea that we can tell other countries not to sit autocrats or people that favor ethnic cleansings or destruction of civil liberties or whatever is done and gone with, sorry to say but we’re not heading anywhere far from that with that unscrupulous Jackass at the Helm, the idea that the press has to flatter and cater to him or be ditched is already a thing
” It took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and four years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed. The capture of institutions in Turkey has been carried out even faster, by a man once celebrated as the democrat to lead Turkey into the EU. Poland has in less than a year undone half of a quarter century’s accomplishments in building a constitutional democracy.” from http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/
She wasn’t crying “hysterically”. Would you say that about a man?
Exactly my feelings, Denisemich. The greatest country in the world wouldn’t have a personality-disordered sexual-predator carnival-barker as our incoming president. If we were the greatest country in the world, Barack Obama would never have been subjected to the disrespect he had to endure for eight years. The irony of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan is that the only way for that to happen now is for the Trump-Pence years to be over. Pray it’ll be four years rather than eight. Meanwhile, it’s more “Make Amerca Hate Again” than “Make America Great Again.” Sad and worrisome times.
@QQ I can’t believe this article compared a freaking Putin-lead Russia and Erdogan’s Turkey to Poland. I’m not a huge supporter of a current leading party (they are a conservative Catholic party and I’m an atheist liberal), but they are not a threat to democracy. Our former leader – coincidentally also a Donald T. (Tusk), did a lot of damage by sucking up to rich people and taking away from the poor and now his rich buddies try to make it seem that we are lead by some tyrants and on the verge of coming back to the dark ages. It’s bullshit to the nth-degree. I wish we had better (pro-choice!) politicians in charge and I often criticize them myself, because we have a lot of problems that are left unadressed, but they are not an evil-incarnate like Putin is.
I know people don’t come here to read about Poland, but I just wish we weren’t perceived in such a bad and untrue light.
I’m from a Nordic country and we have our problems as well. I just find the notion that there could even be a “best country” very strange.
Canada is the best country in the world. I don’t even have to think twice to say that! Proud to be Canadian!!!! #CANADAFTW
Agreed. It’s not always a competition. I just think she was just rallying people. For some reason, that notion of America being the best is red meat here.
I am a beige Canadian and for me Canada is NOT the greatest country in the world. Canada has a lot of problems.. I am a very proud Canadian although most people don’t seem to believe I am from Canada, like I must be an immigrant because I am beige. My family has been in the country longer than many a white family I have known.. oh well.
We have just as many problems as any other place, we are full of racists and sexists and for someone that looks like me and grew up in small town Canada I can say it was NOT great, not great at all.
However we do have healthcare, so there’s that…:)
I agree with Tobbs, thanks to colonialism the idea of any country being great is a false idea they are all built on the blood of human lives the colonial powers deemed lesser.
No country is great.. but some a bit better than others 🙂
SugarTea, I ADORE Canada (seriously could not overstate this if I tried), but I’m sure many of the first peoples of Canada would disagree with your assessment…
I think so long as you don’t cease the work it needs and aren’t blind to its faults, it’s okay to love your country the most.
Scotchy, what is a beige Canadian?
Doesn’t Canada also have a problem with trying to get rid of Indigenous people?
I lived in Canada – wages were SO BAD and the streets of Vancouver revealed a very very bad homeless/drug addict problem. Worse than I’ve seen anywhere else.
So no, Canada is not the greatest country. But neither is anywhere else.
In fairness Lex, Vancouver is among the warmest places in Canada. That’s why it attracts a larger population of homeless people than anywhere else in Canada.
@Betsy,
it is always ok to LOVE your country the most, even when that country is in ruins, or perhaps especially then.
It’s a whole different story, though, when you go around the world telling everyone you’re the best.
It’s much like children, really. We all think ours are the best, and we love them oh so much. But it’d be pretty dumb of me to tell my friends with children that my children are the best, again and again, completely seriously, and expect my friends to accept and agree to that.
I agree. Any claim in that vein is just obnoxious. I think if you can say you’re proud of your country, you’re doing well. Mine – New Zealand – has its problems (notably historical injustices against Maori, socioeconomic inequality, family violence and, lately, fecking earthquakes), but every day we are facing those problems head-on, using grown-up, non-euphemistic language, and trying to be better, and it makes me proud. We’ll never be an empire like the US once was, and if we fell off the edge of Earth no one would notice, but there are advantages to being a small nation. Like our election season lasts six weeks, by law.
I think we should say NONE.
Norway and Sweden both have fascist/nazi movements (as it was the case in WWII) so unless you meant North Pole or Greenland with the term ‘Nordic’, we should bury the ‘greatest country in the world’ argument immediately.
Fair point you guys.
Obviously my main point is people should stop acting all “MERICA” since we just sent our country back about 50-60 years. In the next 4 years it could be 100.
@Nicole
You’d be surprised to hear how many countries are going backwards at the moment.
If only… if only we had a country where we could move to all together and leave the mess behind (all the people who voted for it included). I know, it’s utopia.
Hugs.
No, we can’t. We never could.
We had the potential. We had so much potential here but we lost sight of our main focus and our fight for it. I hope this woke everyone up.
Do American politicians realise how they sound to the rest of the world when they parrot this nonsense? There is no greatest nation in the world, and the fact that they assume their country is the greatest just reeks of arrogance.
So much this!!!
It’s not just american politicians, though. This statement/feeling that America is the BEST(!) is very much ingrained in the American psyche.
We’re pretty much indoctrinated from birth with the idea of “American Exceptionalism.” Americans truly believe we are the “shining city on the hill.”
Yeah I think this is a HUGE part of the educational issues leading to many many problems that plague America.
I completely agree. That idea that America is the greatest is not only untrue but also very damaging on so many levels. Americans thinking that they need to impose their ‘greater’ way of life onto the rest of the world and not taking the time to understand that one mans great is another mans garbage.
It is indoctrinated at birth. I felt once I immigrated to Canada from the US, I slowly became deprogrammed. There are many more freedoms and good things about other countries that the US is severely lacking with and only until Americans leave the US and travel abroad will they see this for themselves. Sadly though, for economical reasons, many will never see this fact and therefore, continue to believe this falsehood.
Show me your President, and i say you how great you are…
It’s more or less required at this point, just like ending every speech with “God bless America”. If you don’t say it, then your opponent will, and you will look like a Godless jerk who hates America. So everyone keeps saying it on a loop. 🙁 It’s truly ridiculous.
It’s like the OTT outrage if someone doesn’t wear a flag pin.
This drives me mad. Just mad.
I can’t with the flag pins! 😒
Truly required..
@Locke
I think they do know it’s not the greatest and that they sound half-clueless. However Clinton was the other presidential candidate (unlike Hanks) so it wouldn’t really sound great if she said “screw you morons, you didn’t vote for me but you dragged USA in the mud electing an orange fascist who will make you burn in hell”. She still has the responsibility to encourage people to stay calm and strong and to instil hope whilst speaking in public.
That’d be so awesome if she said that, though. I know she’d be crucified for it, but it’d be so much closer to the truth.
I don’t know how they don’t realize how awful it comes across, Locke. So arrogant.
I’m an American and I cringe every time I read it. It isn’t true and to say it right *now*? …well.
I was afraid of opening this article, but I am so glad and heartened that people don’t actually believe crap like this.
For many in this country, to acknowledge problems or to acknowledge that other countries do things well is treason. Nationalism and jingoism are strong here.
@Lightpurple
Totally true and it’s the same elsewhere. Try to be critical and you get hurled insults and claims of ‘unpatriotic’ ‘you should be hung for treason’ etc etc.
Locke – like I said on the Hanks thread, every dominant nation has a version of this greatest country thing and it becomes so inculcated that a great many people genuinely believe it and even those who think they don’t believe it still absorb some of the attitudes (see also: unconscious white privilege. Same thing).
When Britannia ruled the waves and all that murderous jazz, its version was “the mission to civilise”. Your average everyday Briton genuinely believed their country’s imperialism was a good thing and was bringing a superior civilisation to the benefit of the rest of the world.
The Romans were the same. Every dominant nation is the same.
It also takes a long time to fade. I believe an outdated British exceptionalism was an essential factor in the Brexit vote. Somewhere deep inside, a lot of Britons still think they are superior beings to continental Europeans. It’s not nice to admit or reflect on but I still think it’s true. There’s a theory of it called postcolonial melancholia.
All that said, Hillary may have done the same old exceptionalist nonsense with the greatest country thing but when she said “America is worth it” she was bang on the money. All Americans should keep their heads up as much as they can because every country’s best values are worth fighting for.
@Sixer – you are probably right re: Britain, but my feeling pre-Brexit was that the Brits are FINALLY starting to see how f*cked up their Empire was. Certainly, I don’t think Brit’s really think of themselves as being the greatest at anything (perhaps that is just posho Brit modesty, though?). The only time I have seen overt nationalism/patriotism in the 10+ years I’ve lived here is 1. London Olympics and 2. Pre-Brexit.
Whereas in the Us I grew up saying the pldge of bloody allegiance every morning – and questioning America’s infallible amazinglness is just not done, is it?
That’s what I mean by taking a long time to fade, you know? It’s almost gone but it’s still there in subtle ways. It’s always poisoned our relationship with the EU.
But at the time of Empire, most ordinary Britons genuinely believed all this stuff.
But I can imagine that coming from a currently ascendant country into a once-ascendant country, it’s almost imperceptible.
@Sixer
“The Romans were the same. Every dominant nation is the same.”
By modern ‘standards’, I wouldn’t put Romans on the same level of modern empires, because they actually brought a high level of urbanism, culture and ‘civilization’ everywhere (if the latter is meant as we know it nowadays). Think that some roads in Britain have Roman roads under it.
However, this ‘civilization’ was ‘unrequired and unwelcome’ in many parts of the empire and it also created a bipolarity that discredited local cultures as barbarians or even ‘evil’ (think about the demonisation of Etruscans by Romans, because women sat at men’s table during banquets!)
On the other side, Roman religion was monotheistic and inclusive, something that it cannot be said for ‘modern’ empires that used religion conversion as a reason for conquest; citizenship wasn’t restricted to Roman-born people either from a certain point onwards, this at odds with ancient Greece, for example.
Silver – have you been watching David Olusoga’s black British history series on BBC2? If not, I highly recommend a trip to iPlayer. In the first episode, he’s talking with Mary Beard about the black Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian’s Wall. I think she made an excellent point: the Romans were as supremacist as any dominant force in history – but skin colour did not figure among their prejudices. The Romans were supremacist but not racist. This thought tickles me pink for some silly reason.
@Sixer
Not yet! I’m in the middle of writing a few things for univ. at the moment, so I didn’t have time to binge on iplayer. The only reason why I have not thrown a shoe at the TV yet is due to the history series. I love Mary Beard and she writes/presents excellent stuff!!
One of the few commanders who were allowed a ‘triumph’ in Augustus’ time was L. Balbus, who was born in Spain. Indeed they were quite fairly tolerant towards some issues that nowadays would be cause for hatred/racism/bigotry.
They were military supremacists, meaning their army was the core of their supremacy. However, Roman citizenship stood in second place after the army and during the centuries it was extended to all the residents of the Empire. Which is sort of amazing if you think that in UK we had British papers calling Gina Miller ‘dirty immigrant’ although a British citizen.
@Sixer
“I believe an outdated British exceptionalism was an essential factor in the Brexit vote.” you got it.
That behavior was always annoying when they were still in the EU, they always got special treatment.
Now this is over.
how low do you have to go before politicians give up this mindless rhetoric?
Apparently lower than this?
::weeps::
I agree so much.
Maybe politicians need to convince themselves that their country is the best. I call it Delusion of Grandeur
I think its a response more to the notion that america doesn’t need trump to make it great more than anything and to reassure.
and this is why they are almost universally disliked – but they just don’t get it.
You can drop Leader of the ‘free’ world while you are at it as well.
I agree with this. In fact, telling their citizens they’re “go great” only adds to the anger that allowed Trump to rise in popularity when the citizens perceive themselves to be less than the best. At what though, I’m not sure.
And on many a list of “most livable countries” around the world, the US is never number one and sometimes not even top 5.
Yes. That’s why they think every immigrant wants to upgrade to their nationality. Of course some want but most people are just running away from terrible situations and, at least Mexican immigrants, want to return to their country at some point
As a Canadian, it always makes me cringe when Americans say that. And now even less. No universal health care, no maternity leave for all women… sorry no you aren’t the greatest. And now a fascist has been elected. Again, sorry US, you lost the moral high ground forever once that happened.
I live in a liberal bubble pocket of american that I’ve been afraid to leave in the past 20 years. Our county and state went blue and the four FB friends I had who “liked” the thing are unliked and that’s self-preservation. Now I realize my home is sort of like an isolated country within a bigoted aggressive country called america.
That is not what they are trying to convey. Its like football…..(yeesh) It is meant to inspire patriotism and remind people whining that there are millions of people who would kill for our first world problems.
No hilary. No.
This myth of America being the greatest country in the world has got to go.
America is a country built on the destruction of native american lives, and with the blood of slaves. America has initiated dozens of wars and has the blood of millions of innocent people on its hands. America just elected a moron – who is not only racist and xenophobic, but UNQUALIFIED, to be its president. America still has enormous inequality. America has the most billionaires in the world, but there are still children who go to sleep hungry.
America has potential, but it is not the greatest country in the world, by any measure. Not by measure of happiness, or environment, or opportunity, or even by wealth per capita.
Hate to say it, but its the truth. The sooner we accept this, the sooner Americans can stop thinking they/we are better than everyone else. Fuck this sense of entitlement, let’s actually work to be better so American CAN be the greatest country in the world. There’s a lot of work to do, and buying heads in the ground chanting USA! USA! is not it.
Saying the sky is green the sky is green the sky is green won’t actually make it green.
@ Claire, you are so right, but America will never be the greatest Country in the World, because the way it was Build and all you said above. No Country will, because of the Society, i mean all.
After the next 4 Years, US won’t be any near of it…
It’s simply not true. It hurts me to say that I’ve never uttered the words that I’m proud to be an American. I am a black woman, why would I be? Many people in America don’t get to feel that pride, but atleast we have working wifi and cable, amiright?!
I have to say it: Her makeup and hair person during the campaign was fantastic! Here, with little make up, she looks every bit her 69 years. It makes me sad… she looks kind of like she has been crying non-stop since the election.
I thought that too for a moment. I wonder why she couldn’t hire the same person once more, surely she can afford it even on her own dime? The contrast between campaign Hillary and this Hillary is pretty striking. I wonder if she wanted it to be obvious?
Maybe she is just exhausted? Why can’t she look her age? She doesn’t have to look campaign ready for the rest of her life…it’s ok, she can look tired and almost 70. I feel sad for her, but not because of how she looks.
I expect she is depressed and just maybe tired of giving any f*cks.
She looks like she lost a very hard, ugly, personal election. I feel terrible for her. All of the pain we’ve all felt in the past week is written all over her face.
I totally agree. The loss hit her hard, and the weariness is written all over her face. And I’m sure she’s as terrified as we are about what the Trump presidency is going to do to our country.
I am but a citizen in the south and have awoke every night, in the middle of the night, with thoughts of, “this sh*t can’t be real,” running through my head. I look every bit of my 41 years the past couple of weeks. I can’t blame Hilly for not looking her peak. I am sure she cries every day.
I cried all over again last night. Just looking at her I can see her pain. She still goes down in history and gets us one step closer. I hope history will be kind to her and POTUS.
Yeah- lots of women around me look like this now. I can’t wear make-up because I will spontaneously burst out in tears at the sight of a truck with a Trump bumper sticker and a set of large plastic balls hanging off the back.
I’ve spent the past week eating bread, candy and other carbs, taking 30 mg of melatonin at about 8 p.m. and calling it a night. I feel zitty and angry and old and tired. I woke up to these photos of Hillary and I said, “Girl, I feel you.”
Absolutely. The rawness on her face and in her being is felt so viscerally. It’s painful. It may not be the most politically savvy move, but I suspect she doesn’t care. That makes me admire her even more. If ever I had any doubt HRC is a badass she has shown it here. She looks like a warrior who lost her final battle and will retire without her deserved glory, but she’s still standing motherf’ers.
No! I feel the opposite. I think she looks AMAZING here. Real and relatable. Tougher. I think it was entirely intentional – not to look sad or sorry – but defiant. Screw this – I don’t have to slap that junk on my face anymore to try to appear the way that you expect me to – this is who I am. I think if she’d looked a little more like this during the campaign, and spoke more candidly, and not taken it for granted (as so many of us did thought because it defies logic and common sense!) that there is no way Trump would be elected she would have won.
ITA. She looks genuine and humbled, but not beaten down. I’m sure she is devastated and probably wants to go away to lick her wounds. However, I think it was important for her to come out to show her supporters and the country that she can pick herself up, dust herself off and continue living her life.
That’s a jerk-off thing to comment on, Larelyn. Who cares if she looks like she’s 69? Why is that a thing? Commenting on women’s appearances, especially Hillary Clinton’s in the wake of such defeat, is a NO. Maybe we should consider what really matters, hmm?
I don’t think its a jerk off thing to comment on. But I fully expected someone to jump in and shame her for saying what we can all see. Clearly she didn’t make herself up the same way she did in during the campaign, and obviously she didn’t hire hair and makeup to put her together, and maybe it was a personal choice or maybe she doesn’t give 2 f*cks, I don’t care what she looks like, but I do care that she looks tired and sad and worn out, and I think its a perfectly normal observation to make. We have gotten to a place where we are so politically correct and charged, and there is ALWAYS someone who is going to jump out with some self righteous agenda and frankly its exhausting. If we can’t come here, to a gossip website, and talk freely about our observations than things have gotten pretty bad. I live in Canada too, I think its great, but flawed, and I would never jump in shout “WE ARE NUMBER ONE”, on a comment board about a country that is in absolute peril. That’s tacky in my opinion. Have a nice day everyone!
@Andy-Fellow Canadian here-This is not political correctness-it’s human decency. What she’s been through is horrendous and please tell me what saying she looks tired is going to help. The election was last week not last year. Yes it’s obvious but you do not always have to say everything that crosses your frontal lobe. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor-remember that.
HK, saying something to someones face and just making a observation on a gossip site are quite different. There is nothing wrong with her looking like this but it can be observed, it is almost concerning. People just made a lot of comments regarding what Trump looked like with Obama and for some reason a commenter though I was pro Trump just because I though Obama looked more tired. It is not some judgement on character to say something like that.
@HK9 Human decency?? So now observing that she looks sad and tired and not made up on a gossip chat board is lacking in human decency? I didn’t call her to say this. I simply concurred with another poster who commented that she doesn’t look well and it appears that the election look a lot of out of her. These comments were made with sympathy, not hostility by the way. Thanks for proving my point.
I agree, SugarTea, your *criticism* that this was a jerk-off thing (and insanely superficial) to say was spot on. Her face reflects the tragedy of us all. It has nothing to do with make-up. Talk about shallow! Drumpf would be proud.
hmmm. so we are all saying the same thing. Her face is showing the tragedy of what she went through. Apparently when you say it, that’s ok though. Because you aren’t shallow… Alright… Name calling is not nice. I think his name is Donald.
@Andy, this is a gossip site and we gossip and bitch so I can fully receive your criticism. However for me today, after the election, and the “interesting” things that are happening, she shows up to this event and puts her best foot forward. In light of that I’m gonna hold off on commenting about her face for awhile.
@Andy,
Yes, it is okay if I say it because all I mentioned was the tragedy for us all in her face. Nothing about her needing makeup. But I guess that distinction is too complicated for shallow PC bots who always miss the point and dredge up doublespeak as a rebuttal.
@Hmmm its people like you who make me just want to not post at all. I simply defended someone who was reflecting on how she was wearing and showing the damage inflicted this week. I said nothing about make up, but I do defend other people’s right to comment on it if they choose, without being shamed on a gossip site. If you want to lower yourself to name calling and taking shots about lack of intellect than have at it. It’s not complicated at all really is it?
I’m going to go back to being a silent reader. Have a nice evening.
Um, no. Not at the moment, anyway.
And I live here. For now.
Oh bloody hell. She’s saying this too?
She honestly looks beat! Not that I can’t understand why. She is really wearing the grief.
The speech was really touching. Say what you will about Hillary but her empathy for children is authentic. This is an area she’s worked her entire adult life. Her mom’s Dickensian childhood influenced her a great deal.
PS: No offense but I wish you’d used a different title for this post @Kaiser. I suspect the comments will be littered with people saying “No American isn’t the greatest country on earth” instead of actually reading your post and watching the video. That wasn’t the theme of her speech at all. It’s really a lovely speech.
Also the comments on Youtube are absolutely vile. So much hate toward her. Sickening. Trump bots and alot of unhappy Bernie fans dominated twitter, Youtube, etc and I suspect that had an effect. It definitely lead to the “false equivalences” gaining so much traction.
I agree about the headliner – it takes one line of a speech that was not about America being great at all that was given at the very end and makes it the focus. The fact that I have come to rely on a celebrity gossip site for some of the more responsible reporting on the election feels surreal and this really is one of the only sites where I feel comfortable reading the comments so I don’t want to harp too much, but we (the media, individuals, websites) can all do better
Yep this is one of the only sites where I can stomach reading the comments @Mophita121 I appreciate the job @Kaiser does sharing political news. I just wish more people focused on the heart of the speech and not this tiny part at the end.
Keaton- I agree with your comment. She believes in our system of democracy and we will see. Can a fascist take us down? I hope not. But the one line was not the intent & message of her speech.
Mophita121- everything you said.
I agree. And the comments section focused on that one line, and not the rest of the speech. People are so easily led astray.
She is towing the line and doesn’t want to be responsible for anymore divisiveness. However, she should go away for a long while because the truth is America is NOT the greatest country in the world. That was proven during the election and denying it feels like the biggest lie of all. She needs time to reflect and let the finger pointing take its course. Comey needs to be impeached meanwhile to prove that America still has a sense of decency.
@Robyn ITA with everything you said.
I don’t blame Comey for the ~entire~ thing, but I will scream if he doesn’t face SOME sort of consequences.
No, the USA is not the greatest country in the world. I don’t know that there even is a greatest country in the world. And maybe that’s OK.
I still love her. To death. She’s the President we needed, but DJT is the President we deserve, apparently.
I don’t know that there is, either. I think it comes down to what you want, what country meets your ideas, values.
Canada, now, does that for me and my family. Trudeau has restored my faith in my country, but we’ve a long way to go.
I hold human rights, equal rights, in the highest regard. Military, guns, don’t even enter my mind. Therefore, the US and I would NOT work.
I never knew how grateful I was to live in Canada until this American election (and I love the States). Perhaps a country’s greatness should be measured by the gratitude of its citizens for its contribution to their lives and wellbeing. And where does that contribution come from? All of us.
What a beautiful, and true statement, hmmm.
Canada does not have a military. The fact of America’s guns, changes it all, for us.
Agree with everyone here that America sucks balls but she *has* to say this dumb sh*t so why are we coming down on her?
The best politicians feel a responsibility to unite the country and bolster the collective mood of most Americans, which is a dreary and dark one.
The part that broke my heart was when she said she wanted to just crawl under the covers with a good book or hang out with her dogs, never leave the house again. I feel so terrible for her. Sigh.
Don’t say America sucks balls, Kitten! It doesn’t! Some things about it do but loads and loads of things about it are great, Orange Fascist or no Orange Fascist.
I don’t think America sucks balls and don’t think it’s the greatest country in the world, either. She doesn’t *have* to use that chest-beating rhetoric. I don’t see how it’s useful and it always sounds so dumb to me, whoever says it (and from wherever). Why not just say something like “America is still a great country.” I like Hilary (and your comments on these boards, Kitten) but the “we’re the greatest” stuff – no.
ITA @Kitten. And the funny thing is while people here are upset that she used that phrase in an attempt to unite the country and keep people from losing hope in the system people like Kellyanne Conway, all the FOX idiots, Mika from Morning Joe and Mark Halperin are on her ass for not doing MORE to unite the country now.
I think she said enough on Wednesday to unite the country.
And I see nothing wrong with her saying “America is the greatest country on earth” I may not buy it (esp now) but she’s entitled to that view.
The election is over, her political career is over, but alot of people still need Hillary Clinton around as our national punching bag.
I feel so bad for her too, Kits. She is an icon in my eyes. A heroine. The writer of Herstory. Hillary forever.
Are you doing alright?
Ha ha…ok fair enough. Maybe “sucks balls” was too harsh but that’s just the mood I’m in right now. Sorry if I got carried away.
@Shamby-Just so up and down, you know?
Mainly I’m just really angry at everyone, mostly whites as I feel like we let down a large segment of my friends, who are really scared and hurting right now.
As I said on the other thread, this is the only place where I feel like I belong, the only place where I feel like people GET IT.
And feeling “angry” is a luxury compared to feeling “terrified”. Muslim women being scared to wear their hijab, black and white labels on water fountains and other incidents of overt racism…LGBTQ community having their rights threatened by Pence. Just so much regression…all the social progress our country has made now being threatened under a Trump presidency. Sigh.
http://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/
Your last line really nails it, Shambles : (
It’s a painful reality, Lorelai.
Last night, I was driving through the city and I saw a skyscraper that was lit up purple. It reminded me of Hillary, when she wore purple for her Queen-like concession speech, to symbolize the two parties coming together. So perfect, you know? And I was just like, “Damn, she would have been so good. She gets it. She’s the President we need, but Donald is the President we deserve, I guess.”
1. I feel so bad for her. There can’t be a worse feeling than losing to that orange idiot and it shows on her face.
2. I get national pride but as a Non-American every time I hear an American say that the USA is “the greatest country on earth” I wonder what made them come to that conclusion. It seems so arrogant and it rubs the rest of the world the wrong way. I work at a hotel and often times that arrogance makes the European and Canadian guests ask me when the Americans are leaving (I’m not exaggerating, I’ve been asked that several times).
3. When you get past that initial meeting and expectations (preconceived notions do tend to develop), americans are actually great people (I have family that migrated to the states and then some that were born there). I will say though that I feel people from any country need to be mindful of how their “Pride” reads to others especially when travelling.
No country is the best country, they each have their good and bad and that’s ok.
The fact that she, a person who worked for decades to be able to do this job, lost to this asshole who decided to run on a whim, doesn’t know the first thing about the position, and likely is going to do the absolute bare minimum required, is just cruel.
I truly understand that “the greatest country in the world” is meant to motivate, to give people hope.
But I fear it makes the average person ignore basic facts, and ultimately sets back any progress, indefinitely.
By the repeated use of that particular phrase, people are normalizing what is happening, and therefore nothing ever changes. For Hillary, of all people, to normalize the country divide is alarming, and I am a supporter.
Both candidates got it wrong, IMO. Don’t strive to make America great again (it never was) and don’t think “still the greatest country in the world (it’s not). Instead, work towards being the best country you can be, while admitting that things are not stellar and works needs to be done.
Stop burying your heads. Be better.
Yes you make excellent points, friend.
stoping to call amercia that might be a good step in the right direction.
What is she supposed to say though? She is secretly trying to tell people not to give up on this country and fight tooth and nail against a crazy man. She still has to be somewhat diplomatic, especially when her freedom has been threatened numerous times by the Trump morons. I mean talks of another investigation against her? She’s toeing the line so she can have some semblance of peace. She’s attempting diplomacy but she’s in a very tough position. I cried watching her last night. I was like how could America get this wrong. I’m so angry and feel a sense of loss. I can’t imagine how she must feel.
LOL exactly. She can’t win. Sure, it would have been more truthful to come out and say “Hey guys, you’re all f*cked” but she’s not gonna say that. She CAN’T say that.
Exactly @Jezi. She really can’t win. People are getting on her HERE for saying “America is the greatest country on earth” but she’s being attacked other places for not speaking out and telling the protestors to stop. It’s absurd.
Yes. So much this. I feel like by saying “America is still great,” her secret message is, “F*ck ‘Make America Great Again.’ There are still good people in this country who are willing to fight for what’s sane and what’s right.”
Ha! I like your interpretation 😀
how do other politicans all around the world do it without portraying their country as the greatest? its possible. her choice of words was bad and it needed to be pointed out.
Eh, the “America is the greatest country on earth” schtick has been part of the American psyche for generations. Obviously, feel free to call her out on it but to say other politicians all over the world can do it , why not her? Isn’t necessarily fair.
She’s under a ton of pressure to bring the country together in the wake of the protests and that’s one thing she was trying to do.
Moreover, it’s not even the main point of her speech so I’m not sure why people are making such a huge deal out of it.
I’m all for calling people out for racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc but I don’t think this NEEDED to be called out. It was literally a throw away line in a speech meant to inspire young people to not lose faith in the system and to keep fighting. Not to just give in to the bizarro normaliztion of Trump Nation.
I’m with you, Jezi, very well said.
On the Trump thread we talked about why certain segments voted for Trump. Another factor that hasn’t been talked about in depth is I think we all underestimated the level of anti-Hillary sentiment that has been brewing for decades and which was ignited just before campaign season by none other than Steve Bannon. I can’t imagine her rage and frustration and I commend her for being so positive and eloquent.
Obama said “make America better”. Hillary please start using “better” instead of “great”. Great feels hollow.
She would have been a fabulous President.
She has her flaws for sure, but she truly would have worked hard for ALL the people in this country.
I don’t understand how so many people let their dislike of her override her overwhelming qualifications for the job. It is all so sad.
I mentioned this to my stepfather and he somehow managed to turn it in a mild rant about Muslims, but anyway, sometimes I hear Americans talk about the country and it sounds like a cult. The pledge, the people getting so worked up over the flag and anthem, the mindless patriotism some people express, the idea that you are Americans before anything else and you should leave if you hate your mistreatment. It’s a kind of intense.
All campaigns get dissected afterwards, especially the loser’s. The behind the scenes books or articles are fascinating and eye-opening because you see the in-fighting and chaos up close. A magazine, maybe Newsweek, once devoted almost the whole issue on Kerry’s campaign after he lost. It’s stunning what goes on and all the mistakes made, and that’s in every campaign.
Trump’s was a mess. He won in spite of it, not because he had some organized campaign.
Hillary would have been a great president. I loved her platform. She has the temperament, knowledge, experience. She’s a workhorse and would have worked hard for this country.
She does look like she’s been crying for weeks. When your face and eyes are that puffy, it’s like makeup won’t go on the eyes, just slides off, and the face is more haggard from it.
I do believe she was ready to start from day one, had her team and plans in place for the first 100 days. Trump didn’t.
She looks like the rest of us who are weeping for the fate of America and the world.
She looks like a woman, just like Us.
Let’s remember the list of popularly elected fascists:
Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, deRivera, Codreanu, Ikk iKita, Jinwei…we have a fight on our hands. Let Us not be weary in doing good! We Can – We Must, and all that…even when hope wanes.
We need to make a holiday, not Mother’s Day, but something that celebrates Hillary’s strength that we are now feeling, as our own. My goodness; she was dragged thru the mud for being passionate about Us…
I don’t agree with the posters saying that she “has” to say that. No, she doesn’t. She can say that America is a great country that needs work in some areas. She is not going to ever be president. That ship has sailed. She can do away with the PC rhetoric and utilize cold, hard honesty at a time where people are scared to death. The only people that think America is the greatest country in the world, are the deplorables that voted for Trump. Rational people understand that there needs to be work done to achieve that status.
I vote Iceland as the best country in the world.
What, do I need to give reasons? Well, they have great butter.
This discourse around greatness is borderline dangerous when formerly powerful countries (powerful, not necessarily great) experience decline or blows. The sense of wounded pride leads to extremism and war, like in Germany after WWI, France after WWII, and so on.
The butter in Holland is some of the best I ever had. Yum.
KerryGold butter in Ireland is the best butter, and I will say that living in Ireland is one of the best countries in the world, would never want to leave.
I have to agree with you. Iceland is an amazing country. I love what you did with your bankers and your campaign for equal pay. The way you bounced back from 2009 was inspiring. I’m Irish and I so wish my country was like yours.
Exceptionalism + rabid patriotism + racism = how the world got Hitler. BUT BUT BUT! that’s all well and good, when you’re fighting the nazis. That can’t happen here, *clearly,* because, ‘Murrica.
Except it can, and it just did. But it’s ok, because this guy wears a flag pin. WE’RE GONNA BE FINE, GUYS, DRUMPF HAS A FLAG PIN. LIKE A REAL AMERICAN. HE’S SUCH A HERO. 😐
Why does America think it’s the greatest country in the world? It is not.
Russia wants to be the greatest country in the world so is really loving this discussion.
The part where she says “still the greatest” gets me. How was it ever “the greatest”? During slavery? During segregation? During the time women couldn’t vote? During the LA riots? During the Trump campaign? WHEN was it ever the greatest? It’s this attitude, the one where so many (not all) Americans really believe they are better than the rest of us that causes so much hate towards them. America needs a lot of change before it can ever call itself “the greatest”. Sorry.
Completely agree, me.
Rather like “Great” Britain – never was, certainly isn’t now & definitely won’t be for a good few years. But Britain’s not a bad place – bit worse than a few months ago certainly & a long way to go before things get better – but I guess the UK is one of the world’s Top 100 countries 🙂
At least we don’t have the death penalty.
The “great” in Great Britain came from the fact that it is the bigger of the two islands (like a great crested newt is bigger than a normal newt), it has nothing to do with the country’s perception of itself, it is purely a geographical term.
Google “American Exceptionalism” and you find there is a long history of that sentiment. Actually it is one of the pilars the United States was built on, this whole “light on a hill”.
You’ve hit on it, Marlena. It always bothered me that the Bible began in a garden, and ended in a city of light. The need of many American people, is to be in congruence with the pastor’s explanation of morality, and this intention, “to be good”, intertwines with politics; confusing everyone. Nearly everyone wants to be good, but some people see a need for an Ultimate Authority. Science will prevail, as Always.
She is still processing this as we all are, bit by bit and pice by piece. It is simply impossible to do all at once. Much like many of you, I was hoping she would take a much deserved 2-3 week vacation to the beach with a pitcher of beverages but she’s tougher than most.
Immediately after the election: I need to move to another country.
A few days later: No, I’ve calmed down. We can deal with this. We have processes in place, It will be okay.
Now: No, I was right the first time.
I ought to think, “I should stay and be part of making the country better.” But all I can think is, “This is the dawning of fascism, and I need to get out before the time comes that I can’t get out.”
“This is the dawning of fascism, and I need to get out before the time comes that I can’t get out.” – this gave me chills.
I came to the US from Scotland 25 years ago, became a citizen, have an American husband and son. All I can think about is if we should leave and go back now.
@Louisa
“All I can think about is if we should leave and go back now.”
Very unwise because you could come back and find worse. Scotland is not independent. If England goes down the cliff, it drags everyone else down. (P.S. my husband is Scottish and has thought to go back if Scots go on their own. However, considering the mess around, I see it as unlikely at the moment).
I was thinking of Scotland, because I think they might go their own way now. Because Scotland wanted to stay EU.
@SilverUnicorn – yes UK is a mess right now, but based on what my family and friends still in Scotland tell me, it can’t possibly be as bad as things are about to get here. Can it?
I have dual British-American citizenship. When I tell my friends in the UK about the lack of even the most basic healthcare or the fact that we have prisons for profit they don’t believe me. I don’t want to stay and fight, although I respect those who do. Instead, I want to go back to the UK and preach that we continue to hold onto our more compassionate views for as long as we can hold out.
I respect her deeply for showing up for that event though. She would have been a damn good President.
Me too. And I think she looks fantastic. Less “on” and more normal and lovely than during the campaign. Put this picture against the puffy white-circles and orange jowls of the president-elect and tell me who is “haggard” and “showing age”. Pshaw!
America was founded on the idea of “liberty and justice for all.” While we’ve never actually lived up to that ideal, until recently it felt like we were making very small but consistent steps in that direction. Hillary is saying “America is still the greatest country” to inspire us to stand up for what had been American values. We can’t go backward, but we can start again. Think small and local. I have called and emailed more state politicians in the last week than I have in years. Be the resistance, because we’re going to need it.
*If you are in NC (land of gerrymandered districts and African-American voter suppression!) check out the plot to have McCrory appoint 2 new conservative State Supreme Court justices now that Morgan (an African-American) won election to NC Supreme Court. It flipped the court from 4-3 conservative to 4-3 liberal. After HB2 you know how sneaky they are- let them know you’re watching.
“While we’ve never actually lived up to that ideal, until recently it felt like we were making very small but consistent steps in that direction.”
This is exactly how I’ve been feeling. It’s like I’m in the Twilight Zone. There have always been white supremacists, sexists, and xenophobes in this country – and there always will be. What I’m having a hard time digesting is the scope and scale of the reality. They’re not the fringe minority groups I had always imagined.
I love the ideals of this country – that we started out with a ‘goal’ that even the founders were (frankly) doubtful we could ever reach. But they had hope that it was possible over time. They didn’t scale back the goal simply because it seemed impossible in their lifetime. The whiplash of this election has made me feel like we’re in a deep valley similar to the Reconstruction period that followed the Civil War, when rapid social progress was followed by some of the worst economic and social conditions in our history.
Amy and Louise you stay and fight like hell! Too many of us Nasty women, while we are recovering and still shell shocked are now listening to our wise CB sisters and calling and writing our local and national representatives. We are reading and watching more varied news sites, having more discussions, reaching out, getting out of our comfort zones and most importantly we are acting! I’ve been writing letters to my representatives, local and national and donating what little I can to worthwhile causes like planned parenthood and the ACLU. These asshats may have hijacked/conned this election but I will not let them keep it. It’s not theirs to have, it is ours!
I know you’re right but I’ve honestly never felt so distressed. In the last few days a neighbor has called me a “f**king tree hugging liberal” and my car was egged with the Hillary magnet clearly the target.
However, I will be writing, making phone calls and fighting. And I just booked my seat on the bus to the Women’s March on Washington on Jan 21st!
“Unhinged Lunatic” I’m going to remember that in the next four years. It’s the perfect short description of Trump.
It would have been easier to accept the outcome of this election, if the winner had some qualifications and experience in government, and wasn’t such a mean SOB. All he knows how to do is throw vile insults, file bankruptcy, avoid taxes, and the list goes on………and it is nothing to admire at all. But losing to Trump, it’s devastating. This can’t possibly be the ‘best country’ if we elect an Unhinged Lunatic to be our president.
Hillary came out because this appearance had been scheduled months before. She looks worn out and yet she came because she is one strong woman. She follows through with commitments. She’s been through a tremendous shock and recovery from that is going to take some time. I am proud to have voted for her and she really won (in my opinion) because she has more than a million more votes than Trump did. She should remember that little tidbit! Hopefully before hell freezes over, this country will get rid of the Electoral College once and for all. I’d be surprised if it happens in my lifetime, however.
Vava, every day I think this. She is what so many woman have to deal with on a daily basis being better qualified and harder working, still not getting the big promotion. It hurts to the core.
America! Stop. Just stop. No one even knows what you mean when you say this.
You know, I have always thought the same thing. The only think I can think of is military and nuclear might.
we are on the same page, humm.
Don’t know if this link will hold but am admiring the efforts of this Irish leader not to normalize Trump in a dangerously more frightened world:
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/799271570900328449
I agree with everything this man says, he feels the same ways as a lot of Irish people think, including myself.
Unfortunately our actual ‘leader’ the Taoiseach Enda Kenny sent his congratulations to Trump on behalf of all of us Irish people, the snivelling toe rag and made sure that he’ll still get to present his bowl of shamrock in the White House on Patrick’s Day 🙁
Sam Vimes, didnt know this, thought Enda wasnt too fussed on him either, goes to show you they all are sucking up to him, just so he gets his trip to Washington on St Patricks day, they are all the same.
Yeah, Nicole, he had called him a racist back in March but seemingly it’s all okay now that he’s President elect :/
I had to go back and think about this. I think her choice of words may have been a bit off. I think she was trying to tell people that, despite the Unhinged Lunatic’s slogan of “Make America Great Again”, America is already great. It’s not the standard red meat “America is the greatest”. It’s an extension of “Love trumps hate” and other unifying slogans.
She looks like she’s aged like 5 years wow and what the hell happened to her hair
A bit mean-spirited isn’t it? Haven’t you ever looked a bit worn down after the culmination of 18 months of campaign travel and strategy ended in defeat? Oh, wait…
I admire her for going out to the event looking less than perfect. For the duration of the election campaign (and the forty years previous) her looks have been commented on and criticised.
She looks defiant to me, like she’s all “fuck it! This is me. There’s nothing to lose now!”
I admire her so much for this. Imagine if Trump lost. He would have been everywhere talking about how it was all fixed and making a general jackass of himself.
Imagine if Trump had an obligation to be somewhere after he lost. Would he have held his head high and been professional? Or would the unhinged lunatic have lost his mind and called people a bunch of names.
She is so strong to be there. Regardless of your politics you have to hand it to her for showing up. And good for her for not putting on the fake appearance that everything is fine. Everything is most certainly not fine. She should look exhausted and devastated, it wouldn’t be real if she didn’t. She would then get comments about her obviously not caring enough about the election if she looked radiant a week after losing.
Exactly. I hate the way people in this comment section are tearing her apart, at a moment when she is showing such great courage.
And if you voted for Stein or Johnson, have the decency to STFU.
Are people tearing her apart? That wasn’t my take reading through the comments. What I’m seeing here are many people for Hilary, even if they don’t agree with the part of her speech that states “America is the greatest country in the world.” I see lots of respect for her in this thread, and disappointment that the election results were not in her favour.
Disagreeing with her is tearing her apart?
I wonder if she’s worried that Trump’s flying monkeys are still itching to come after her – personally, professionally, legally. I was thinking Obama might do a blanket pardon for her on his way out the door in January, but now I’m not so sure. It would certainly save her from future malicious persecution, and force the Republicans to pick a new scapegoat, but would probably just further stain her reputation. “Why pardon someone if they are innocent?” is the headline I see in my head. Umm, how about to keep the a$$hats from even more spending time and taxpayer money trying take down someone who has spent the last two decades defending herself from every ridiculous thing they could throw at her. The Republicans have been saying she’s the devil for so long, I think a good portion of the country now believe it to be truth.
Unless I see stats that ‘a good portion of the country now believe it to be truth’ it’s all pure speculation. They will hammer on her no matter what. She will always be the scapegoat and the sacrificial goat as well. She’s sacrificed enough. And yet here you’re asking for her to sacrifice the thing that matters most, her integrity, for a mess of potage.
What? I think you misunderstand me – or I didn’t express it well. My kneejerk thought when I saw Guiliani and others pledge to still “lock her up” was that a pardon would finally give her some peace from the hell she’s had to endure at the hands of the Republicans all these years. But I’ve changed my mind – it’s a horrible signal, wouldn’t really protect her, and she would likely refuse it anyway.
Hillary has done nothing wrong – or at least nothing that deserves the kind of frenzied smear campaign that has been waged against her. If the Republicans continue their vendetta, even after they’ve won, I’m afraid she’ll be mired down trying to defend herself against their attacks instead of devoting her time to defending the others who so desperately need a champion right about now.
As for my supposition that “a good portion of the country, etc” – just look at the elections results. If that many people would pick Trump – who is so patently unacceptable on many levels – over Hillary, I think a lot of them have been buying what conservative talk radio has been selling. She is not the devil, never has been, but try telling that to anyone who gets their info from Rush Limbaugh or Fox News.
Oh, okay, jetlagged. I apologise for misunderstanding. I can’t disagree with your latest comment. Thanks for the clarification. Except for the fact that it is hard to tell how deeply hatred of her runs. Only 25% of the electorate voted for Drumpf. ITA about the mass demonising of her for years. And they say witch hunts are dead.
To OP: “And while she made some mistakes that helped her public undoing – like ignoring the need for more money and attention in the Rust Belt ”
Really, what makes this small portion of the entire US, the Rust Belt, such special snowflakes? And does anyone really think that would have turned the tide? This just normalises the idea that this was a normal election and not the abomination it really was.
I read this somewhere and this makes more sense than specious “economic anxiety”: Hillary lost because she stood up as a white person (unlike Obama) , held up a mirror to white America, calling them out on white supremacy and telling them they needed do better. She was a threat in a way that Obama could never be. She is also a woman.
That, and the fix was in. At a Wall Street Journal conference held on Tuesday “NSA Head Openly Accuses Russia of Using Wikileaks to Get Trump Elected”, to whit, Admiral Michael S. Rogers the ‘head of the National Security Agency and the Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command’.
American elections are always rigged to make sure only the candidates who represent the interests of big business have a genuine shot at getting elected. This past election was no exception.
My gosh, that is a novel thought and non sequitur.
I was shocked at her appearance, as I’m sure were many others. Her hair – which was looking so absolutely great that I was planning to say to my hairdresser “make my hair look like Hillary’s hair” – looks like she got out of bed late and just threw some clothes on and rushed out to attend this event. And little or no makeup. And a meh looking garment in a color that does not flatter.
Saying this does not make me a bad person.
Hillary knows when her hair looks bad just like we all do. She knew she had committed to making this appearance. She could have begged off but she chose not to. I just wish she had thought the whole thing out a little more. Yes, she certainly .have hired a hairdresser and a makeup artist on her own dime. Why she chose not to do so for this occasion, when she knew she’d be all over the news, is a mystery to me.
I wish her the best. I voted for her. My comments have nothing to do with Hillary’s age
I’m confused. How does it make a difference one way or the other? Because it sure sounds like all you’re doing is criticising her appearance as a female. Did she let the feminine side down or something? She’s dressed and groomed appropriately. But hey, did she smile enough?
I love that Hillary didn’t put a face on. It speaks volumes about who she is and her lack of vanity and ego.
She could so easily have pushed a polished, pantsuited, bolshie ‘business as usual’ front, but she knows it’s not ‘business as usual’ and I really admire her for openly showing her raw, broken heart.
I totally agree with you Guesto. I think she wanted to show us the real Hillary, she wanted to show us her pain. It made her genuine. As I watched the speech all I could think about was a young 8 year old HRC who has to face the fact that her life-long dream of becoming president is over. Truly devastating. Plus, as fate would have it she actually won more votes. That is a really, really hard pill to swallow. I pray every morning that the electoral college goes rogue. I know it’s not likely to happen, and would cause total chaos. But it is nice to fantasize about it. You just know that she had everything for the transition already prepared, probably for the past year. Look at Trump scrambling to get a transition team even up and running. Not to mention the fact that he hadn’t already straightened out his business affairs so there would be no conflict of interest. He was clearly not prepared to win like she was.
I’m thinking how much more chaos could a faithless electoral college engender compared to the chaos wrought by pure evil. Just a thought. Perhaps that would be the lesser of two chaoses? At least the former gives one hope.
I really liked your comment about her.
Well I’m a 3rd world country citizen, but according to us, America is a continent, not a country. The fact United States call itself America is wrong and a bit imperialistic.
America, the continent is great, vast and multicultural. United States is the country that elected Donald Trump as its next President.
You are absolutely right Monsi. The term America and Americans has a long tradition of being misused by US citizens. I am a US citizen who has been living in Europe for 20 years (Spain and Germany) and never realized how offensive it was to people from Central/North/South Americans until I became friends with a group of S. Americans when I lived in Spain. Unfortunately most US citizens would not understand the offense though, which is a shame.
Greatest country in the world? I don’t think so. I don’t feel that way right now anyway. Trump and his followers have opened my eyes to how much hate and ignorance is in this country and how willing people are to look away from it. Half of the voting public thought a reality TV host would be a great president.
I love Hillary Clinton. She has been everyone’s punching bag for a very long time but she bounces back. She had faith in the USA being “good” and doing the rational thing this election and sadly she was wrong. Those white voters did her in.
Think what you want of Jesus, He was a great teacher. He taught compassion, gratitude and humility. I expect for anyone who identifies as Christian to make every effort to live up to these ideals. Because I perceive the Christians who voted for Trump as the embodiment of hypocrisy, I hope they get what they deserve. Hubris will be his downfall. I’ve always said because many Americans said they were better than the Germans and would have never elected Hitler, I would live to see the day when a Hitler would be elected in the US. Karma never fails to live up to its promise. Wait long enough. I promise what goes around will come around. Just be patient and it’ll pay off.
In my mind, this is the problem with Christian theology – the “go-to hell’s!”. Karma is another punishing idea. I reject an idea of a “god” who curses the earth, and all mankind for billions of generations, over questioning authority, or the patriarchal ideal. However, I fully expect this debate until education, and the science and love of us, prevails.
Is it possible, that we all live together, as mammals, on a planet full of life, and it is full of our desire, for ItSelf? There is nothing else that we know, except one another. Perhaps, learning to expand socially, in an ever expanding universe, will be our survival.
This.
Problem with this election is that the special snowflake “white working class” voters are validated that they are the most important, setting back equality for decades.
WE are Life – with both hands extended, for Itself.
Life is ever so much more powerful, than A snowflake…YET IT’S BEAUTY INFORMS us about one another.
The world will change, with our millennials – those children we have taught our minds and hearts. Don’t despair, because I Need You, caring about all the things, that I love.
Oh yes, everyone keep telling yourselves that, no matter how crappy it is. What’s so great about the country? You have citizens who can arm themselves with guns, extreme poverty in every state, 1 in 3 black men jailed in your country, no free health care or government sponsored maternity leave, excessive spending on war, and you now have Trump as president. Sounds like an amazing country to me, sign me up!
Has anyone heard from folks they know who supporter Drumpf about the nightmare transition? SMD here, I think some of his supporters are starting to see how woefully unprepared he and his team are and they are scared. The jubilant coworkers have gotten subdued lately and I overheard some muttering yesterday that wasn’t meant for me about how his team better get their ish together because this looks embarrassing that they didn’t know they had to hire all knew staff when they came in. My coworkers had their heads together whispering, yes that will surely help this fascists get it together. But I will say this, they were shocked, worried and very embarrassed and Angry. Like don’t you dare mess this up. Yeah, pretty much.
America is NOT the greatest country in the world by far, especially not at this moment. When looking at actual research done on the subject it would be a scandinavian country, or new zealand or the netherlands, yet you never hear any of these countries brag about it. It’s an odd cultural thing for Americans to keep yelling this, and part of the reason why the country has such an arrogant reputation.
Americans need to read between the lines. It´s 8 years Democrat, 8 years Republican. Trump had planned this out for YEARS because he knew as a Republican he had a chance of winning in 2016, so he started a reality show to drum up publicity for himself. If you still think Hillary lost because of her mistakes, then you´re not reading between the lines. Think, America.
There are a !ot of great countries in the world. Generally speaking, it is the people in them who are the problem, especially the politicians.
Hillary now has plenty of time to rest and maybe get her hair done. She looks pretty awful in that pic!!!