Does anyone know why the right wing dislikes Hillary so much?

[RedEarth]

She seems to be such a lighting rod for the wingnuts. I've heard comments from moderate repubs that say "Hillary would scare me if she were to be elected President". The only thing I can think of that would upset the right was her health care proposal when Bill was Presdident. Other than that I honestly can't think of anything that would get the repubs so bent out of shape.

Any thoughts?

[phillybri]

1. She's a woman with opinions that they don't share...

CASE CLOSED....

[Langis]

2. Also who do so many people here hate her?

I will never understand, unless someone has a logical explination for it.

[jpgray]

7. I don't hate her, but I don't think she's the best politician

Her speaking skills aren't great (see the Iowa debate), and her issues aren't much to speak of either. A lot of people like her though, but to me she just represents more of a "name brand" than anything else. She's not bad, I just think there are other candidates we have (men and women) who stand taller than her when it comes to politics. They aren't probably as well-known, however.

[CBHagman]

28. I very strongly disagree with you about her speaking skills.

I work for a newswire and get to hear literally hundreds of representatives, senators, celebrities, pundits, prime ministers, presidents, and other notables speak off-the-cuff and in prepared remarks. In terms of poise, diction, focus, and general public speaking skills, Hillary Clinton outranks most of them.

The funny thing is, her situation reminds me of the Bible verse about a prophet not being without honor except in his own country. She can have an audience in Europe or elsewhere utterly spellbound, but she takes a lot of abuse here in this country. You know the mantra: She laughs too much. She's too controlled. She's a cool customer.

I chalk a lot of it up to the curve on which we grade our male politicians (believe me, a lot of the guys hem and haw, utter alapropisms, and mispronounce words).

And I chalk up a lot of the hatred of Hillary to fear of powerful women.

Still, I'll bet there's a good psychological study to be conducted about this.

[bearfartinthewoods]

30. i don't get cspan2 so i haven't heard here much lately but

i always felt she was talking down to the audience. speaking slowly so they could be sure to understand what she was saying.

i found it condecending.

[spychoactive]

3. i think it may be this:

fear of a powerful, opinionated woman, not a "step-behind her man" kinda lady...a promise keepers nightmare...

my $.02

one love
spike

[bearfartinthewoods]

33. i think it's the opposite.

i think it's because she stood by bill. they think that if she was outraged, he'd have been out on his ear. they may be right about that.

[SharonAnn]

34. Nah, they hated her even before Bill was elected and then

hated her even more after they were elected, long before the sex scandal.

[xultar]

4. Her husband, and she's a woman who is intelligent and won't

keep her mouth shut and sit back and look pretty.

[MissB]

5. Some people just like to keep women down

Which I suppose would explain the wingnuts.

For the moderates, I'd have to say that the right-wing media probably has affected their ability to think critically.

I'm having a go-round with someone right now about Hillary Clinton. It's been rather fun. She just pointed out that Hillary was investigated and that other buddies of hers are in prison. I pointed out that despite being thoroughly investigated, she isn't sitting in prison and that ought to say something right there. But she's a wing nut, so I don't expect it to sink to deeply.

[catzies]

24. Please ask your friend "Name her imprisoned buddies, please."

I'm coming up blank here, would somebody please tell me which of Senator Clinton's friends are imprisoned for being her friends? :shrug:

[Ilsa]

6. One told me,

"Because she is evil." I asked her to back up such a nasty characterization, and she went mute.

[RedEarth]

10. "Because she is evil."....that seems to be the kind of statements I hear

as well. I've heard it from men as well as women, and I can't figure out why they feel she is such an evil person.

I can see how some males might not want a female for pres., however, there seem to be as many women that don't like her as well.

[calimary]

50. I bet if you asked them, they couldn't figure that out, either.

They've just heard it over and over and over and over and over and over again from the thugmeisters in whom they've blindly placed their trust.

It leaves me perplexed, too - WHY some people are just so damned threatened by her. I happen to like intelligent, powerful women who believe in using their power and brains for good. I, too, share her belief in government that can be a force for good. And for change. She was the very first First Lady that I could actually relate to, in my entire life. Don't get me started on the Quaker Oats look-alike who was supposedly our beloved "National Grandma." Left me totally cold. Nancy too. And I didn't know enough about Rosalyn Carter at the time but I did like Betty Ford. Still, I couldn't relate to any of those women. Hillary came along and just spoke to me. She was somebody who was kinda like me (without the influential-yet-philandering husband). I still like her. Ted Turner is correct. Men should be barred from public office for 100 years. We'd probably solve some of our big problems, and I'd like to see her weigh in on that one, too, eventually.

And for those who hate Hillary because of what she tried to do to revamp our health care crisis, I give her A for effort. Hell, people have been paying lip-service to that issue and doing NOTHING about it for a generation. At least she and Bill actually tried to do something. Torpedoed for all it was worth, but hey - at least they made an actual effort to confront the problem and find a way to deal with it. Nobody else went even halfway that far. Before. Or since.

I think she's great. And yes, I realize she did her share of appeasement on the war and the Patriot Act. She's somewhat damaged goods there. But shit - what's the alternative? (That's the same question I ask myself about the current crop of candidates. I don't approve of their cave-ins to bush, but if any of them winds up as the nominee, that individual WILL have my support.)

She will never be a Stepford Wife, and neither will I, and overall she's okay. Plus, she's weathered bigtime storms better than most of us could. She raised a daughter who turned out a helluva lot more of a credit to this country than the drunken, spoiled, shameless, dilletante spawn the bushes came up with. As a mother, that is extremely significant to me. You can tell a lot about somebody by looking at the behavior of his or her kids.

She was absolutely right about the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. And even some of her political detractors have to concede, reluctantly, that she has been a good senator for New York. I've heard some of them stammer and stutter about that on TV already. Overall, she's okay by me, and I hope she remains a force to contend with for many years. Bill's a certified idiot for having wronged her and for putting her through that.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. I know one reason

from one Republican. She's my MD, and she talked personally with Hilary about the health care initiative (we're from AR, and my MD has connections), and wasn't pleased because Hilary wasn't interested in wellness and integrative medicine.

[demnan]

9. Hillary Rodham's first job out of law school

was working for the Watergate Investigation.

Elephants never forget.

[RedEarth]

11. Watergate.....that's interesting...

I'm sure there are many repubs that feel that way. Good point.

[Kosmos Mariner]

12. a powerful and intelligent woman makes them feel insecure..

nt..


:dem:

[RedEarth]

13. I think that is true with some repubs, but

there seems to be more to it than that.

[salinen]

14. Hillary

has 20/20 vision when it comes to the RW. She coined the phrase "vast RW conspiracy", and it was true then and more so today. She warned us, we paid little attention. Also, she is hated for the idea of universal healthcare. There's nothing that infuriates conservatives more than the idea socialized medicine. She did not invent the idea, but pushed hard. The RW is not indifferent to people suffering, they enjoy it. (my take)

[SharonAnn]

15. Well, years and years of the VRWC telling people that she's

1. evil
2. evil
3. evil

[Cocoa]

17. exactly, they've been trained

asking for a logical reason is like asking a junkyard dog why all the hostility.

[Liberal Veteran]

16. She's a woman who had power and the will to use it......

...so in the eyes of the neocons, she became the symbol of their hatred for the independent woman who really doesn't require a man to take care of her and tell her what to do. It is nothing she truly did. She became a symbol and target of that which they despised. In many ways, they hate her much more than they hate her husband. Her husband was merely an obstacle to be removed. Hillary however, in their eyes, became the incarnation of everything from Eve's sin to the subtle misogyny that rages at the thought that perhaps the reign of man is over in this world. And so, like Ahab, they rage against the chosen personification of their subtle hatred of women, their hidden demons, their fears, and pile it all upon Hillary.

It's quite pathological.

[sleepyhead]

46. yep.

n/t

[eissa]

18. She's an intelligent,

opininated, articulate woman who "does not know her place." She went to left-leaning Wesley College, worked on the Watergate investigations, advocates universal health care, uses her maiden name -- my God! The woman IS evil!!

[Robbien]

19. From reading at the FR site

Right wingers feel that the Clintons are a corrupt powerhouse who sold this country to their friends and China. I expect they feel the same thing DUers feel when DUers state Bush is BFEE. Since Bill can no longer be elected president, they fear Hillary will take over and corrupt this country once again.

[tom_paine]

20. Why did Hitler hate the Jews?

Well, for one, they were liberal.

Otherwise, the reasoning is the same unreasoning hatred, as well, so they have THAT in common.

All Totalitarians (the followers, that is) require a scapegoat and a focus for their propaganda-inflamed rage.

More similarities between the Busheviks and the Nazis that Grandpa Prescott funded...

[xxqqqzme]

21. as my RW mother said

'who elected her?'

I fail 2 understand but the wrong wingers start foaming @ the mouth @ the mere mention of her name.

1. a woman;

2 a woman w/ a brain;

3. a woman w/ a brain AND she uses it;

4. a woman w/ a brain who called them on their shit!

winger wimmen don't do this - they know their place. Laura is a shining example of a winger doormat!

[kskiska]

42. Then again…

they have women like Condi Rice, Lynne Cheney, and Mrs. Dole.

[Sallyrat]

22. If you were alive during 'Watergate', you would know why.

Hillary was a lawyer that helped gather the facts that brought down President Richard M. Nixon. The republican party looked doomed during this era and they have had it in for Hillary ever since. She is brighter than any person in politics today. Does it with all her heart. She deserves respect and all the credit that is due her.

[reknewcomer]

35. She is brighter than any person in politics today

Was there a test? Did every politician take the test to determine this result? What was the next highest score?

[kskiska]

23. I don't think they even know anymore

They say she's too ambitious. Actually, she's no more ambitious than any of the men that run for office need to be.

She's not a trophy wife who walks 3 steps behind her husband and bakes cookies. Yet this contradicts their respect for women like Condi Rice and Mrs. Dole, who who are career women.

They're angry because she didn't leave her husband for his indiscretions. Yet at the same time they claim to revere "family values" and disparage single-parent families.

They just hate her because…she's there.

[truthseeker1]

44. Yes, there are alot of contradictions with freeper males

regarding what type of women they want around them. I come from a freeper family (I'm the black sheep in their eyes - at least when it comes to politics) and my brother once - in his early twenties - blew up at my mother over something (she was a stay-at-home mom and officer's wife) and glared at her and said, "I'M going to marry a CAREER woman." It crushed my mom. I guess he was telling her he didn't respect her for devoting her entire adult life to her children and her husband.
For years he tried dating career women. But what did he finally go and do? Married a trophy wife!! A "helpmate," a subservient. Comes from the Bible. (Oh yeah, he got religious too.)

[Killarney]

25. I've never understood their venom for her either

I think the answer depends on the person.

Some (but not all) hate her because she is an intelligent, opinionated woman of power and they fear that.

Some hate her because she is Mrs. Clinton and epitomizes the man they hate the most (Bill Clinton) for giving us 8 years of peace and prosperity under a Democrat.

Some call her a socialist and anti-capitalist.

I like her. :)

[RPG-7]

26. Cult politics

They spent the 90's stuffing their head full of Vince Foster nuttiness and the like but more than that the media has done it's damndest to turn American politics into a soundbyte soap opera of competing family dynasties like the Blacks and Whites of the Italian 1260's.

[zeemike]

27. It is really nothing personal

And to understand this you must read George Orwell’s 1984.
If the RW had no enemies they would have to invent one because they must have someone to stand up as a straw man to hate. Hate motivates them and without it there movement would fall apart like a house of cards.

[tom_paine]

31. Well put and true, zeemike

And Orwells' "1984" is an apt analogy.

So is Nazi Germany.

[rumguy]

43. Right on, I always thought there was a "4 minute hate"

aspect to talk radio, etc. It gets them foaming at the mouth.

[RedEarth]

49. zeemike, I think you hit the nail on the head...

After reading all the great responses to my question about Hillary, there seems to be a common thread in all of them and that is hate. Hate her since she is a bright woman, ambitious, stayed with her husband, Watergate, etc.....basically just hate her.

Once I read your post it does seem that the repubs thrive on hating something or someone....gays, abortion, gun control..... Other than tax cuts they don't appear to have much that they are able to sell to the voters, so they create(as you mentioned)a person or an issue to hate in order to get their troops fired up.

zeemike, very interesting and I tend to think you are right on target.
Come to think of it, all the fundie preachers(Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc) use this same despicable approach.


By the way, I have read 1984, however, it has been so long ago I plan on reading it again. I'm looking forward to reading it again with a little more insight than what I had in high school.

[AlinPA]

29. Because she is a woman, smarter than they are and is

successful. Very simple. My wife agrees with me.

[FredScuttle]

32. Because of her close proximity to the greatest evil in human history

THE CLENIS

[Yupster]

36. I don't think she is a basically honest person

There are two little incidents that lead me not to trust her.

1. When a high government official commits suicide, would anyone here have people going through his office, and taking things out of his office before the police got there? Wouldn't every single one of us tell people to stay out and not touch anything?

2. When a subpoenaed document was found on her desk, and she said she didn't have any idea how it got there, I believe she was lying.

[arewethereyet]

45. bingo

her actions are transparantly political all the time.

[Skittles]

37. She is a strong woman

that's enough by itself to threaten all male repugs; add to that the fact that she married BILL CLINTON and it's enough to make them FOAM AT THE MOUTH.

[Spirochete]

38. For having a brain..

and no penis - instead of the other way around. Also, for not murdering Bill in his sleep over the Lewinsky thing. But more than anything, for being a Democratic, non-stepford first lady, I think.

[GOPBasher]

39. She tries to help humanity.

Helping humankind is against Republican philosophy.

[kodi]

40. mostly likely because they are frightened men with small penises

honestly.

[Woodstock]

41. She is a woman who "doesn't know her place"

Look at Laura Bush.

Look at Hillary.

One is a Stepford wife. One is her own woman.

Hillary scares the pants off them.

[alfredo]

47. Hillary worked as researchers during the Watergate scandal

Her work helped bring Nixon down.

[anti_shrub]

48. I think Rush has a crush on her

The lengths he goes to tie everything Democrats do to Hillary are so silly they remind you of a schoolboy trying to get the attention of the girl he likes by teasing her.

As far as the rest of the right wing, they hated that she actually spoke up when she was First Lady. Think about it, the only repub First Lady who actually spoke outloud was Nancy, and she kind of had to.