Donald Trump is a scumbag. His comments about women are unacceptable and beyond offensive to me. I have never defended Trump and have long thought him to be a sad man with sociopathic tendencies, average intelligence and almost no moral code. I try to avoid using the word hate but it is defined as “passionate/obsessive dislike for someone” and that is exactly how I feel about that excuse for a man.
While it seems most of my friends agree that Trump is slimy, there has been inconsistent critiquing of the presidential candidates in regards to sexual assault. I think Donald Trump is bad but Hillary…
One meme I keep seeing says “The problem isn’t that Donald Trump is a misogynistic sociopath, it’s that his supporters don’t care.” I agree. That is a problem. But what I also say to myself is “The problem isn’t that Bill Clinton is a sexual predator, the problem is that Hillary doesn’t care, though she promises us that she does.”
Bill Clinton has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 10 women. Hillary has been accused of bullying, threatening and de-legitimizing Bill’s victims.
Below is a list of the higher profile cases involving accusations against Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. You can click on their names to read more about each case.
Juanita Broaddrick
Sandra Allen James
Paula Jones
Kathleen Wiley
Other women outside of the 10 have admitted to having consensual relationships with Bill while he was married to Hillary. Many of these women claim to have been subject to threats after the affairs ended. Monica Lewinsky is the most famous example. Hillary’s response to the Lewinsky scandal was to blame Monica and herself for the affair (not Bill). Hillary called Monica a “narcissistic loony toon,” and in another, albeit human (but anti-feminist) response, Hillary blamed herself for Bill’s behavior, saying she had not been “sensitive enough” to her husband’s emotional state.
Monica Lewinsky was 22 at the time of her affair with Bill, he was 49. Think about a young, wide-eyed, ambitious intern being courted by the most powerful man in the world. Does having an affair with the president make you a narcissist? If you are a narcissist, does that give older and “wiser” men a right to take advantage of you? Who do you think had power in this situation? Who was taken advantage of in this situation? Who’s life was ruined and who continued living as an admired national figure? Who claimed she was in love while the other called it “just sex?” Who was called a whore and a slut while the other simply made a silly mistake? And who was the woman who stood by the man, pointing the blame on the girl? Double standard in action, something that’s rarely pointed out.
Hillary’s Twitter account tweeted “Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported.” I agree, but I don’t think Hillary really does. In fact, many “women’s rights activists” don’t seem to really believe this. For example, when Bill Cosby was accused, many on the left (and right) called for his accusers to be heard, listened to and respected, shaming those who didn’t want to believe their claims. I was thrilled at a lot of the public response, and it seemed like we were making strides in terms of ending rape culture. Interestingly enough, the outrage hasn’t been the same in regards to Bill Clinton’s accusers, many of whom have been very vocal in the past year. Do these women not deserve to be heard and respected?
Hillary Clinton is reported as saying about Bill Clinton’s accusers, “Who is going to find out? These women are trash. Nobody’s going to believe them.” She is also reported as calling Gennifer Flowers, a woman who Bill Clinton admittedly had a consensual extramarital relationship with “trailer trash.” On top of this, Hillary has been accused of using immoral tactics when defending a child rapist, then laughing at the victim, who was 12 years old at the time.
These events aren’t recorded so perhaps they’re made up or embellished by right wingers as a smear campaign against the Clintons. That is not beyond the realm of possibility, no one can truly prove or disprove these things were said and done. But in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show in 1998, Hillary had this to say about the Lewinsky-Clinton affair accusations:
“I think we’re going to find some other things. And I think that when all of this is put into context, and we really look at the people involved here, look at their motivations and look at their backgrounds, look at their past behavior, some folks are going to have a lot to answer for.”
Click here to listen to the quote at the 13:00 mark.
Really think about those words. First of all, she denies all accusations when it’s likely that she knew about the affairs before the media, whether from Bill himself, or a white house staffer. Second of all, this doesn’t sound like the words of someone who would believe a woman claiming she has been abused or attacked. Third of all, she implies that a person’s history or past behavior should be taken into account when deciding whether they were abused or not. Again, not exactly feminist. It doesn’t matter if you’ve slept with 100 men, robbed a bank, have had consensual relations with your attacker in the past or are literally insane, rape is rape and consent is consent. Although the investigation at the time was for a consensual relationship, this quote gives insight as to how Hillary views reports of sexual behavior and how they should be investigated, at least when they involve her husband.
Some may argue that the women who have accused Bill of abuse are lying for personal gain. This may be true but let’s look at the facts: According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center between 2% and 10% of sexual violence claims are false. That means that even if we applied the max 10% figure to Bill Clinton’s accusers, only one would be a false claim leaving nine true claims. Even if we eliminated 50% (so five times the estimated amount of false claims) of his accusers that would still leave 5 women whose accusations were true.
Perhaps high profile men are highly susceptible to false claims, it certainly makes sense if what people are after is publicity and a bigger payday. On the other hand, falsely accusing affluent men is taking what will already be an uphill battle of he said/she said and making it a vertical battle. Celebrities can afford the best lawyers, are often more likely to be trusted by the public and frequently have fan bases that will shun and shame and attack the victim without asking any questions. I’m not saying that these women weren’t all phonies who were paid off, but statistics and reason don’t give strong support for that hypothesis. And even if they are lying, Hillary should at least take the time to “listen to and support them” until it is proven that they have lied. If presidents or presidential candidates are always accused of sexual assault, why aren’t Obama or Bush’s careers laced with sexual assault scandals? It’s no secret they both have a large supply of haters who would love to see their demise.
A voter in New Hampshire asked Hillary “You recently came out to say that all rape victims should be believed? But would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Paula Jones? Should we believe them as well?”
Hillary responded with, “Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence.”
I agree with Hillary, but I also ask what evidence disproves anything the women mentioned claimed? And is there any evidence at all that Hillary ever believed these women in the first place? Worth noting is that the line “you have the right to be believed, and we’re with you” was deleted from Hillary Clinton’s website, it now says “you have a right to be heard.” Interesting switch. In combination, Hillary’s philosophy can be assumed to be the following: without clear and resounding proof you can accuse but you will not be believed.
I leave you with this: never mind what Bill did, he’s not the one running for president. Pay attention to how Hillary reacts. Is this a woman who actually cares at all about important women’s issues like rape, grooming and molestation? Isn’t someone assisting a murderer just as evil as the one who actually plunged the knife? Trump is not a voice for assault victims, but based on my findings I’m not convinced Hillary is either.
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