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Sunday, May 12, 2019

She Was Right!


I prefer to minimize my political opinions on this blog - not eliminate them, not ignore them, not to pretend they don't exist - but limit them ... to when I just can't stand the current terrible state of our democracy and I have to explode somewhere.  So today is that day.  While others are espousing the wonders of Mothers on their blogs and in social media, I prefer to spot light one woman, both mother and statesmen, who should have been our President if we followed the popular vote.  She is not a perfect woman (no one is perfect) and she is not without her own 'baggage,' but she was prepared to represent us on the world stage with honor and strength - and that was unfairly denied her.  

My space, my blog, my opinion!

Time for John Pavlovitz.





Hillary Was Right Calling Them “Deplorables.”

Hillary Clinton was right about everything.
She was right when she warned us that Donald Trump was in bed with Russia.
She was right when she said our election process was being irreparably compromised. She was right when she noted his cruelty, his impulsiveness, and his recklessness.
She was right when she suggested he was beholden to a murderous foreign dictator.
She was right when she told us that he was dangerously incapable of self-control on social media.
She was right when she pointed out the toxic hatred he was cultivating and releasing in people.
She was right when she noticed the way he was dragging national discourse into the toilet. And she was right was when she called his supporters “deplorables.”

At the time of the statement in 2016, she was unfairly excoriated in the media and by Republicans—but looking back she was using sober judgement, measured speech, and incredible restraint:
“To just be grossly generalistic,
 you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.
 They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic – Islamophobic – you name it.”

They are.

In the wake of the police shootings of black men, the street corner assaults on gay couples, the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, the defacing of synagogues, the burning of black churches, the mistreatment of migrant families—Trump’s supporters daily reveal their phobic hearts and their willingness to ignore vulnerable people’s suffering.
“And unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people – now have 11 million.”

He has.

He continually cries “fake news” about the legitimate Press, while disseminating the wildest of conspiracy theories from extremists media outlets, previously and rightly marginalized because they appealed to only the tiniest lunatic fringe.  “He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric.” 

He does.

Just look at his Twitter feed at any moment during the past three years, and you’ll find the unhinged, incendiary ramblings of a supremacist, terrorist sympathizer—whose account under any other circumstance—would be deactivated for its hate speech, its purposeful targeting of individuals, and its steady invocation to violence.

In 2016, Hillary was being prophetic.  She used the word “deplorable,” to describe people who would soon: 

applaud Muslim travel bans,
celebrate families separated at the border,
abide children being placed in cages,
demonize teenage shooting victims,
defiantly deny the value of black lives,
vilify sexual assault survivors,
bless a predator to the Supreme Court,
cheer Presidential rally cries of shooting immigrants,
approve of the suppressing of Special Counsel reports,
sanction the complete perversion of our Rule of Law.


Deplorable, was being kind. I have many other words for such people, and they’re much stronger and far less diplomatic than that.

Hillary closed her now infamous comments by saying,
“Now, some of those folks
—they are irredeemable, but thankfully, 
they are not America.”

Well, she was about half right.  These people may not be America, but they represent a good 38 percent of it. That’s far too much of any nation aspiring to greatness. As long as more than a third of our country blesses such malfeasance and tolerates this kind of toxicity in the name of holding power, we’re going to continue to regress into chaos and implosion.

When Hillary Clinton said that half of Trump’s supporters were deplorables, she was in essence claiming them to be filled with contempt for others, motivated by fear, and driven to exclusion. She may have been right in that moment—but the percentage today is actually much higher.

Anyone still supporting him has deluded themselves into an alternate reality that makes them incapable of compassion or reasonable dialogue. All that they have seen from this President and his cadre of grifters and criminals, hasn’t proven alarming enough to wake them into decency or rouse their humanity alive.

Hillary wasn’t name-calling, she was accurately describing the kind of inhumanity we are now seeing as people’s default setting. Given their support of a man who regularly uses phrases like “Crazy Maxine,” “Pocahontas,” “Pencil Neck”— or “Crooked Hillary,” their feigned offense at her supposedly offensive language was and is laughably hypocritical anyway.

No, Hillary was telling the truth, as difficult as it is to admit. She was diagnosing a collective sickness that afflicts a terrifying number of Americans. The woman who should currently be helming this nation was right about far too many things, and not enough of us listened.


Hatred, bigotry, supremacy, misogyny, and violent phobia are indeed
 sickening and repugnant and reprehensible 
and yes, deplorable
—or at least they should be.



John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. In 2017 he released his first book, A Bigger Table. His new book, Hope and Other Superpowers, come out on November 6, 2018.

12 comments:

Marie Smith said...

The whole situation is scary to this outsider. Extremists appear to be the norm these days!

Retired Knitter said...

Yes, Marie - scary to an outside. The view from the inside, however, is terrifying! I am surprised we have survived 3 years of this man!

Michelle said...

IMO, John Pavlovitz and Dan Rather have both been sane, rational, POWERFUL voices speaking truth against this president and administration, and all the Republicans that are putting themselves in that "basket of deplorables" by not standing up against the constant attacks against our democracy and humanity. Thanks for sharing this.

Susan said...

Amen to this. It is very scary - both the fact that this disgusting group of misogynists have reached the top and the fact that there is, in this once-great country - a group of people that thought it was the right thing to do. How quickly this country has fallen from the height of decency to complete depravity. It's time to reverse the trend.

Lynne said...

I agree . . . totally . . .
I saved your comment and the Pavlovitz piece.
That one word . . . DEPLORABLE . . . says it!

Unknown said...

The one and only defense we have against all this is to VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION.....not only in 2020 but always.

Anonymous said...

I am so... I don't even have a word for it, but when I dread turning on any tv or radio program, because some fresh bit of insanity will happen from our President, it's saying something. And there have been others that I didn't care for, but this one just seems to leave any bit of good grace and thoughtfulness out for the trash truck. I don't even speak about it much, half the family loves him, half the family... doesn't. Sigh.

Cat

John's Island said...

Hi Retired Knitter, I am exactly like you ... I try not to make too many political statements in my blog, but again, like you, I am so fed up with truly crazy Donald Trump and his administration. And John Pavlovitz is right on the money. I truly hope America can elect someone with honor and dignity in 2020. Thank you for this post. And thank you for your kind comment on my blog. John

Angela said...

There are lots of craziness out there!! We pray the good Lord will do on earth as in heaven!

Misadventures of Widowhood said...

I'm late getting to this blog post but I couldn't agree with you more. I'm scared for our country's future not so much because of Trump but because he still has so many followers who can't see what's really going on or worst yet, they don't care.

I'm the same way about limiting my politics commodity but sometimes you just have to let it out or explode.

Sandy said...

Me popping back in, waving hello hoping you're doing well, as I make my blog rounds. Won't comment on the political scene, as I did on my last visit, but don't see it.

Bohemian said...

Well said and sadly, so True! I didn't like either candidate during the Election and as an Independent voted Independent in that Election, tho' normally I'm not Partisan at all really, Great Leadership could come from any Party IMO... so can Bad Leadership... seeing baggage on both sides that concerned me it was just difficult at the time to imagine either at the helm. I have wanted Political Change so much and didn't see it happening within either major Party and I pray that after this shitshow, all Sane Politicians on all sides realize The People just want Great Competent Moral Leadership, period. That said, this next Election I will Vote for any Dem candidate who is NOT HIM! I knew it would be bad if he got elected, I couldn't have ever conceived just how bad... so I must say Hillary had more insight than I... so I'm humbled that I didn't listen more intently. I couldn't take another 4 Years of this... I don't think the Country and Democracy could be sustained thru it!