I’m fascinated by the amount of angry messages and "Wall posts" I’m getting on my Facebook page from my friends these days after I announced that I’m supporting Hillary for president (for reasons that I do not wish to delve into now). Most of the angry messages came from my Jordanian/Arab friends who made sure to tell me that they do not agree with me. Here are some examples:
Come on now, she flip flops, she is owned by the Jewish lobby and she has a one sided view of the Arab Israeli conflict. She is no Bill.
Boooo…. Obama…Obama!
Why Hillary she is a devil wearing Prada…Because she is a woman ?!!
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
I am aware that Hillary is a pretty divisive choice but I never realized how much she is hated in the Arab World until now. I guess I have been away from the Middle East for a long time and now I’m no longer connected with the "Arab street." However, I’m not backing down. I’m someone who believes in the individual’s freedom of choice. By that I mean a choice that stands on its own that is not influenced by the preference of a community or society. I’m at a stage of my life where I no longer want to chant the same song with a familiar crowd. I want to chant my own song and make individual decisions. So for that I say, go Hillary.
she has been bought and sold by the big boys…
What poletician hasn’t been? That’s the problem. No matter what party you are, democrat, republican, independent — all these politicians have been bought and sold, and they all will tell you what you want to hear. That’s the way it is everywhere. Unfortunately, we hve to pick who we think will be best at leading this country. Personally, yes I believe it could be Hillary, but as long as it’s a democrat I’ll be as happy as I can be.
Hareega, ever see Sicko? I’m not a big Michael Moore fan and know that he doesn’t always tell the truth, but it’s an eye opening documentry.
Hilary Clinton will never be able to deliver on health care because she has been bought and sold by the big boys ,mark my word on that Natasha,I for one will be giving my vote to Cynthia McKinney
Hilary can’t be trusted on all issues like her husband,she has supported the war and mayhem in Iraq and at the same time she turns around and pontificate about how she will put forward environmental issues first while she supported this terrorist in the white house,just like the rest of the Democrats except for Dennis Kucinich which I like and respect because of his principled consistency…
dm, I totally hear you on health care. Almost daily I see Americans being humiliated by the way their health insurances treat them. I’m not sure Hillary can fix it. Believe me if she does most people including me will worship her.
I think the least I can say now is thank you, with a smile 🙂
But I still don’t like her :[
Sometimes I just wish this country was on a different planet.
Hi Hamzeh,
Well.. I will summarize my reasons for supporting Hillary right here just for you, cause I like you 🙂
1- Health care
2- I want the Clintons back in the White House
3- She has enough experience that will make me breath easy
4- It is about time for the US to have a female president
5- Obama seems a bit naive to me and unrealistic.
6- Edwards annoys me and he annoyed me even more with his sexist remarks about Hillary
You might not agree with me, but it is okay.
Well, you bring up a good question Jeff. Who’s worse: Bush or Hillary? But you’re comparing 8 years of office for the Bush adminstration to Hillary now when she’s not even president. So it is kind of like comparing apples and organes.
Regarding your question. First, I did not say she was “the” dirtiest politician I ever knew, but “one of” such politicians. I would say that I perceive her as definitely the dirtiest politician currently running for office. Second, I only said what I said to express to Natasha (one of my favourite bloggers) my disappointment upon reading this post, and as to why I said what I said about Hillary, I’m just gonna say that it was for reasons that I “do not wish to delve into now” (simply because it wasn’t the point of my post really).
Finally, the point of my post wasn’t convincing you or Natasha not to vote for Hillary, but simply to express my frustration, disappointment and being annoyed by the fact that how Americans vote for the American president ends up affecting not just them, but more so people in my region of the world. And regardless of why I might not like Clinton, or why another might not like Obama, finding out that a Jordanian who was in my shoes a few years ago has now become an American and was gonna choose a new “world leader” that I did not want, and that I cannot do anything about it, is annoying. You have to admit it’s annoying, and frustrating, and disappointing.
One other thing: Regarding the race/gender issue and the fact that they might get support simply by their inclusion in a particular group, I think you have to look at how people vote. They’ve done studies that show simply having a name at the top of the ballot has an influence so surely race and gender have and will have a potent impact. But that doesn’t mean that the candidates of that particular group are not qualified, are not going to be good leaders. You can lament that people would vote on such superficial issues because, well it is somewhat lamentable. But people vote on these superficial things. The media contributes, the society, with its rapid pace allowing only for the most cursory examination of the most complex issues, where Britney’s exploits get nearly as much air time as discussions on international relations by the contenders … it’s a screwed up system, no doubt. But even when running at its best, the choices people make in the voting booth run the gamut — looks, name, origin, sex, party, teary-eyed confessor, nice hair. Democracy has its flaws, most of them human.
Just to be clear, I’m undecided between the two primary democratic contenders. There are reasons for both that aren’t that difficult to divine beyond race and gender. I’ll support the democratic nominee but I’m unsure whom I’ll pick when I reach the ballot box. But Hamzeh where on earth do you come up with the comment about the ‘dirtiest politiican’ you’ve ever known to exist? I’m assuming you mean Clinton or the Clintons, sa7? I really don’t understand it. Without a doubt, both are not shining examples of purity. Obama, by his very newness to the process, seems less soiled by the goings on in DC. But the Clintons are dirty because, unfortunately, it’s a dirty business. That’s why so often so many of us like the idea of an outsider in the process. But it’s only a matter of time before they, too, are soiled by things. Politics is dirty business after all.
If, Hamzeh, you are referring to the Clintons, I really am confused. Their exploits are fairly well documented and in truth they are not the kind of thing that merits that comment. If you direct that comment towards the current occupant of the White House and his advisors, then you’ve got some traction. The degree of corruption present there is just hard to fathom. They put kids, 20-year-olds (nothing against them), into Iraq that had little to no experience and asked them to help run things simply because they were republican insiders. They reached out to the littlest thing — pulling animals off of the endangered species list to allow big business access to protected areas. I mean, it seems there is no end to the degree of it all. It is depressing, honestly. It’ll likely be years — though the recent push for a release of records and so forth from the White House by the courts is a good start — before the full extent of things is fully known.
So, I stand a bit confused by the idea. I’d be curious to hear you (Hamzeh) hit us up with some examples of how she is the dirtiest politician you’ve ever known to exist in this world. Certainly no saint, perhaps more soiled than some (Obama certainly), but she hardly holds a candle to the current office holder. Please cite something to back up such a bold statement.
As for having a leader forced upon you, leaving behind the likes of Nader and Kucinich, know this: This is how it works. The two you’ve named have many disadvantages — the number one being money. But they also have limited appeal. There’s just not that many people in the US that will get behind them. And that’s the way of democracy — the majority rules, no matter how whacked out that opinion might seem. You’d hope that what you would get would always be the most qualified, the most respected … the best possible leader. But it doesn’t work that way. Right now, I think many would agree, the system is flawed. The electoral college seems terribly outdated. The money, the influence peddling before, during and after elections is such a terribly scary force. Perhaps that’s the reason Obama was so quickly hailed — he could bring change, and likely would bring some. I do think that those new to the process should fight against apathy and frustration and get out and work to make the process work, to make it just that much more representative. It’s shocking how few actually vote. Voting can bring changes, slowly but surely. I still believe that.
This round of elections is so stupid. It comes at the worst possible time that the two main democratic representatives are a woman, and an african American.
On one hand, everybody with a little bit of reason has about had enough of the Republicans, and they know the next president must be a democrat, but on the other hand, they are left under the impression that the decision for them is going to be choosing between two minorities to decide which makes it first to presidency.
Now, I’m certain not every female democrat will vote for Hillary, and not every African American democrat will vote for Obama, but I am almost certain all females will feel proud the first time a female becomes the president, and all African Americans will feel proud the first time an African American becomes the president, so the issue does exist in the back of everybody’s mind, and quite honestly, and I hate to say this to someone like Natasha, when a woman comes out and says that she supports Hillary and that she doesn’t wanna say why, it’s just too easy to assume that it’s because she wants to see a woman in the White House, and if that’s true, then it’s really sad.
This is why this round of elections is so stupid, even more stupid than how much US elections are usually, where some people are forced to not vote for their number 1 candidate because they know that only a few will vote for them. People didn’t wanna vote for Nader because they knew he would not win, and ended up contributing to his loss (really their loss) by voting for Gore.
Why is it that Americans don’t vote for people like Nader, or Kucinich? Someone explain to me and convince me why they must always be so undervalued in the American public’s eye?
Is it because those individual candidates have a problem? Or could it be because there is a much bigger problem with Americans in general?
I don’t like Clinton (I didn’t even like Bill), and this is the most disappointing post I’ve ever read on this blog, and the most annoying one too given that Natasha won’t even explain why she thinks Hillary is the best next leader of not only the US, but the world (Middle East included).
And you know why it’s annoying too? Because I say that term “next leader of the world” with the sad realization (as a Jordanian) that this leader is forced upon us, not elected by us, and here I am finding out that one of my role models is participating in that process of forcing upon me one of the dirtiest politicians I’ve ever known to exist in this world.
Well, I guess it’s all in who you talk to. I certainly can say that I don’t know one person who supports Bush or this war, at least no one I associate with. I know those people exist–ovbiously–so I guess it just depends on who/where you are.
What does him being white have to do with anything?
“You know Bush as all the credentials of an idiot, but he is the right president because if no one did what he did in Iraq then who would have made the world a safer place”
I agree with HALF that statement…of course the 1st half.