For a while I lived in Arkansas, a smallish state in the middle of the US with few claims to fame, but one of those claims is that it’s the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton. And while watching the hoopla around the current US presidential elections on TV and the Internet, it came to my mind this week that some people believe Hillary has ridden on Bill’s coat tails and isn’t standing on her own accomplishments, w`hich blows my mind. The woman has always been ambitious and driven. She has worked for social justice and the rights of women and children her whole adult life. She was the valedictorian from Wellesley University, for gosh sakes. That might not mean much to the anti-intellectual movement that seems to control a good portion of the electorate, but you have to give credit where credit is due.
I really wasn’t that much of a fan of hers until I watched her grilled for more than 10 hours by the Benghazi Investigation Panel. They were shameless in their pious insults and sneering questioning. She held her own, and explained her positions over and over again, convincingly forthright. I watched the whole thing by chance, I think I was sick that day or something, but by the end of it I said, “Wow! That woman could definitely be president of the United States.” Very few people could have done what she did, and I was impressed.
When I lived in Arkansas, the locals there liked to tell a story: I have no idea if it’s 100% true, but it nevertheless serves to illustrate a truth. They say that one day back in the 90s, Bill and Hillary were visiting their homes and they drove up to a gas station for a fill-up and the gas station attendant was Hillary’s old high school sweetheart. They chatted for a few minutes and drove off. Then Bill said, “You know, Hillary, if you had married that guy, you would be the wife of a gas station attendant.” And Hillary replied, “No, Bill, if I had married him, he would be President of the United States.”
Until next weekend,
~ Lisa
