Rethinking Hillary Clinton candidacy

A few weeks ago, the students of my Human Biology class were taking a test, when it suddenly occurred to me that I had not included a bonus question on the exam. Normally I give them a question beyond the scope of the lectures, either for fun or to spark an interesting conversation when we review the test at a later date. I thought for a minute, then quietly scrawled this exact information on the dry erase board:

BONUS: NAME THIS CANDIDATE

  • $7 million mansion
  • Against free health care
  • Charges $150,000 / hour for speeches
  • Recently reported to be proud to have Iranians as enemies

They slowly finished the tests and wrote bonus answers on the back of the final page. At the end of few hours, I had 23 responses. Would you, fair reader, like to take a guess at the candidate?

If you guessed Donald Trump, then you answered just like 22 of my 23 students! You are also wrong. Only one student answered correctly, because she wrote on the back of her test the name Hillary Clinton.

Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. With a little bit of research, and through careful listening to the recent Democratic candidate debates, the descriptions above are easily revealed as fact. Furthermore, if the results of my trivia game make you feel slightly uncomfortable, or even insulted, then get ready to squirm some more, because your would-be first female president has quite a way with words. Let’s take a look at some examples.

March 2008, while campaigning for president:

“I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia (in 1996), and as Togo said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn’t go, so send the First Lady. That’s where we went. I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”

Wow! Landing under sniper fire and running to safety in hostile territory! What a brave woman, huh? Too bad it was a total lie, one that you can see for yourself by visiting YouTube, searching the phrase “CBS Exposes Hillary Clinton Bosnia Trip,” and watching the report. Next example…

April 2008, again campaigning for president:

“(Iran’s) use of nuclear weapons against Israel would provoke, uh, a nuclear response, uh, from the United States which, personally I believe, would prevent it from happening.”

“Whatever stage of development they (Iran) might be in their nuclear weapons program, in the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”

A nuclear response? Total obliteration? What kind of person is so quick to wield such destructive language? Better yet, how many Iranians do you think would like to donate to her campaign? We’ll come back to this soon enough.

October 2011, as Secretary of State:

Upon learning that Muammar Qaddafi, former leader of Libya, had died:

“[Laughing] We came, we saw, he died!”

If her utter enthusiasm isn’t clear from the quote, then let’s go to YouTube again! Type in “Hillary Clinton on Gaddafi: We came, we saw, he died,” and watch as she chuckles while pumping her fists. If only she had some pom-poms to continue celebrating.

And finally, October 2015, when asked in the first CNN debate, “Which enemy that you made during your political career are you most proud of?”

“Well, in addition to the NRA, uh… the health insurance companies, the drug companies… um… the Iranians… um… probably the Republicans.”

Iranians again? She’s proud to have an entire ethnic group as an enemy? What kind of diplomat is this? And if you don’t believe me, then go to YouTube one last time and search “Hillary’s Top Enemies … Iranians and … Republicans?” Perhaps just as unsettling is that the crowd loves her war mongering, but that’s a topic for a different article.

I told you that this would be an uncomfortable, cringe-worthy exercise. Now, let’s finish by talking about money, the focus of two characteristics that I provided to my students. Does anyone remember back in 2010 when Mommy and Daddy Clinton showered little daughter Chelsea and her investment banker boyfriend with a three-million-dollar wedding? The floral arrangements alone reportedly cost $250,000 — just the flowers! The Clintons charge six figures for one-hour speeches, spend millions of dollars on one wedding, earn millions writing books, and own multi-million dollar mansions. Despite all that wealth, Hillary does not support free health care for all! She also does not support a $15 per hour federal minimum wage! If daughter Chelsea were rocking a hairnet and scraping clean the deep fryer of chicken joint in Pittsburg, California, then Hillary might have some pity for minimum wage earners. Maybe.

Before throwing your support behind a candidate, and then voting next year, ask yourself at least these questions: How does this candidate represent our community? Who is this candidate going to truly serve? Then do some additional research. You will find there are more candidates and political parties than just Hillary’s Democrats and Donald’s Republicans, a duo that is sometimes difficult to tell apart — just ask my students. I recommend searching for candidates that are economically humble, favorable to universal health care, and in search of peaceful relationships. Doesn’t that list sound a bit more like our community?