Commonwealth Times

It is Tuesday, Feb. 12-the day of the Potomac Primaries. As I drown myself in expensive Vodka and organic cranberry juice, lonely tears make their way down my slightly swollen cheeks while I listen to the deep rhythmic beats of Peaches-"F-k the pain away," she says. As I listen to the bad news roll in, I seriously contemplate this notion.

As you might have guessed by now, I am a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton. It's a position that has caused a great deal of contention in my life. All my friends seem to despise Clinton the most. "Why do you hate her so?" I often inquire. Across the board, the most common response is that she is a "b-ch" who voted for the War in Iraq.

Now, I am not a hard-line feminist, per se, but when I hear such derogatory adjectives used to describe Clinton, I become enraged. If she were a man, all of the qualities that people say they hate about her would be celebrated! If I hear one more man call her a "b-ch" or, worse yet, a "c-t," I'm going to start carrying around a bag full of rubber bands. Henceforth, you may refer to me as Tyler Durden.

Insofar as the War in Iraq is concerned, my friends are right. Clinton did, in fact, vote for the war. But so did every other Democratic nominee except Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Sen. Barack Obama, who wasn't even in the Senate at the time of the vote! That vote was based on erroneous and falsified intelligence handed down from the Bush regime.

So, why do I support Clinton? She is an amazing woman. While I agree that she has become a politician in the truest sense of the word, she still holds tightly to her core values and beliefs. As a student at Yale Law School, she represented foster children in family court and worked to create legal standards used to identify and help protect abused children.

Upon graduating, Clinton took a position with the Children's Defense Fund to continue her work for children's rights. In 1974, Clinton served as one of only two female lawyers on the House judiciary committee working on the Nixon impeachment and gained immense respect from her colleagues.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Clinton to the board of the Legal Services Corporation - a nonprofit federal organization that provides legal assistance and services to the poor and civil legal aid. She also served on the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. This launched her work on sexual harassment and pay equity-battles she still fights to this day. Clinton proclaimed that "women's rights are human rights," and because of her international efforts to prevent the abuse and degradation of women, she has garnered intense respect around the world and has strong diplomatic relations with governments and non-profit organizations alike.

While serving as first lady, Clinton helped pass the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which resulted in a dramatic increase of foster children moving into permanent homes. She increased funding for breast-cancer research and for programs that directly helped veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. Clinton is also the creator of the universal health care initiative.

Unfortunately, because of the Republican majority in Congress at the time, her efforts were forcibly put aside. However, realizing universal health care is one of her biggest goals as a politician, she has never let it die. All of the candidates who support universal health care have modeled their plans on the decades of work Clinton already has put forth.

Since Clinton's election to the Senate in 2000, she has tirelessly fought for the civil rights of women, children, the poor, kinship families and minorities. Her work has included the introduction of legislature that would directly tie congressional pay increases with increases in minimum wage.

"If America's working people don't deserve a raise, neither does Congress," Clinton has said.

As a candidate for the executive office, Clinton has pledged to begin pulling the troops out of Iraq within 60 days of being signed into office. She has workable plans to create energy independence for the United States. Her efforts to combat the growing threat of global warming are impressive and include creating five million new "green-collar" jobs in the U.S. Universal health care is a tremendous part of her platform, and her mandatory enrollment plan will guarantee that every American has health insurance they can afford.

Clinton has policies in place to tackle the failed international policies of the Bush administration, to strengthen the failing economy and housing market, to better the lives of veterans and to ensure that women's rights, including the right to choose to have an abortion, are not infringed upon.

Clinton is an ambitious leader who cares for all Americans and has every intention of bringing America back from the edge. Do you think Clinton is a "cold b-ch" now? If you find your answer to that question is still "yes," then I suggest you are the one with the problem.

As I bring this political diatribe to a close, I implore all of you to look closely at what the candidates did before the campaign began. Examine their voting record. Take note of what they have accomplished or have attempted to accomplish.

You will see Clinton is far from a "cold b-ch." She has solid plans to turn this country around and make it a better place for us all. I think that is the real hope in this electoral race.

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It is Tuesday, Feb. 12-the day of the Potomac Primaries. As I drown myself in expensive Vodka and organic cranberry juice, lonely tears make their way down my slightly swollen cheeks while I listen to the deep rhythmic beats of Peaches-"F-k the pain away," she says. As I listen to the bad news roll in, I seriously contemplate this notion.

As you might have guessed by now, I am a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton. It's a position that has caused a great deal of contention in my life. All my friends seem to despise Clinton the most. "Why do you hate her so?" I often inquire. Across the board, the most common response is that she is a "b-ch" who voted for the War in Iraq.

Now, I am not a hard-line feminist, per se, but when I hear such derogatory adjectives used to describe Clinton, I become enraged. If she were a man, all of the qualities that people say they hate about her would be celebrated! If I hear one more man call her a "b-ch" or, worse yet, a "c-t," I'm going to start carrying around a bag full of rubber bands. Henceforth, you may refer to me as Tyler Durden.

Insofar as the War in Iraq is concerned, my friends are right. Clinton did, in fact, vote for the war. But so did every other Democratic nominee except Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Sen. Barack Obama, who wasn't even in the Senate at the time of the vote! That vote was based on erroneous and falsified intelligence handed down from the Bush regime.

So, why do I support Clinton? She is an amazing woman. While I agree that she has become a politician in the truest sense of the word, she still holds tightly to her core values and beliefs. As a student at Yale Law School, she represented foster children in family court and worked to create legal standards used to identify and help protect abused children.

Upon graduating, Clinton took a position with the Children's Defense Fund to continue her work for children's rights. In 1974, Clinton served as one of only two female lawyers on the House judiciary committee working on the Nixon impeachment and gained immense respect from her colleagues.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Clinton to the board of the Legal Services Corporation - a nonprofit federal organization that provides legal assistance and services to the poor and civil legal aid. She also served on the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. This launched her work on sexual harassment and pay equity-battles she still fights to this day. Clinton proclaimed that "women's rights are human rights," and because of her international efforts to prevent the abuse and degradation of women, she has garnered intense respect around the world and has strong diplomatic relations with governments and non-profit organizations alike.

While serving as first lady, Clinton helped pass the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which resulted in a dramatic increase of foster children moving into permanent homes. She increased funding for breast-cancer research and for programs that directly helped veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. Clinton is also the creator of the universal health care initiative.

Unfortunately, because of the Republican majority in Congress at the time, her efforts were forcibly put aside. However, realizing universal health care is one of her biggest goals as a politician, she has never let it die. All of the candidates who support universal health care have modeled their plans on the decades of work Clinton already has put forth.

Since Clinton's election to the Senate in 2000, she has tirelessly fought for the civil rights of women, children, the poor, kinship families and minorities. Her work has included the introduction of legislature that would directly tie congressional pay increases with increases in minimum wage.

"If America's working people don't deserve a raise, neither does Congress," Clinton has said.

As a candidate for the executive office, Clinton has pledged to begin pulling the troops out of Iraq within 60 days of being signed into office. She has workable plans to create energy independence for the United States. Her efforts to combat the growing threat of global warming are impressive and include creating five million new "green-collar" jobs in the U.S. Universal health care is a tremendous part of her platform, and her mandatory enrollment plan will guarantee that every American has health insurance they can afford.

Clinton has policies in place to tackle the failed international policies of the Bush administration, to strengthen the failing economy and housing market, to better the lives of veterans and to ensure that women's rights, including the right to choose to have an abortion, are not infringed upon.

Clinton is an ambitious leader who cares for all Americans and has every intention of bringing America back from the edge. Do you think Clinton is a "cold b-ch" now? If you find your answer to that question is still "yes," then I suggest you are the one with the problem.

As I bring this political diatribe to a close, I implore all of you to look closely at what the candidates did before the campaign began. Examine their voting record. Take note of what they have accomplished or have attempted to accomplish.

You will see Clinton is far from a "cold b-ch." She has solid plans to turn this country around and make it a better place for us all. I think that is the real hope in this electoral race.

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