A Post-Primary Comment

I’ve always used this space to refer readers to blogposts or articles of interest to Democrats written by people much wiser than I. But I hope you’ll bear with me as I offer a few comments of my own.

I often think back to the fall of 1971 when my first child was born on September 15. My husband had shipped out to Vietnam on August 31, and I’d look at Beth every day and wonder whether her dad would ever get to meet her. Lots of photos of that gorgeous baby went over to ‘Nam with my letters and cookies packed in popcorn. We were lucky: he came home unharmed. I think every day about the women and children who are in the same situation today and hope they have a good outcome too.

Moving on to the news of the day, there is no doubt that Hillary Clinton was “dissed” by an awful lot of people during the primary campaign. But who told her to iron his shirts? Not Barack Obama, but an assortment of ignorant jerks. Who started an organization called “Citizens United Not Timid”? Not John Edwards, but Republican nutcase Roger Stone. Who said that Hillary would never be running if her husband hadn’t messed around? Not Bill Richardson, but Chris Matthews. Hillary got slimed by far too many people, but not by the Democratic candidates. I hope we can all focus our outrage on the misogynists in the press and elsewhere who treated her so badly. John McCain thinks the war in Iraq is a great idea and should be continued for somewhere between four and a hundred years. I could never face the worried spouse or parent of a service member stationed in that terrible quagmire and say, “too bad, but I’m voting for McCain because I’m outraged by Hillary’s treatment in the campaign.”