#BernieSanders Supporters Hurl Abuse At Elizabeth Warren For Endorsing Hillary Clinton

How did the Bernie Sanders campaign, which started out positive and full of love, honesty and good energy, turn into a movement that has attracted so many people driven by rage who will destroy a person whether they have good reason or not, and vent their anger on the nearest and most convenient victim, inventing justifications for their behavior?

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the darling of the further left for her fearless outspokenness, has become the latest target of their venom since she endorsed Hillary Clinton. A Mother Jones piece by Pima Levy alerted me to it. The Senator's Facebook page is inundated with insults from Sanders supporters. It's horrifying. There is a lot of disappointment that is simply and honestly expressed, but there a ton of abuse too. The comments could be coming from Trump's Twitter account. There are no holds barred. The core message is you have disagreed with me; ergo you are a disgusting human being. A dishonest bitch, a sleazy woman, a sellout, a traitor, a hypocrite. And a stupid, even mindless one.

All her years of public service wiped out in an instant in their minds. The idea that Warren might be able to think, might be better informed than they are and less inclined to swallow conspiracy theories hasn't registered. None of the angry Sanders supporters who clearly adored her before have paused to question themselves. None of them have stopped to think what it must be like to be on the receiving end of their invective.  

They trot out the same old tired and ridiculous rants about corrupt Hillary and how she and the Democratic Party don't care about the 99%. As always there are no facts, no specifics, to back up the generalizations. Just pure, unmitigated rage and pleasure in hurling abuse.

Some even level dark threats, and that isn't new either. They've been playing the blackmail game for a while—choose Bernie or we'll vote for Trump. Many say they have left the Democratic Party and will never return, and seem to think that Sanders will run as an Independent or that Hillary Clinton is on the verge of being indicted and sent to jail for using a private server when she was Secretary of State. I find it interesting that none of them question why there isn't an FBI investigation into Jeb Bush for using—you got it, a private server.

And yet these Sanders supporters are the ones who look down on Donald Trump followers, scorning them for their stupidity.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is a courageous woman, passionate about democracy, and never afraid to criticize policies or elements of the system that she profoundly disagrees with. She has fought for what she believes in and has also been hammered by the far right but has never lost her focus. She doesn't deserve to be targeted in this way. But painful as I'm sure it is, she's a fighter. Abuse doesn't weaken her, it strengthens her resolve.

As it does Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's. And Hillary Clinton is going to be the next US President, whether Bernie Sanders runs as an Independent or not, whether his die-hard supporters vote or not. There simply aren't enough of them for Sanders to legitimately win. 

Photo: By United States Senate - http://www.warren.senate.gov/images/Warren%20Headshot.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25541088

Congratulations Hillary Clinton! #HistoryMade

Congratulations Hillary Clinton! Her nomination win is thrilling, especially given how hard and long she's fought for it. She gave a fabulous speech; full of joy and humor and respect.

It's been a lifetime of fighting for her and she's had the harshest of allegations hurled at her for years and years and years. None of it has been proved but it hasn't stopped coming. Yet she pushed through it all and has triumphed. What an exceptional role model, teaching girls and women in every country that the highest hurdles, the most seemingly insurmountable barriers, can be overcome. Following on from Barack Obama's presidency where he and First Lady Michelle Obama triumphed by pushing through barriers equally impenetrable, equally challenging in every way.

For all its faults, there's a reason why America leads the world. Eight years ago they shattered a glass ceiling and they've done it again. One historic president is going to be followed by another. Historic indeed; on the day Hillary Clinton's mother was born, Congress approved the 19th Amendment allowing women the vote. And now her daughter is the Democratic nominee. Come November she will be the US President.

I'm so looking forward to her taking Trump down. Ironically, the negative exposure she has had for so long is going to work in her favor now; anything he throws at her will be old news, courtesy the GOP and Bernie Sanders and some of his supporters.

But there is a goldmine in Trump's life for Hillary to dig up. And we've already seen that she's the only one who can unseat that terrible man.

I'm going to open a bottle of champagne tonight to celebrate how far women have come. Yes, it matters to me that the next American President will be a woman.

Suck it up, Susan Sarandon! Whether you want to admit it or not you and your vagina are going to benefit from Hillary Clinton's presidency. Though you probably won't be grateful, the majority of Democrats and Independents in America will save you from a Trump presidency and the destruction you so happily said you would welcome if Bernie didn't win.

Over time all the lies that have been fabricated about Hillary Clinton will be exposed, all the conspiracy theories and predictions will come to nothing. She'll make a great president. Barack Obama's outstanding legacy will be honored. And young girls will know that their dreams can become a reality.

Is Bernie Sanders Attracting Racists? Is Hillary Clinton Evil?

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The primaries have been a steep learning curve, especially around expectations. It's common news that Trump and his supporters thrive off racism, which is loathsome and worrying, but predictable. What hasn't been predictable is the way Bernie Sanders' campaign has developed.

From early interactions between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, it doesn't appear as if he believes she is evil. It looks as if he likes her. And yet his campaign is painting a very black picture of her these days. That was unexpected, but then I once didn't expect Bernie's supporters to engage in hate and vitriol and climb on the back of the years-long GOP attacks on Hillary that weren't fact-based. Then when they did I was sure it wasn't behavior that Bernie would endorse.

Mind you, who ever expected him to attack the Democratic Party? Or to be disingenuous in saying that he and his campaign have nothing to do with Hillary's increasing unpopularity.

It brings to mind a SkyNews anchor drily commenting on how, when the Panama Papers scandal broke, public opinion about whether David Cameron was corrupt or not swung heavily into "Yes he is!" after a week of screaming tabloid headlines promoting the idea.

Hillary Clinton isn't evil, and for all the accusations, there's never been a shred of evidence to prove that she is. Talking about dates, people, events, those pesky, inconvenient details without which a crime can't be solved and a person can't legitimately be pronounced guilty. Ironically, I kind of expected to learn that I was wrong about her. It hasn't happened. 

We've probably all had to constantly adjust expectations. Hillary Clinton supporters didn't expect to be called Clintonistas, or attacked and abused online for supporting a woman who they truly believe is the better candidate and who I certainly don't believe has been bought by anybody. They didn't expect for her to be compared to Hitler and for all the suffering and lives lost at his hands to be used in a cheap joke to promote an untruth and elevate Bernie Sanders by comparison. 

They couldn't predict that the "Corrupt Hillary" campaign would morph into "Corrupt Democratic Party", or that so many conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated accusations would flood the internet.

But, speaking for myself, no matter how frustrating the misinformation about Hillary has been, I've never for a minute entertained the idea that Bernie would attract racists. Never! Today a comment on NYMag was shocking and troubling. Somebody calling themselves weekhauken360 said this:

"Bernie plus Trump is a super super majority of the white eligible voters in the USA which represents 77% of the electoral college. The largest turnout of white voters in USA history is in motion. Read it and weep! Hillary represents the majority of the black and brown vote - her core - that's it - no more no less."

It's not true that Hillary only has the "black and brown vote" but the first two sentences really hit home. I thought weekhausen360 meant weep for the tragedy of it. But then I read an earlier comment and realized that he/she said it in triumph.

Shock and disgust, fear and trembling. However, one swallow doesn't make a flock or something. I went to Google and found a Daily Kos article stating that Bernie Sanders attracts racist voters, and quoting Patrick J. Egan, an Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy at NYU, as tweeting the following graph:

But then I saw that at the top of the page was a notice from the Daily Kos referring to the writer of the article:

Kudos to the Daily Kos team. That was enough evidence for me. I don't need or want to amass "evidence" against Bernie Sanders or do to him what people are doing to Hillary Clinton. It's ugly and promotes the worst part of life, where there's no love, no light, no truth, no joy. No peace. No real social progress.

I prefer Hillary in most ways and I feel safer around a person who doesn't portray themselves as a saint. I respected her but didn't much like her before, but I do now and my respect has grown. 

On the other hand, I don't much like the person Bernie seems to have become. But no matter how much I've had to adjust my expectations around him and his campaign, I don't believe I'll ever have to adjust this one: that he would be absolutely distraught at the idea that racists are celebrating white supremacy and supporting him because they believe he is the ticket to the realization of that terrible ideal. 

Bernie Sanders is not that man. And he never will be.  

Will #Bernie's Supporters Vote for #Hillary Or Refuse to Vote At All

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Predicting the outcome of primaries and elections can become addictive but it's a pastime that leaves you feeling empty. It's just numbers that might or might not be real.

Much more satisfying is to read the comments to articles on the various campaigns—where readers leave intelligent comments, that is. Like the New York Times, which draws pretty informed readers. Recently it ran an op-ed piece on whether a highly contested nomination process damages a Party or not and if yes how much.

Relating to this Presidential race and the Democratic nomination, the author speculated on Hillary Clinton's ability to gain the allegiance of Bernie Sanders' supporters if she wins the nomination.

I've read in other media reports and on Facebook that Clinton supporters will vote for Sanders if he wins the nomination, but the reverse isn't true; a lot of Sanders supporters are saying they won't vote at all if their hero doesn't win the nomination, citing all sorts of conspiracy theories about how corrupt Clinton and the Democratic Party are. The comments and 'recommends' on this NYT article backed that up.

I've heard the argument that it means Sanders is the better candidate, but it doesn't mean that at all: it means that Clinton supporters understand what's at stake and are not willing to sacrifice their country.

Sanders and his supporters generally consider themselves to be on moral high ground; they are the ones who haven't been brainwashed, who care the most about democracy, the poor, the middle class…

Yet, what's at stake in this Presidential election is the middle class, the very poor, human rights in practically every category, a GOP-skewed Supreme Court, added heft to the military industrial complex and to major corporations that do control politicians in Congress, and internationally, America going back to the world despising it. I think about Susan Sarandon saying, from the comfort of her million dollar home and life in LA, that if Bernie loses the nomination she would welcome a GOP president and Congress because then everything would fall apart.

And who would be hurt the most? Obviously not Susan Sarandon. How is anybody going to undo the damage of a skewed Supreme Court? What kind of moral high ground is that? The dangerous kind.

It's the kind that led Sanders to once give his enthusiastic support to Fidel Castro, brushing aside the executions, the corruption, the suppression of opposition and the media with "sure, there are some problems".

Well, there are some problems now, too. Sanders has woken up and nurtured a beast which has the label "liberal" but is actually more angry than anything else. And not controllable. Bernie and Jane have said explicitly that they will support Hillary Clinton if she's nominated. But #FeelTheBern-ers think they know better than the man they adulate. It will break his heart if a GOP candidate wins, or if the chance of Congress changing hands is destroyed by his own supporters.

Hillary Wins New York!

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I'm glad that Hillary Clinton won New York and by such a big margin. And I sure hope that Bernie Sanders throws his weight behind her sometime soon.

Has he done damage to the Democratic Party he has never belonged to and which he used solely to run his campaign? Maybe. But maybe not. Hillary Clinton ran hard against Barack Obama in 2008 right up until the end and his still won. But he hadn't had to deal with an unceasing GOP hate and misinformation campaign. And she hadn't climbed on board that campaign to try and take him down.

Bernie said he didn't want to play dirty but he let his supporters do it. Overtly or covertly he fed the beast of hatred and now many have believed their own misinformation and convinced themselves and others that Clinton is the devil incarnate.

I don't know if Sanders can turn back the clock on that. It’s going to affect the outcome between Clinton and Trump. And it could mean that Congress stays in the hands of the GOP. I think Americans will feel the effects of that for a long, long time. 

If Sanders supporters hadn’t, to all intents and purposes, enlisted in the GOP campaign against Clinton, the GOP candidate and Party would have been thrashed in November. Congress could have changed hands. All the good work done by Barack Obama would have been built on and enabled further. 

Now? It could be another four years of stalemates and obstacles to forward movement. It will be ironically tragic if this is Bernie Sanders' biggest contribution to the 2016 Presidential election.

Breaking News! Donald Trump Withdraws From the Presidential Race

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This morning at 08:00 EST Donald Trump’s campaign issued this announcement:

Donald Trump has withdrawn his candidacy and will no longer be running for President of the United States.

After months of research his campaign manager has revealed that plots to assassinate Mr. Trump have been developed by The Secret Service, Vladimir Putin, Megyn Kelly, Rosie O’Donnell, Women in general, the Pope, Fox News, the Liberal Media, Planned Parenthood, Egyptians, The Republican Establishment, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Minorities, Mexicans, Muslims, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, David Cameron, Robert Mugabe, his own research department (Hollywood and TV) and, most amazingly surprisingly, Israel, some countries in the Middle East like Africa, and of course China.

While Mr. Trump understands that people who wanna take you down are just jealous he feels that all these groups are getting too much attention from the media and taking the spotlight away from him which isn’t fair.

And, you know, well, China is just. Amazing.

Mr. Trump is a very brave man, a very, very truth man, a very, very, very intelligent man, and a very, very, very, very rich man. An amazingly rich and intelligent man. He wants to assure his loyal supporters that he still cares about them and women you know should be punished if they have an abortion. And that they can find him through his new offices where he has been invited to Make the KKK Great Again. He invites them all to follow him. As for China.

Mr. Trump is very hurt because he is a very, very, very, very, very, amazingly sensitive man. He loves women and well, you know, China. He is currently being fitted for his new robes.  

Rumors that Mr. Trump is withdrawing from the race because he is scared he'll be beaten are all a lie generated by the KGB which Mr. Trump has discovered is in league with Planned Parenthood and the American Society for Issuing False Birth Certificates. 

Mr. Trump has learned also about amazingly secret campaigns to stop him as a candidate. Mr. Trump cannot say any more about that for now because they're amazing and secret and he doesn't want the media to get hold of them because that would take the spotlight away from him which isn't fair. It's amazing how unfair it is.

Mr. Trump denies accusations of sulking and dying his hair and his face orange. "My hands are not small," he said.

Other rumors about his impending bankruptcy and investigation by the CIA, the FBI and those tax people, are bullshit says Mr. Trump. So that can't be the reason why he has chosen to withdraw from the campaign can it? "I'm not a liar," he shouted, waving a steak around. "I tell it like it is." And the Getty Images photograph of him comparing the size of his dick to his thumb - “Well,” he said, “in that department I can assure you."

Bernie Sanders Deserves Respect from Everybody

I don’t know why but until recently I have never seen many derogatory comments about Bernie Sanders although I’ve been told that there have been and still are plenty.

But lately I’ve started seeing people sneering at Sanders, saying he’s an old man who’s out of touch and can’t possibly win. I don't like the sneering any more than I like the hate campaign against Hillary Clinton. It has a sour, acrid feel to it. Yes he’s in his 70's but do we really want to promote the idea that your life is over and you have nothing to contribute after the age of 70? I hope not because to quote anybody who’s gotten there it’s going to happen to me too. I’m sure not going to subscribe to the idea that it’s ever over just because of a number.

Is Bernie out of touch? When nothing specific is attached to the phrase the insinuation is that he’s loony. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’s articulate and supremely well-informed and can hold onto an argument when distractions unnervingly are hurled at him rapid fire. The odds have been stacked against him in every way but he has persevered and turned the tide. Which is pretty heroic.

I don’t think it’s a slam dunk that he still can’t win the Democratic nomination. The Huffpost has an election results page where you can search for polls in each State and in pretty much all the states that haven’t voted yet and that have polls Bernie is closing the gap on Hillary.

Is there enough time for him? Never say never. His supporters remind us constantly—and rightly—that when he started everybody laughed at him. But look how much money he has raised from individuals. Look at his following on Twitter. He is a very committed man. Who has enjoyed unprecedented success despite having very little media exposure.

Who would beat Donald Trump despite that he has been given exposure that if translated into TV ads would have cost him nearly $2 billion. I think it’s cause for celebration and great respect.

Trashing Bernie Sanders will achieve nothing. In any case when did rude become the norm? It certainly doesn’t make your heart expand with joy and fill you with a sense that life is good and worth celebrating. It’s kind of like people thinking they’re cool because they get drunk. What’s cool about that? It’s the easiest thing in the world to pour alcohol down your throat and end up with a throbbing head as you bend over the toilet retching your guts out.

There’s nothing cool about being rude either. It’s easy. It’s tempting. It’s satisfying, at one level. I know because I’ve done it. At another level it’s a mild form of abuse, a.k.a. bullying. It’s basically saying that you as a human being are totally worthless whereas I, with my absence of respect for you, my lousy manners and my arrogance, am a model of rectitude.

And of course I’m smarter than you. Because you’re stupid. And I want to hurt you; I want you to feel small and inadequate. Definitely not cool. 

If Sanders wins the Democratic nomination wouldn't it be better if he won a landslide against Donald Trump? Of course it would. So how does it help Hillary Clinton supporters to trash him now? It doesn't. And he just doesn't deserve it any more than she does.

Reading the New York Times  the other day I came across this comment:

“A Hillary - Bernie ticket would be…combining 2 sides of the same coin into [a] whole balance. Together, they would sweep the country to winning a truly amazing revolution taking Obama's work to an even higher level. This is my wish for our country.” Karen from Boston, Ma.

Wouldn't that be the best thing? Bernie and Hillary joining forces is the best chance of a landslide against the Republican nominee.  

#Bernie Supporters, Please Stop Trashing #Hillary! And Would You Really Vote For Trump?

I’ve about had it with the anti-Clinton memes that use 'information' selectively to make her out as evil incarnate almost as much as I’ve had it with the #Bernie is a saint memes and the idea that Sanders supporters are the only ones who truly understand the social issues at stake and who truly care about the fate of their country.

Then there’s the fact that Sanders’ initial flat refusal to throw dirt around and denigrate Clinton drew adulation from supporters—who then started a hate campaign against Clinton, comparing her to Hitler, equating her with Trump and worse. It seems pretty similar to the GOP campaign against Barack Obama and, yes, against Hillary Clinton. Short on information, long on rage and disinterest in truth.

It hurts her, of course, but it's going to hurt them too if Bernie doesn't win the nomination. I don't understand why they don't see that. Hate is a greedy beast. Hate campaigns, whether they come from the far right or the far left have the same result. They create an illusion which the people who foster them start believing. They can't see they're doing it but it affects their behavior. They become irrational. It's happening, right in front of our eyes. 

Some of those who are so intensely passionate about their country and restoring it to health are saying that if Sanders doesn’t win the nomination they won’t vote at all in the election or they’ll vote for Trump. It's mind-boggling. Reading the New York Times yesterday I came across quite a few in the comments section.

“If I can't have Sanders as the Democrat nominee for the general election, I guess I'll need to look to Trump. Trump and Bernie are the only two populists who are running for president. They are America's best chance for the future.” Ellie Kesselman from Arizona.

No comment.

“I know that I vote for him even if I have to write him in.” Journeyman from State of Jefferson.

Which amounts to not voting, no?

“just sit this election out, that's what i'll do if Sanders loses come nomination time. Better not to cast a vote for either evil than vote one of them in. Let the sheep voters get what they deserve come November.” Lou Andrews from Portland Oregon.

Lou seems to think he won’t get it too.

“One of the greatest things to come out of Sanders' campaign is the outpouring of passion from his supporters on this forum. Before that, I thought I was the only like-minded soul within a thousand miles. 

That, and the fact that I finally got to vote for someone I respect -- the first time in 40 years of voting -- has made his campaign worthwhile for me. I will write his name on my ballot in November if have to. The thought of voting for Clinton disgusts me almost as much as voting for Trump.” RJD from MA.

You didn’t and clearly still don’t respect Barack Obama? One wonders why, considering his excellent track record.

Then I came across this comment: 

“I have absolutely no right to speak for Sen. Sanders, but I suspect that, based on my perception of his fundamental intelligence and decency, he would be horrified to hear his supporters say that Trump would be their choice if he is not nominated. Why don't you ask him now, instead of waiting for the end of the primaries?” Greeley from  Farmington CT in response to Elle Kesselman.

I liked that. I also want to know what he thinks. So I tweeted him: “@SenSanders Many supporters are saying that if you lose the nomination they won't vote or they'll vote for #Trump. Is that what you want?” I haven’t had a reply yet. Back to the New York Times article and moving onto the other side of the fence:

“Bernie... has seemingly encouraged his followers to say outrageous things about her… the ugliness of the misogyny, the evidence of the mass credibility of the decades-long Rove-and-Koch attacks, the vicious memes… I know many women that post their ideas and feelings re Hillary's campaign to secret groups on Facebook because their Bernie-believing friends pile on if they are public about this… the honor of the Bernie [has] been slipping lately.” Anne Klefstad from Duluth MN.

To do him justice Bernie did say he didn't want misogynists supporting him. And his campaign has reprimanded the followers a couple of times. But not convincingly and often enough to get through to them. It's hard not to draw conclusions from that if not playing dirty is so important to him. Moving on.

“Ann, thank you for your post. I feel the same way. It is hard for me to believe that Sanders… is not at least partly responsible for the extraordinary hate, yes, hate, that many of his supporters now bestow upon Clinton. For her part, Clinton [also chose not to play dirty]. She stuck to her platform and has critiqued Sanders' platforms when provoked to do so… Her record is not impeccable, but neither is she deserving of SO MUCH HATE AND RIDICULE. She has survived years and years of false accusations and frivolous investigations by the republicans. They have gone after her because they know she will be a successful change agent for all of Americans, especially those most in need now.” Journeywoman USA.

Personally I say amen to that. Although I’d add that going after her was also part of the effort to sully President Obama. But the comment that had me at hello was this one:

 “A Hillary - Bernie ticket would be…combining 2 sides of the same coin into [a] whole balance. Together, they would sweep the country to winning a truly amazing revolution taking Obama's work to an even higher level. This is my wish for our country.” Karen from Boston, Ma.

Thanks, Karen from Boston for showing us all how it's done.

Why Is Hillary Clinton So Unpopular With #FeeltheBern Supporters?

Election campaigns. They can get so ugly. They stir passions, unleash old frustrations. Test your commitment to seeking truth. Illustrate how out of control your need to vent can get. They're a breeding ground for conclusions based on the unsubstantiated. A case in point is the Bernie Sanders supporters' demonizing of Hillary Clinton. The internet is inundated with memes carrying derogatory statements about her. 

The wonderful thing about memes is that you can take something from a person’s history that looks terrible on its own and leave out the broader context or even the truthful elements that will exonerate the alleged criminal. 

Hillary Clinton was on the board of Wal-Mart! Bad, bad, bad! She’s taken money for speaking to big banks, which categorically and indisputably means they own her! Evil, evil, evil!

She’s accumulated a lot of money: Corrupt capitalist! She’s changed her mind and become more left-leaning: she’s just manipulating people, she’s a terrible human being! She’s made mistakes! There is nothing good about her. She’s unpopular, unelectable, untrustworthy, a corrupt soul through and through.

Yet, to quote Frank Newport writing for Gallup in 2012, “Clinton's favorable ratings have been above 60% in all five Gallup readings since January 2009, including the two 66% readings over the last two years—thus representing the longest period of high ratings she has received since entering the national spotlight.” It is true that her ratings went up and down but it’s also true that in 2012 “Clinton received a 91% favorable rating among Democrats, 65% among independents, and 41% among Republicans.” 

At that point she was well known. People knew about her and they liked her. 91% favorable rating among Democrats. I wonder how many Democrats who decry Clinton today as the worst of the worst kind of human being were part of that 91%? And how many Independents were part of that 65%?

Statistically… 

I know, you get it. In 2013 her ratings were plummeting. What happened then? Did she suddenly change into the monster that she allegedly is today?

Well, not quite. What happened was the GOP campaign against her which was part of the broader campaign against President Barack Obama. Because of Clinton’s high profile the campaign against her got a lot of media attention.

  

Some Democrats are fond of saying that Republicans are brainwashed by Fox News and some Republicans swear that Democrats are brainwashed by the liberal media. I think we’re all brainwashed to some extent and our shorter concentration span, together with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, has created a culture of sharing bits of information taken out of context. They spread like wildfire and before you know it they have become accepted truth.

Take the Wal-Mart story. Yes, it’s a hideous company that has traditionally discriminated against women and paid terrible wages. Yes, Hillary Clinton did agree to be the first and only woman on the Board. And yes, she got paid for it. I went to Google for more information. It was in 1984. Thirty-one years ago. Show me the wise man or woman who has not made mistakes.

But was she so bad that her mistakes are unforgivable? I found a Huffpost article with a short bit about her time on the Board saying simply that she stayed silent re the unions. It was written in 2008. There's nothing about what she did achieve. I recognized a whole slew of blogs post as originating from that Huffpost article. That’s how it works. An ill-researched article masquerading as truth is nothing more than an ill-researched opinion piece, no matter where it’s placed. But it’s repeated as truth if printed in a respected news outlet.

I found a 2007 New York Times piece that told a wider story. Hillary Clinton wasn’t totally silent about Wal-Mart’s anti-Union stance. She didn’t avidly fight for them but she wasn’t silent. And by 2007 she had recently brokered a meeting between a Wal-Mart exec and a union. Why didn’t the later Huffpost article state that?

In her time on the Board Clinton did fight for women—and was overridden. She pushed Wal-Mart to be more environmentally conscious, introducing recycling for consumers, reduction in suppliers’ packaging, and stores with skylights to reduce the need for artificial lighting.

That was in the 1990’s, an era singled out by history so far for corporate consciousness of the environment. Or not.

Why didn’t Clinton fight for the unions? I don’t know, I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to her. The NYT contributor surmised that it was because even back then she was the kind of person who preferred to participate in a contentious environment and do some good. If she had defended the unions she might have weakened her standing on the Board so she couldn’t be effective at all. Or she might have tried and been shut down.

So the ‘fact’ that she just took money to be on Wal-Mart’s Board but did nothing is an outright lie. But the Facebook memes keep coming and not from Republicans. From Bernie Sanders supporters.

Who also accuse her of not writing about this Wal-Mart episode in her autobiography and deducing it’s because she’s guilty. Except that she isn’t. In any case people often don’t write about everything in the account of their life. It wasn’t a history book; she was allowed to write whatever she wanted. And let’s face it, Bernie Sanders didn’t broadcast certain things in his life that would make people think less of him.

Of course it would be nicer and cleaner if Clinton had fought Wal-Mart tooth and nail. But it was 34 years ago! She was a young woman amongst a bunch of powerful, chauvinist, conservative men. That she did anything in that time and that environment is remarkable.

That she is not being remembered and respected for what she did achieve doesn’t say anything about her then or now. It says a lot about those who uncategorically slam her. 

Frank Newport ended his article in 2012 with “The fact that Clinton is almost universally known and at this point well-liked by Americans suggests that she would be a formidable contender were she to decide to run. At the same time, the history of Americans' ups and downs in their ratings of her raises the possibility that if she were to jump back into the political fray, her image would have a significant probability of becoming more polarized and more negative once again.”

No kidding. Hillary Clinton is flawed. Of course she is. She’s a human being. Bernie Sanders, for all his saintly status, is also flawed and for the same reason, oddly. For what it’s worth, I suspect that he wouldn’t be looking so cool and saintly right now if he had had her exposure and if he had been targeted the way she was and still is by Conservatives.

Here's a novel idea. Wouldn’t America be best off if Democrats all worked together towards unity and Clinton and Sanders worked together in the election? I reckon if they did they would get the outcome of Bernie Sanders' revolution if it was really cooking—which it isn’t.

There's irony for you.