Tag: stronger together

Moving Forward

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Whenever I’m sad or scared or angry or excited or confused, I write. I don’t always recognize that that’s what I’m doing; sometimes my writing is in the form of a letter that I never send to someone I’ve hurt or who’s hurt me, sometimes it’s a quick note jotted down at the end of a long day, but often it’s just a composition in my head as I fall asleep. Now I have you beautiful people, who are kind enough to read the things I write and give me an outlet. So while many people far more eloquent than I have already given and will continue to give you their thoughts on this election, I find myself putting pen to paper (or in this case, fingers to keys). I hope that something I say will help you, but if it doesn’t, please know that just by reading this, you’re helping me. And for that I thank you.

America made a mistake on Tuesday night. It isn’t the first mistake we’ve made and it certainly won’t be the last, but knowing that doesn’t make it hurt less. On Tuesday night, I was too shocked to feel anything. I’d spent all day Tuesday feeling alternately slightly nervous and elated that we would soon be electing our first female president. I didn’t in any way prepare for the possibility that that might not happen. I know I’m not the only one.

Yesterday, the numbness wore off. I held back tears as I drove to work. I excused myself to the bathroom and stood in a stall and cried silent tears after reading highlights from Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. I talked to coworkers and family and friends. I felt better, I felt worse, I felt depressed, and I felt hopeful. I turned on the radio on my drive home, heard a couple songs with especially resonant lyrics, and sobbed in my car. As I write this, my eyes are burning with spent as well as unfallen tears.

I suspect that many of the people reading this – maybe even everyone – are Hillary Clinton voters, or at the very least Never Trumpers, so I’m speaking to you. I’ve heard a lot about how this is the end of America as we know it, how the results Tuesday night spell the end of democracy and civil discourse, how we’d all be better off leaving the country. These things are only true if we let them be. Tuesday night was not a loss, but a setback. It’s a sign that a new fight is beginning, and just as we’ve won fights in the past to end slavery, grant women the right to vote, and end segregation, so too shall we win this fight. This is not the end. It is the beginning of a new fight.

It’s easy to see Tuesday’s results as a victory for hate – racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, etc. have been everywhere in this election. I can’t tell you that people didn’t vote based on hatred, because many people did. But for many more, their votes for Trump on Tuesday night were about fear. Fear that their children will be worse off than they are. Fear that they’re being left behind. Fear of terrorism in general and ISIS in particular. Many Trump voters aren’t hateful, they’re just terrified.

Now the tables have turned and it’s us who are fearful. I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t be; hate crimes may raise as they did in the UK following Brexit, no one knows what the next four years will hold, and these are uncertain and scary times. Be vigilant and stay safe. But what I will tell you is this: Don’t let your fear make you small. Don’t let it control you. Don’t let it make you afraid to speak out against injustice. Don’t let it make you hold back because you think you can’t make a difference. Don’t let it cause you to pull the blinds and pretend the world outside isn’t there.

This election was awful. Take all the time you need to grieve. Scream, vent, punch a pillow, wallow, binge-watch your favorite tv show, and cry. Cry for all the dreams you thought you’d see come true that now have to wait a little longer. Cry for your minority friends and family who are as scared as they’ve ever been. Cry for all the people who made a rash decision based on fear. And then pick yourself up off the mat and live to fight another day.

I know there’s a lot of talk about 2020, but remember that midterm elections are a big part of how we got into this mess. 2018 will be an important year. Show up, knock doors, make calls, donate, talk to your family and friends and make sure they vote, work the polls, and if you’re in a position to do so, run for office yourself. We don’t have to put up with this for four years if we can take back the Senate, or even the House, in 2018. And in the meantime, do all that you can to make the world a better, kinder, more generous place. Tell your family and friends you love them. Explain to the Trump-supporters in your life why you’re upset and then try to forgive them. Donate to or volunteer with the organizations that will be fighting for the causes you care about.

This is not the end, people. This is a new beginning. And we have work to do.

– Carley

The Case for Hillary Clinton: Part 2

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Part 2: Why Hillary Clinton Is So Much More Than “The Lesser Of Two Evils”

Note: This post is a little on the long side, but we appreciate you taking the time to read it. We tried to shorten it, but Hillary Clinton’s life has been so impressive, it’s hard to do her justice in just a few paragraphs.

Now that we’ve talked about why supporting Hillary Clinton isn’t a bad thing, let’s talk about why it’s a good thing. I trust Hillary Clinton to be my President. In fact, I’d like for Hillary Clinton to be my President and I’ll tell you why. She’s been serving the public and fighting for good her entire life and she will continue to do so as President of The United States of America. Throughout her career Hillary has shown that even if you don’t support her or vote for her, she will still fight to protect you and your rights. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at what she’s done so far.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was raised with conservative values by two hard-working Republican parents. She worked diligently throughout her public school education and was admitted to Wellesley College, where her classmates would go on to select her as the first student commencement speaker. While introducing her, the president of the college described her as “cheerful, good humored, good company, and a good friend to all of us…” This goes to show that even at a young age, she was widely acknowledged and respected for her hard work and positive attitude, and she has managed to maintain that positivity even when facing difficulties both large and small. For example, the freshmen at Wellesley were required to carry heavy trays of milk, water, and food to the dining tables. While most students complained about this task, Hillary joked that it was good exercise. 

While in college, Hillary expanded her worldview and began to develop a passion for social justice that has persisted throughout her career. Her fellow students at Wellesley College even predicted that Hillary would become the First Female President, so let’s prove them right! Hillary and her fellow students grew up in a time of segregation, so for many of them, college was the first time they had an opportunity to have meaningful interactions with people of other races. Hillary’s friend, Janet Hill, was one of only 8 black women in her freshman class, and she remembers the culture shock she felt upon arriving at a predominantly white college campus. She also remembers Hillary making her feel welcome. Even though Hillary’s only interactions with black people up until that point had been with employees of her parents, she did not “other” her non-white classmates. Another of her classmates, Nancy Gist, has said that one of the things she liked about Hillary was that she seemed less “mystified” by her black classmates than did many of her white peers. The discrimination that her black friends faced upset Hillary, so she lent her support to their efforts to encourage school officials to recruit more black students and faculty and establish an African American studies major in a letter to the administration.  Her new experiences and broader knowledge of the world helped to shape her current political beliefs. At Wellesley College Hillary started to transform from the Republican her parents sent to school to the Democrat we know today.

After graduating from Wellesley College, Hillary went on to attend Yale Law School, where only about 15% of students at the time were women. In a “Humans of New York” post in September, Hillary described the sexism she faced as one of only a few women taking a law school admissions test. She remembered many of the men in the room saying things like “You don’t need to be here” and “If you take my spot, I’ll get drafted, and I’ll go to Vietnam, and I’ll die.” This experience and others in her early career contributed to her tendency to keep her head down and just do the work, which is a quality that many perceive as aloof or cold. But I think most women can relate to the phenomenon Hillary describes here; I know I can. Show emotion and you’re considered weak. Maintain a calm exterior and you’re considered cold or uncaring. I was in a job once where a boss offended me by yelling at me in an unprofessional and condescending manner. I wasn’t sure what to do. I had heard him yell at another woman like this and when she got upset with him he described her as “mentally unstable.” So I knew that if I said something he would just see me as “emotional” or “crazy,” so I kept my head down and got back to work, just like Hillary and so many other women have been forced to do. By most accounts Hillary is warm and welcoming in her personal life, but her early experiences in a male-dominated industry taught her to be tough in her professional life.

While in law school Hillary took a summer job with the esteemed children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman researching the problems faced by migrant farm workers and their children, which is when she first started to realize that children needed her help more than anyone. She took an opportunity to help children again when, shortly before her graduation from law school, Hillary went undercover in cities across the South to determine if private schools were discriminating against black students.

In 1973, Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and Hillary went to work for her as a staff attorney. Her first project was going door-to-door to collect testimonials about schooling options for children with disabilities. The testimonials she collected helped in the passage of a law requiring Massachusetts to provide quality education to students with disabilities. Throughout her time at the CDF she rose through the ranks to become a board member and ultimately the board chair at a still very young age.

After moving to Arkansas, Hillary joined the Rose Law Firm, where she would eventually become the first female partner at one of the oldest legal firms west of the Mississippi. Shattering glass ceilings since the 1970s, anyone? She continued to practice law even after becoming First Lady of Arkansas while also pursuing other ventures that would help aid women, children, and the less fortunate. As First Lady there, she made it her mission to improve Arkansas’ healthcare and education systems. She co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, one of the first organizations to fight for children in Arkansas.

When her husband, Bill Clinton, became President in 1992 (fun fact: this is something she predicted to her boss in the 1970s when she was just his girlfriend), Hillary took the opportunity as First Lady to continue her work on behalf of women and children. In a speech to the UN in 1995, Hillary famously argued for the importance of a focus on women’s rights by saying, “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” She also advocated strong support of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was created in 1997 and which now provides health insurance to over 8 million low-income children. The late Senator Ted Kennedy said in 2007, “The children’s health program wouldn’t be in existence today if we didn’t have Hillary pushing for it from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.” She did all of this even as issues in her marriage became painfully exposed on the national stage. Some have said that Hillary’s decision to stay with her husband and support him through his impeachment trial shows that she’s a Lady Macbeth type who will do anything for power. I disagree. I see the difficult decisions Hillary made at that time as proof of her commitment to her family and her love for them. Public sympathy for her was extremely high; she didn’t need Bill in order to be successful and she could have gone on to a successful political career without him, but she loved her husband and wanted to make her marriage work. Even now, it’s obvious that Hillary and Bill have a deep affection for one another. If you need proof go back and watch his face in the audience when she was being praised by speakers at the Democratic National Convention this year. Pure pride and joy.

In 2000 Hillary continued to break down barriers when she was elected as the first female Senator from New York. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack, then-Senator Clinton helped secure over $20 billion in funding to rebuild New York City and introduced a bill that was later signed into law to help first responders who got sick from working at Ground Zero obtain quality health care. She co-sponsored the Pediatric Research Equity Act that requires drug companies to study the effects of their drugs in children. She also co-sponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 that states that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing lawsuits on equal pay violations resets with each new paycheck, thereby granting more women the opportunity to pursue judicial recourse when they find out that they are being compensated unfairly. These are just a few of Hillary’s accomplishments as Senator, but they provide a look into her priorities and demonstrate her desire to do all that she can to help anyone who needs her as well as her ability to work across party lines.

Finally, when President Obama asked Hillary to serve as his Secretary of State, she did not hesitate because he had beaten her in the 2008 Democratic Primary; she simply said yes and got to work serving the American people. She visited 112 countries in 4 years, making her the most-traveled Secretary of State in history. And people say she doesn’t have stamina! Hah! She negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. She fought for the rights of women and girls abroad. She is widely credited with restoring international relationships that had been damaged during the preceding 8 years and improving the United States’ standing abroad.

And with all of these accomplishments under her belt, Hillary says that it is her role as mother and grandmother that makes her most proud. Awww. Hillary Clinton is an inspiration to women everywhere. She shows us that feminism doesn’t have to be the working moms vs. the stay-at-home moms. That whatever we choose to be – Mother, CEO, or both – that choice is our right and we can be successful in everything we do. Her idealism has a long history and is genuine, and it shows that idealists can make good things happen in the world.

Hillary’s long history of public service is seen as a bad thing by some, but in fact it makes her one of the most well-equipped people to assume the role of President. Her work in government has taught her how to work with both allies and opponents to do the most good possible. After defeating him in the Democratic Primary, Hillary did not necessarily need to listen to Bernie Sanders, but she recognized that he had good ideas with broad support and worked with him to come up with the most progressive platform in party history. In addition to listening to her opponent from the Primary, she has spent the 18 months of her campaign traveling across the country listening to regular families and average people about the challenges they face so that she could put together a platform that will help all Americans. She also earns the respect and loyalty of those around her. Her running mate, Tim Kaine, has defended her tooth and nail through the campaign. He has not been arguing that he will make a great vice president; he’s been arguing that Hillary will make a great president. That says a lot about both of them, but it especially speaks to how highly Tim Kaine thinks of Hillary Clinton and how much respect he has for her.

When you’ve had as successful and high-profile a career as Hillary has, it’s natural that there would be some bumps in the road along the way, but Hillary has worked throughout her career to help others and to make the world a better place. This is a quality I admire in her, a quality I find inspiring, and a quality I seek to emulate in my own life. I trust Hillary Clinton to be my President and I’m confident that, if elected, she will continue to earn that trust every day. Hillary Clinton has been breaking down barriers and shattering glass ceilings left and right throughout her career; I think it’s time that we help her shatter the highest glass ceiling in America. Hillary says ‘Stronger Together’, because she knows that no one alone can create change in this world. So, let’s go create some change together.

-Lianna & Carley-

P.S. Thanks again for reading this all the way to the end. We hope you got something meaningful out of it and can now say, “I’m With Her.” We’re excited to vote for Hillary Clinton for President of The United States and we hope you are too!

The Case for Hillary Clinton: Part 1

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Part 1: How Sexism Has Made You Buy Into Trumped-Up (no pun intended) Controversies

A quick intro from Lianna: I don’t self-identify as a feminist; I have trouble with the word “feminist.” But throughout this election I’ve been bothered by the sexism behind the Hillary Clinton “trust issue.” About a week ago, I watched a video in which Senator Elizabeth Warren urged viewers to speak out and talk to strangers about this election. I was inspired by her words to write a post about why I’m voting for Hillary Clinton. I brought this idea to Carley and here’s where the idea has taken us.

Listen up, undecided voters, because I’m talking to you. (If you’ve already voted or you’ve decided who you’re voting for, you can listen, too.) This is an important election and there’s a lot at stake. Most years, we have two qualified candidates who could both do the job. You may completely disagree with one of them, but if they won, they wouldn’t break America. Unfortunately, that’s not the case this year, so it’s important that we make the right choice.

You may be a conservative and therefore opposed to everything Hillary Clinton stands for. That’s valid. I don’t share your views, but I respect them. If that is you, then please get involved and try to save your party, because Donald Trump is dragging it down. Regardless of whether Hillary Clinton doesn’t represent your politics or she does and you just don’t like her, I implore you to read on and please don’t ignore the fact that her gender might be influencing the way you feel about voting (or not voting) for her. Think about the reason(s) you don’t want to vote for Hillary Clinton. You probably aren’t coming up with “She’s a woman,” but we’re all influenced by the views of the societies we live in, and sexism is rampant in American society. So while you probably didn’t come up with “She’s a woman” as a reason not to vote for her, the reasons you did come up with are likely influenced by Hillary Clinton’s womanhood. So let’s take a look at some of those possible reasons.

1.) Benghazi. What happened in Benghazi was a tragedy. Four Americans lost their lives on September 11, 2012 and perhaps more could have been done to prevent that from happening. However, as The Atlantic reports, the Republican-led House committee investigating Benghazi “did not find any evidence of wrongdoing against Clinton” and instead attributed the attack to a lack of preparedness. Furthermore, while I in no way mean to make light of this tragic incident, it could have been worse. While Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State from 1/21/09 through 2/1/13 (4 years), there were 7 attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities resulting in a total of 8 deaths (not including deaths of the attackers). In the 4 years before she took office, there were 6 attacks resulting in 21 deaths. And in the 4 years before that, there were 6 attacks resulting in 24 deaths. Benghazi was terrible, but you can’t say it was Hillary Clinton’s fault unless you’re also willing to say that it was Condoleeza Rice’s fault that 2 Yemeni civilians died when a mortar round aimed at the U.S. Embassy hit a nearby school in 2006, or Colin Powell’s fault that 12 Pakistani civilians died from a truck bomb outside the U.S. Consulate in 2002.

2.) The emails. Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that her use of a private email account and server was a mistake and she has since apologized for it, even though she’s hardly the only one to do it. While serving in government roles Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Howard Dean, and Jeb Bush (among others) all used private email accounts to conduct government business. Like Clinton, Jeb Bush also used his own private server. Nobody is perfect, including elected officials. We can’t hope for perfection. All we can hope for is that they learn from their mistakes and do better in the future.

But, maybe you don’t care about those things, or you believe that they shouldn’t be disqualifying. Maybe you just don’t trust her. If that’s the case, you’re not alone. A CNN/ORC poll conducted in July found that 68% of those surveyed said Clinton was not honest and trustworthy. Only 30% said that she was honest and trustworthy. A CBS News poll conducted around the same time found similar results with 67% of respondents thinking Hillary Clinton was not honest and trustworthy compared with 29% who thought she was. If you’re a part of that majority that thinks she’s dishonest, it might surprise you to find out that Politifact – an independent, nonpartisan fact-checking organization – disagrees. Politifact rates statements by various politicians, pundits, organizations, etc. Statements can be deemed True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire. 51% of rated statements made by Hillary Clinton have been True or Mostly True, with only 27% being rated Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire. Now, you might be thinking that 51% truthful isn’t that great, and if she were your friend, you might be right. But she’s a politician, and there’s a reason that the first things that come to mind when most people hear “politician” are liar, cheater, sleazy, etc. Politicians are notorious for saying what they need to say to win over whoever they’re talking to at the time and for bending the truth to fit their needs, but Hillary Clinton is more honest than most.

Hillary Clinton tells the truth 51% of the time. That’s not great, but it’s better than current president Barack Obama (48%), Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson (44%), House Speaker Paul Ryan (35%), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (17%) and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (15%). Politifact is a relatively new site (launched in 2007) so most former presidents haven’t been rated, but let’s assume they’d be in that 40-50% range with Bill Clinton (49%) and Barack Obama. Most people didn’t say, “I can’t vote for [Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, etc.] because I don’t trust him.” So, why is trust suddenly such an important part of this election? Because Hillary Clinton is not a “him.” She is a woman, and as a woman she is held to impossibly high standards.

We expect women to be like Carol Brady, the matriarch with a heart of gold from the Brady Bunch; Princess Diana, beautiful, open, and generous; or Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights’ truth-telling, advice-giving, always supportive wife, mother and guidance counselor. We expect a woman to be pure but not a prude, good but not self-righteous, and honest but not too honest. God forbid she tell us something we don’t want to hear. Women are expected to tell the truth but are then punished when they do. We are holding Hillary Clinton to a higher standard than any of her male counterparts and it isn’t right. Why should she be judged for what she’s said when all these men were judged for what they’ve done? And what she’s done has been impressive, but we’ll get to that. Whether or not you vote for her should be based on her platform and what she stands and fights for. Hillary Clinton should be judged as a politician, not as a politician who happens to be a woman.

If you’re still reading this and you’re still undecided, please go take some time to think about whether your indecision is being influenced by the fact that Hillary Clinton is a woman. Are you holding her to a higher standard because of her gender? Do you expect more from her than you would from any other politician? If a man made the same mistakes that Hillary Clinton has, would it prevent you from voting for him? It’s hard to admit that we may have some sexist tendencies, but it’s important to confront the hard truths and to try to be better. So let your mind open up to the idea of a Hillary Clinton presidency and then come back in a few days for Part II, where we’ll talk about why the woman is pretty darn great.

-Carley & Lianna-

Update (10/30/16): In light of the recent letter from FBI Director James B. Comey to Congress, we felt that we should update this post to explain why these new emails are irrelevant. The new emails that everyone is talking about came from the computer of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, whose estranged wife is a top aide to Hillary Clinton. Congressman Weiner is being investigated for sending sexually explicit text messages to a minor, not for anything relating to Hillary Clinton’s emails. There is no evidence to suggest that these new emails actually pertain to Hillary Clinton. Any negative stories you are hearing from Donald Trump or Fox News regarding these emails are just that: stories, rumors. Mr. Comey deliberately sent his letter to Congress before FBI agents had a chance to comb through the emails and decide if they are relevant at all to the Hillary Clinton investigation. Thus his letter was incredibly vague, allowing Hillary’s opponents to spin the letter and create drama where there is none.  This decision was irresponsible and has people worrying about something that may not have to do with Hillary at all. The FBI has already closed her case saying that nothing illegal was done and there is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Weiner’s recently discovered emails relate to Hillary Clinton. So, please do not fret over the “new emails” you keep hearing about.
Please see this New York Time’s article for more information. 

Michelle Obama’s Manchester, NH Speech

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I first posted this on my personal Facebook. I usually try to keep my political views and politics in general off of my Facebook page, but this election is too important to sweep under the rug. This election isn’t even about politics anymore. It’s not about the issues (it should be, but unfortunately it’s not). This election is about morality and decency. This election is about the role model and the leader that The President of The United States needs to be.

Regardless of your political views, regardless of your party loyalty, please watch First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech from the other day. This is a speech that everyone needs to hear.

Men get raped too and we can’t ignore that fact. But with regards to this election, let’s talk about women for a minute. *According to RAINN, 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. When you consider that “attempted rape” includes some, but not all, sexual assaults, you can see the scope of this problem. I assure you that you know someone who has been sexually assaulted. Also according to RAINN, 99% of rape perpetrators will not go to jail or prison. They state that perpetrators of sexual violence are less likely to go to jail or prison than other criminals. Sexual assault and rape are clearly very prevalent and serious issues in America today and under no circumstances can we elect a man who has bragged about sexually assaulting women as the President of The United States. This is unacceptable.

Whether or not you trust Hillary Clinton, she has shown that she respects all people. In contrast with her opponent, she has spoken and acted throughout her life in a manner that shows that she has the empathy and decency to lead all Americans. Hillary Clinton has made it very clear that as President of The United States she will fight for you and she will represent you even if you don’t vote for her.

If you’re considering voting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, please pay special attention to what The First Lady says beginning around 21:00.

On November 8th we are lucky enough to have the chance to choose the direction we want our country to go in for the next 4 years. Please do not endorse Hate, please do not endorse Bigotry, please do not endorse Racism, Sexism, Fear, or Bullying. Instead use your vote and your voice to endorse Love, to endorse Hope, to endorse Respect for all Americans, Freedom for all Americans, and a United America.

*To learn more about RAINN please click here. For more statistics on sexual assault in America please click here. RAINN thoroughly explains at the bottom of each statistics page where/how they get their statistics.

~Lianna

Post updated on 10/24/16 with more accurate statistics regarding rape and sexual assault in America.