Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Hillary Clinton Returns to Fund Raising for The Clinton Foundation

If you received that email from Hillary, earlier this month, asking you to sign Bill Clinton's birthday card, maybe you did notice her name at the bottom. There has been some suspense about what would happen to the foundation, to which all the Clintons are very dedicated, both in the run up to and in the wake of the 2016 campaign.

Now that the dust has settled, blueprints for the future of the foundation and the roles the Clintons will play in it are being drafted and realized as our friend Ruby Cramer outlines here.

The Clintons at the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in 2014. Jemal Countess / Getty Images 
She hasn’t returned to the Clinton Foundation in a formal capacity. But nine months after an election that left the charity smaller in size, scope, and funding, Hillary Clinton is stepping into a new supporting role — to raise money on behalf of the organization.
The fundraising plans, confirmed by foundation spokesman Craig Minassian, bring the former candidate back into a nonprofit still adjusting to new and uncertain terrain, with Bill Clinton, 71, serving in a new role of chair, and Chelsea Clinton, 37, as vice chair.
We all knew that Hillary would always have a home at and role in the foundation. Her initiatives with Too Small to Fail, No Ceilings, and Clean Cookstoves were tremendously successful and continue to change lives for the better.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Get Tickets to See Hillary Clinton at the Broward Center October 3!

Reasonably priced!

Hillary Clinton Live

Tue 10/3 @ 7pm
Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center, Ft Lauderdale, FL
Click here for tickets >>>>

Hillary Clinton on the Stalker Debate

Hillary was all over cable news this morning- well her sound bite was. On MSNBC,  Morning Joe played it, and then CNN's New Day picked it up. The Daily Beast also offered a link. What is surprising is that among these reports, no one came up with a still photo of the stalking during that October 10 debate when Trump elected to stand while Hillary spoke and to follow her all over the stage.

In her upcoming memoir, What Happened, Hillary recounts how his behavior creeped her out and the process she went through regarding how to handle it.
“Well, what would you do? Do you stay calm, keep smiling, and carry on as if he weren’t repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye and say loudly and clearly: ‘Back up you creep, get away from me. I know you love to intimidate women, but you can’t intimidate me, so back up.’... I kept my cool, aided by a lifetime of dealing with men trying to throw me off."
Here are a few flashbacks from the archives.

When Trump was talking Hillary remained seated and engaged.
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When Hillary was speaking, Trump remained standing.
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She talks. He stalks.
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Look at his face when she is speaking.
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Then there was the creepy lurking in the background.
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Her decision to ignore him was exactly in character. In early 2009, newly-inaugurated Barack Obama's administration pivoted directly to Asia. North Korea's Kim Jong-un decided to welcome Obama to world affairs by conducting a missile test while Hillary and Obama were in Europe for a series of world summits. The administration recognized the test as a bid for attention and threatened further sanctions. Hillary likened NK to "cranky teenagers" and said experience taught her that the best policy vis-à-vis such behavior is to ignore it.

Well done, Hillary!

Elsewhere, she regrets her loss in these words.
“I couldn’t get the job done. And I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
She said she let us down. No, you didn't Hillary! You won! You never let us down.



Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Email from Hillary Clinton

Friend --
First of all, thank you. To have your support in this next venture means so much to me. Onward Together is the true culmination of a great deal of thinking and listening over the last few months, and I'm excited to continue sharing our work with you.
It's been amazing to watch what the groups Onward Together is uplifting have been up to -- from recruiting thousands of young people to run for office to organizing at town halls across the country. I wanted to make sure you knew all the good they were doing, so I'll be passing on updates every once in a while. (See the first one about Indivisible below.)
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of traveling, seeing family, and making edits to my next book, which is my most personal yet. It's a book about what happened in the 2016 election, what we can learn from it, and what we can all do now. But even more than that, it's a book about resilience -- about getting knocked down and getting back up. I can't wait for you to be able to read it in September, and I look forward to seeing many of you across the country this fall.
I also had the a chance to see Wonder Woman finally, and it was just as inspirational as I'd suspected a movie about a strong, powerful woman in a fight to save the world from international disaster would be.
I hope you're all enjoying your summers, and that you get a chance to relax with the people you love. Thank you, again, for your continued support. I can't do any of this work without you. This team is one I'll always be proud to be a part of -- I hope you will, too.
Onward!
Hillary


Onward Together works to build a brighter future for generations to come by supporting groups that encourage people to organize in their communities or run for office. Because you're an important part of Onward Together, we wanted you to get a chance to know these groups a little bit better. To learn more about Onward Together, click here.
The organization: Indivisible
The organizers: Leah Greenberg, former staffer for Representative Tom Perriello of Virginia, and her husband Ezra Levin, former staffer for Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas.
The mission: To fuel a progressive grassroots network to defeat the Trump agenda by holding each and every member of Congress accountable to their constituents.
The story: Leah and Ezra came up with the Indivisible Guide to affecting change in Congress over drinks with friends a few weeks after the 2016 election. They put their initial 23-page google doc online, and it blew up -- it's now been downloaded more than 2 million times and inspired more than 5,800 local Indivisible chapters across the country, including at least two in each congressional district.
The latest: Indivisible is financially independent, but they're great friends to the progressive movement. Together with organizations like Planned Parenthood, Indivisible had led the charge in directing thousands of people to town hall meetings across the country and hundreds of thousands of calls to members of Congress -- so much so that they have been credited as a force in the fight that led to the defeat of the Republicans' repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
The next step: Republican leadership may not be letting up in their attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but Indivisible isn't letting up, either.
Members of Onward Together can visit indivisibleguide.com to get involved locally.
 
You’re receiving this email because you’re a member of a team of big-hearted people who are committed to building a fairer, more inclusive America. If you’d like to learn more about Onward Together, you can do so here. If you’d like to opt out of receiving more messages like this one, you can do so here. Know someone who should join this team? Forward them this email!
Join Now

Friday, August 18, 2017

How Bannon Won: A Primer on Social Media Campaigning

Steve Bannon may be gone from the Oval Office, but Breitbart, where he landed on his feet, loomed large in defeating our Hillary Clinton online offensive in 2016. Those of us on the social media campaign bus tried our best to get Hillary Clinton's message out. When you look at the first few graphics in this report, you may be stunned, as I was, at how little media attention her issues received.

The study illuminates the degree to which opposing sides used social media differently - and postulates as to why. It also shows which major media sources played important roles and how we, the electorate, used them. That Breitbart even figured in as "major" came as a surprise to me.

I am neither a data analyst nor a campaign strategist. I am not sure what we could have done differently based on the results of this study. What I do see is that we failed to battle the Breitbart offensive effectively. It was astoundingly successful. Click on the upper right link on the page to download the full pdf text.

Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Title: Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
Author:Benkler, Yochai; Roberts, Hal; Faris, Robert M.; Etling, Bruce; Zuckerman, Ethan; Bourassa, NikkiNote: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors.
Citation:Faris, Robert M., Hal Roberts, Bruce Etling, Nikki Bourassa, Ethan Zuckerman, and Yochai Benkler. 2017. Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Research Paper.
Full Text & Related Files:
Abstract:In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election. We document that the majority of mainstream media coverage was negative for both candidates, but largely followed Donald Trump’s agenda: when reporting on Hillary Clinton, coverage primarily focused on the various scandals related to the Clinton Foundation and emails. When focused on Trump, major substantive issues, primarily immigration, were prominent. Indeed, immigration emerged as a central issue in the campaign and served as a defining issue for the Trump campaign.
We find that the structure and composition of media on the right and left are quite different. The leading media on the right and left are rooted in different traditions and journalistic practices. On the conservative side, more attention was paid to pro-Trump, highly partisan media outlets. On the liberal side, by contrast, the center of gravity was made up largely of long-standing media organizations steeped in the traditions and practices of objective journalism.
Our data supports lines of research on polarization in American politics that focus on the asymmetric patterns between the left and the right, rather than studies that see polarization as a general historical phenomenon, driven by technology or other mechanisms that apply across the partisan divide.
The analysis includes the evaluation and mapping of the media landscape from several perspectives and is based on large-scale data collection of media stories published on the web and shared on Twitter.
Read the full report - click the Download Full Text link >>>>
There were stories here that I never encountered, e.g. the one about immigrants with "blistering STDs."

There are lessons here. Maybe our team did not spend enough time in the slime of the opposition websites to battle their disgusting lies. We thought the opposition, like us, actually accessed traditional sources, which, as the study shows, did not give Hillary's issues any kind of fair hearing because, you know, her emails!

I must thank Jen Michigander for sharing this study with me. She is the intrepid one who has spent a lot of time moving among the shadows at the opposition pages.


Clintons Book Shopping in Canada

Hillary was sporting a fashionable chapeau while shopping at a popular bookstore in Knowlton, Quebec.  In September, we expect to see Hillary coming to our own hometown bookstores.

Spotted: Clinton family in Knowlton bookstore

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton poses for a photo with Jessica Brown and her family (Photo courtesy Jessica Brown)
CTV Montreal
Published Thursday, August 17, 2017 8:45AM EDT
The Clinton family is seeing the sights and posing with fans during their vacation in the Eastern Townships.
Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton popped into Brome Lake Books in Knowlton on Wednesday and were promptly swarmed by a crowd of well-wishers.
Residents posed for multiple pictures with the Clintons before allowing them to browse the bookstore.
Read more >>>>
Knowlton is where author Louise Penny lives, and this is the bookstore where fans often run into her. Many think Knowlton is the model for Three Pines, the village central to most of Penny's murder mysteries. Penny has been showing the Clintons some of the sights around the Eastern Townships.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Project! Birthday Scrapbook for Hillary Clinton

Here is a great idea for Hillary's 70th birthday in October that is getting off the ground now.



HRC Birthday Scrapbook
Hello, this is @notorioushrs on tumblr and I thank Still4Hill for spreading this message. 
In the past 2 years of her campaign, I’ve met so many Hillary supporters online and in person. Each have their own story as to how they gravitated towards her and how she’s inspired them.
She's turning the big 7-0 in October and I want to send her something special. With 30 other contributors I've met online, we are collectively making her a birthday scrapbook of all our stories, letters, quotes, pictures, and drawing that show how she’s inspired us. I believe if we make a collective project she’s more likely to actually get it and for it to mean something to her. I hope we can convey how much her work has meant to us, how we are all still behind her, and wish her the best in the future.
I am putting the book together and will get it to her before October 26th.  If you want to join or hear more about the project, message @notorioushrc on tumblr or email me at bettedaviseyes1950@gmail.com. If you are interested, please contact me ASAP. I would like all messages sent to me no later than September 17th. 

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The Clintons Out for a Cruise

If you read the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny, I have read all of them, you know a little about the Eastern Townships of Quebec where Hillary and Bill Clinton are vacationing with the family and close friends. Louise Penny is also staying at the resort with them. She visited with them at their Chappaqua home back in March. Bill is hoping his friend former prime minister Jean Chrétien will also be joining them to help him celebrate his birthday.

Here they all are out for a boat ride on Lake Massawippi.  We get our first glimpse of little Aidan.
Say what you will about the Daily Mail. You can always count on them for a wealth of pictures!
dailymail.co.uk

Hillary and Bill Clinton enjoy family vacation in Canada

  • Hillary and Bill Clinton are on vacation in the village of North Hatley in Quebec this week
  • The pair are being joined by daughter Chelsea and her husband Marc as well as their two grandchildren Charlotte and Aidan
  • The family was invited on the vacation by author Louise Penny, whose series of novels about the fictional Inspector Gamache are a favorite of Hillary
  • The family all went for a boat ride on Lake Massawippi Tuesday, where Hillary could be seen doting on young Aidan, who just turned one in June
  • Marc was seen holding Charlotte while Bill, who turns 71 this weekend, chatted with the other guests on the boat
  • On Tuesday Hillary also did some shopping and picked up chocolate while Bill strolled the streets and meet with residents 
Hillary Clinton has headed up to Quebec for the week, where she is enjoying a family vacation with Bill, Chelsea and her husband Marc Mezvinsky, and her two young grandchildren Charlotte and Aidan.
And on Tuesday, the group enjoyed some time out on the water, touring  Lake Massawippi in a small motorboat.
Photos show Hillary as she dotes on young Aidan, who is being held by mom Chelsea while Marc sits with daughter Charlotte.

 

Morning in America

What kind of decaf have morning media pundits been drinking for the past year? Why are they acting like they awoke in a stupor this morning in the wake of that presser at Trump Tower yesterday? How did they not know that this is who Donald Trump is and that he is not going to change? On "Morning Joe" someone even used the word "mourning." Really? How is it that you all failed to predict this?

Why is this a question?



This time last year Andrea Mitchell was obsessed with Hillary's emails and coughing spells. She was not alone. They all were!  Maybe that is why they missed Hillary's speech in Reno on August 25, 2016 when she issued a strong warning about what Trump was doing and what his presidency would look like.
From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. He is taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over the Republican party. His disregard for the values that make our country great is profoundly dangerous.
SNIP
Trump’s lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough. But what he’s doing here is more sinister. Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.
It’s a disturbing preview of what kind of President he’d be.
And that’s what I want to make clear today: A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far, dark reaches of the internet, should never run our government or command our military. Ask yourself, if he doesn’t respect all Americans, how can he serve all Americans?
Now, I know that some people still want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. They hope that he will eventually reinvent himself – that there’s a kinder, gentler, more responsible Donald Trump waiting in the wings somewhere.
Because after all, it’s hard to believe anyone – let alone a nominee for president – could really believe all the things he says.
But here’s the hard truth, there is no other Donald Trump. This is it.
And Maya Angelou, a great American who I admire very much, she once said: ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ Well, throughout his career and this campaign, Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is. And I think we should believe him.
She went on to enumerate instances when the Department of Justice filed charges of discrimination against Trump and remarks he made on the campaign trail regarding a variety of minority groups. She warned.
This is someone who retweets white supremacists online, like the user who goes by the name ‘white-genocide-TM.’ Trump took this fringe bigot with a few dozen followers and spread his message to 11 million people.
His campaign famously posted an anti-Semitic image – a Star of David imposed over a sea of dollar bills – that first appeared on white supremacist websites.
The Trump campaign has also selected a prominent white nationalist leader as a delegate in California. And they only dropped him under pressure.
When asked in a nationally televised interview whether he would disavow the support of David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Trump wouldn’t do it. Only later, again under mounting pressure, did he backtrack.
And when Trump was asked about anti-Semitic slurs and death threats coming from his supporters, he refused to condemn them.
Through it all, he has continued pushing discredited conspiracy theories with racist undertones.
You remember, he said that thousands of American Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks. They didn’t.
Yesterday, Trump told the press and the American people that there were people "very quietly" protesting the removal of a statue. That did not happen, either. He told us he saw things that we did not, and at one point he told us what we know and what we think.

If the pundits had listened to Hillary instead of worrying about her cough which turned out to be pneumonia, perhaps they would not be so stunned and astounded today.  Perhaps they might have worried more about Trump's mental status than about Hillary's temporary, curable cough.
The last thing we need in the Situation Room is a loose cannon who can’t tell the difference, or doesn’t care to, between fact and fiction, and who buys so easily into racially-tinged rumors. Someone so detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come.
That is yet another reason why Donald Trump is simply temperamentally unfit to be President of the United States.
Now, I hear and I read some people who are saying that his bluster and bigotry is just over-heated campaign rhetoric – an outrageous person saying outrageous things for attention. But look at his policies. The ones that Trump has proposed, they would put prejudice into practice.
SNIP
the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Breitbart embraces ‘ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right.’ This is not conservatism as we have known it, this is not Republicanism as we have known it. These are racist ideas. Race-baiting ideas. Anti-Muslim, anti-Immigrant, anti-women –– all key tenets making up an emerging racist ideology known as the ‘Alt-Right.’
Now, Alt-Right is short for ‘Alternative Right.’ The Wall Street Journal describes it as a loose, but organized movement, mostly online, that ‘rejects mainstream conservatism, promotes nationalism and views immigration and multiculturalism as threats to white identity.’
So the de facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump Campaign represents a landmark achievement for this group. A fringe element has effectively taken over the Republican Party.
SNIP
On David Duke’s radio show the other day, the mood was jubilant. ‘We appear to have taken over the Republican Party,’ one white supremacist said. Duke laughed. ‘No, there’s still more work to do,’ he replied.
So no one should have any illusions about what’s really going on here. The names may have changed. Racists now call themselves ‘racialists.’ White supremacists now call themselves ‘white nationalists.’ The paranoid fringe now calls itself ‘alt-right.’ But the hate burns just as bright.
And now Trump is trying to rebrand himself as well. But don’t be fooled.
There’s an old Mexican proverb that says ‘Tell me with whom you walk, and I will tell you who you are.’
But we know who Trump is. A few words on a teleprompter won’t change that.
He says he wants to ‘make America great again,’ but more and more it seems as though his real message seems to be ‘Make America hate again.’
And this isn’t just about one election. It’s about who we are as a nation. It’s about the kind of example we want to set for our children and grandchildren.
Next time you see Trump rant on television, think about all the children listening across America. Kids hear a lot more than we think.
Another year of school is starting and parents have to worry about how safe it is for their kids to listen to the president speak! Teachers are unsure as to how they can approach a current events unit.

This morning many media pundits seemed to be suffering that post-adrenaline hangover we all feel after a shock. If they had listened to Hillary last year they might not have been so surprised. In fact, perhaps they would not have been complicit in drowning out her message and her substantial plans to improve everybody's shot at the American Dream. Instead, they ignored those policy speeches. They are shocked. Shocked. That a POTUS would defend Nazis and the KKK.  Are they woke now? The jury is out.



You can read Hillary's entire Reno speech here >>>>

DSCN8033

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Hillary and Bill Clinton Out and About in Quebec

Looks like they are having fun. Typical Bill, cannot rip himself away from people who want to ask him questions, and, as usual, has something instructive to say.
cbc.ca
Hillary and Bill Clinton strolled through North Hatley, in Quebec's Eastern Townships, on Tuesday afternoon. (Radio-Canada)

Hillary and Bill Clinton spotted shopping in Quebec's Eastern Townships - Montreal



Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. president Bill Clinton shook hands and posed for photos with people on the streets of North Hatley in Quebec's Eastern Townships on Tuesday.
The pair, along with their daughter Chelsea and two grandchildren have been staying at Manoir Hovey resort on the shores of Lake Massawippi this week.
"We're having a wonderful time, thank you, it's so beautiful," said Hillary Clinton.
Read more and see video >>>>

Monday, August 14, 2017

Seeds of Accord

This article is not new. It dates back to the end of March. In light of this past weekend in Charlottesville, it merits another look. A pro-Bernie faction continues its attempts to muscle into leadership roles in the Democratic party while Sanders himself remains stubbornly an Independent (which is fine with us since we do not want him in the party). They disparage true Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Jon Ossoff  and parrot Bernie's inflammatory and untrue words, believe propaganda generated abroad, and threaten the very breadth of the party with extreme alt-left policy demands. (Bold emphasis below is mine.)

Sanders defends Trump voters: I don't think they're racists, sexists or homophobes

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) on Friday defended voters of President Trump, saying that the election was Democrats' to lose and that the party needs to better represent the working-class voters who supported Trump and other GOP lawmakers
"Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree, because I've been there. Let me tell you something else some of you might not agree with, it wasn't that Donald Trump won the election, it was that the Democratic Party lost the election," Sanders said while speaking at an Our Revolution rally in Boston with fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Sanders went on to say that a "fundamental restructuring of the Democratic party" was needed to win future elections and that problems with party's current setup is why many were quick to support Trump in the election, not because of some of the rhetoric on the campaign trail.
Please do keep reading >>>>
On the trail, Hillary Clinton was fond of quoting Maya Angelou: "When someone tells you who they are, believe them." Then, she was applying that maxim to Trump.

In March, Bernie told us who he is. I missed this article the first time around, but we should look at it now and understand who Bernie is.

Over the past several days, Trump supporters have claimed on social media as well as IRL face to face with Trump protestors that they support Trump but are not racists or Nazis. The reply from the Resistance has been "Yes, you are."

In March, Bernie said: "Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree, because I've been there." Been where? He neglected to clarify that. We can agree that there are probably people who voted for Trump who are not among those supporting him at his recent rallies and who would not participate in Nazi/KKK marches, but by not condemning those folks, their support is implicit. Bernie prefers to cut them slack rather than hold their feet to the fire.

As you see, he then went on to blame us for losing an election that was phenomenally well-supported, well-run, and ran the best-prepared, most thoroughly experienced candidate any of us had ever seen in our lives. I take exception to Bernie's words! Not true!

A "perfect storm," as Hillary has termed it, of influences and actions robbed the party of a victory and the country of the president we deserved.

Discord is a loaded term with a negative valence. We feel uncomfortable when it intrudes upon what we consider the normal flow of life. On the other hand, we live in a democracy and are accustomed to dealing with the messiness of it - including the inevitable discord and necessary compromise.

Accord, on the other hand has a positive valence. By trying to cozy up to the "populist" Trump supporters, Bernie has told us who he is. His "accord" with the Trump folks, however, is less than comforting or comfortable. He has told us who he is. We should believe him. He and his ilk have no place in our diverse party. Period.

Here's Hillary. We are #StillWithHer.





Here is the text of her speech connecting Donald Trump to the alt-right.

Hillary Clinton in Reno


Here is her "deplorables" remark in context.

Statement from Hillary Clinton








Saturday, August 12, 2017

Hillary Clinton Responds to Charlottesville






Hashtag 2020 People: Consider This

I know this will get me in trouble with some people, but I really don't care anymore. I am burnt out every which way and sick and tired of people urging another campaign when all they bothered to do (maybe) was vote. Maybe!

To all the people typing #HRC2020, please consider this.

From the moment on May 31, 2008 that the Rules and Bylaws Committee threw Hillary Clinton delegates Obama's way, a faction of the Democratic Party began saving money.

We called ourselves PUMAs, and the money we saved was with an eye toward a future Hillary Clinton candidacy.

This PUMA faction remained close-knit over the years via social media. There are Facebook groups and a network of people who stayed connected. We were not closed or secret. We were not afraid. We were public, open, and proud. We encountered abuse and fought back. We were dedicated to Hillary and her agenda.

When Hillary declared in April 2015, this faction sprang into action. We were ready. We had stayed in training. We donated, signed up to start fund raising, joined various campaign committees, and volunteered.

Some younger folks quit jobs to join the campaign, travel around the country at their own expense, and volunteer in battleground states. Bear in mind that when they did this, they gave up income and job benefits including health insurance and retirement plans while their student loans remained due. They did it anyway.

The rest of us signed up to volunteer locally. We phone banked, knocked on doors, and traveled en masse by bus to nearby battleground states on weekends to walk the neighborhoods and knock on doors.

Campaigning was at least a part-time job for us. For some it was a full-time job, and we paid to do it. We did it with pleasure and devotion.

All campaigns come to a frenzied end. 2016 was no exception. The primary season and then the general were furiously busy no matter what your role in the campaign was. It was a two-step that we had not been through in 2008. We poured everything we had into it.

After the results on 11/08/2016, the battle was not over. Soon thereafter, official recounts were initiated. We had to round up folks to participate in recounts in some states. The work continued. Many volunteered.

It is very easy to type a hashtag, especially if you had little or no investment in what was done between April 2015 and December 2016.

You are not only demanding that Hillary run and do it all again. You are demanding that all the people who made these sacrifices jump back into action with ease.

Here is the truth. Those that relinquished their jobs to volunteer then had to find other jobs and begin all over again - and, as I said, many still have student loans to repay.

The rest of us depleted our "discretionary spending" budgets over a seven year period to support that campaign.

None of us will be in the same situation in 2020 as in 2016.

Those in their 20s then who gave up their jobs will be going into their 30s in new jobs, building new retirement accounts (we hope), and seniority.

Those in their 30s and 40s then will be inching toward retirement while facing increasing heath benefit premiums as well as college tuition for their children.

Those in their 50s and 60s then will be retiring and no longer have the resources to support another campaign at the amounts they donated in 2015 and 2016.

This last was the demographic with the most money to contribute in the last campaign.

The folks who were in their 70s and 80s in 2016 (also large donors and very active at the younger levels) are and will be dying out.  All the stress, in money and man hours (strange expression - woman/man hours) will be on veterans in the 30 - 70 age group.

There is not a huge base (as we had in 2015)  that will be in their 20s in 2020 that is dedicated to Hillary. That demographic has been decimated by the Bernie Sanders incursion into the Democratic Party.

To demand that Hillary Clinton run again is also to put extra stress on the base that has stood behind Hillary for ten years.

I am not saying what Hillary will or should do. That decision, always, is hers alone.

I am saying that when you make this demand, I hope you have a plan to gather resources supplementary to those we are losing which are many.

I have not seen any of the #HRC2020 folks state, as many did spontaneously in 2008, that they are putting savings away for the 2020 campaign. I have not seen any swear that they will quit their employment to campaign.

The #HRC2020 contingent appears to be nothing but a cheering section.

It does not happen by magic. It does not happen by hashtag. It happens by hard work. It takes money, and for most of us that means that it takes savings.

Not one of us who campaigned hard has regretted the work or the expense. We would do it again. But those are not the people I see demanding Hillary to run again.

Many of us are spent. We need time to catch up with what we spent over the 2015-16 campaign cycle. We cannot save in three years what we saved in seven. Our resources have changed in many cases.
It is way too early to talk about 2020 anyway. If Democrats cannot win Congressional seats in 2018, the Trump agenda threatens to bulldoze all of us.

Put that hashtag to bed unless you are prepared to put your money and your livelihood behind it right this minute and declare so.

I should not even have to tell you to do this since everyone who made that promise in 2008 did so spontaneously, with no prompting whatsoever, made good on that pledge, and worked their hearts out in the last campaign.

It is easy to type. It is not so easy to do the hard work. If you did not campaign, if you did not contribute, please spare us your comment.

Hillary and Bill Clinton Attend Screening of J.D. Salinger Bio-Pic

They will be setting off on their Canadian vacation tomorrow, but Thursday night, the Clintons were in the city for a sneak peek at the upcoming "Rebel in the Rye."

Tom Daley & Dustin Lance Black Join the Clintons at 'Rebel in the Rye' Screening

Tom Daley & Dustin Lance Black Join the Clintons at 'Rebel in the Rye' Screening
Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black pose for a photo with filmmaker Danny Strong while attending a screening of the movie Rebel in the Rye on Thursday (August 10) at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City.
The event was also attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton, who took a photo with the writer/director as well.
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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

From Hillary Clinton

 

Friend -
This month, we’re celebrating Bill’s 71st birthday. Throughout all the years that I’ve known him, he’s always been dedicated to making a meaningful, positive difference in people’s lives.
Thanks to his unwavering vision, the Clinton Foundation has empowered people across our country – and around the world – to build better futures for themselves, their families, and their communities.
It’s no secret that last year the work of the Clinton Foundation was the target of unprecedented, ugly, and misleading or outright false attacks. Again and again, people and organizations who don’t appreciate the work tried to tear it down.
But in spite of the attacks, which incredibly still continue today, the Foundation continues doing what it has done best for sixteen years – launching innovative initiatives such as the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Clinton Health Matters Initiative, forging groundbreaking partnerships such as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation with the American Heart Association, and making a meaningful, tangible difference in people’s lives in everything they do. Because of this work:
  • More than 11.5 million patients have access to lower cost medication and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS.
  • More than 21 million students in more than 35,000 U.S. schools have benefited from improved physical education, health education, and healthier food.
  • U.S. high-schools have access to naloxone – a life-saving tool that can reverse an opioid overdose and get the person breathing again in seconds.
Show your support and honor my husband’s commitment by donating to the Clinton Foundation today. I can’t think of a better birthday present.
I believe there's no telling what can be achieved with organizations like the Clinton Foundation hard at work. From helping countries to combat the effects of climate change, to increasing educational and economic opportunity for girls and women, to improving the health and well-being of kids, families, and communities across the United States – the Clinton Foundation is changing the world.
With your help, the Clinton Foundation can do even more, by finding smart new solutions that will make a real difference today and provide proven models for others to follow tomorrow.
So please – help us continue the incredible impact of the Foundation and the work Bill has personally dedicated himself to for 16 years by supporting the work of the Clinton Foundation.
Your support means so much to Bill (and to me).
Sincerely,
Hillary

The Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for girls and women, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.
The Clinton Foundation has received top ratings from the three leading charity watchdog groups: Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, and GuideStar. These ratings let you know that we make the most of every single dollar that you contribute.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Upcoming: On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

If, like Hillary Clinton, you find yourself drawn to Quebec after reading Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache books, you will understand why the Clinton family has decided to vacation in the Eastern Townships this summer. Hillary has touted Penny's works, descriptive of the region and instructive regarding events in Canadian history. Most of the murder mysteries are set in the fictional village of Three Pines founded as a refuge for loyalists during the American Revolution.

The tiny village of North Hatley in Quebec's Eastern Townships will play host to a high-profile political family from across the border starting this weekend.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, their daughter Chelsea and their two grandchildren are planning to stay at Hovey Manor, sources tell Radio-Canada.
The Clintons are expected to arrive at the exclusive resort on Sunday and stay until Aug. 19. They will be housed in one of the suites away from the main building.
Manor
Hovey Manor, located in the village of North Hatley, recently placed 19th on a list of the world's finest hotels by Travel & Leisure Magazine. (Hovey Manor)
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Wishing the whole family a wonderful vacation!

Hillary and Bill Clinton are scheduled for a joint appearance in Dallas in November.

dallasnews.com

Bill and Hillary Clinton will take your questions at Irving Music Factory event | Politics

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="620"] Seth Wenig/Associated Press[/caption]
Karen Robinson-Jacobs, Hospitality/Leisure Industry Reporter

The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, and former President Bill Clinton will take questions during a joint appearance Nov. 17 at The Pavilion Indoor Theater at the Irving Music Factory.
Tickets go on sale at 10 am. Aug. 18 through Ticketmaster.com . Only limited pricing information for tickets, for two sections near the stage, was available Tuesday. The most expensive tickets listed were nearly $8,000 each. The least expensive tickets listed were more than $4,000 each.
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Monday, August 7, 2017

Hillary and Bill Clinton at the Wedding of the Weekend

This wedding was apparently the place to be this weekend. Not only were Hillary and Bill Clinton there, but J-Lo, A-Rod, and Tiffany Trump also attended.

Cheery Hillary and Bill attend hedge-fund billionaire daughter's wedding alongside guests Huma Abedin AND Tiffany Trump in NYC

  • Hillary and Bill Clinton attended a billionare friend's daughter's wedding on Sunday night
  • Sophie Lasry, 24, married Alexander Swieca, 25, at the luxury venue, Cipriani Wall Street in New York City
  • Lasry is the daughter of Avenue Capital Group hedge-fund founder and billionaire Marc Lasry
  • Her groom, a former University of Michigan quarterback, is the son of billionaire hedge fund manager Henry Swieca
  • Marc Lasry is a long-time friend of the Clintons and once gave Chelsea Clinton a job after she graduated
  • The hedge-fund businessman was a large donor in Hillary's election campaign for president
  • Among the noted political figures also there were Huma Abedin and President Trump's daughter Tiffany
  • The former presidential couple attended a Wonder Woman screening on Saturday night in New York
Hillary and Bill Clinton attended the wedding of a hedge-fund billionaire's daughter - the same businessman who was one of Hillary's biggest financial supporters during her election campaign.
The former President and First Lady were all smiles while at the wedding of 24-year-old Sophie Lasry, the daughter of Avenue Capital Group founder Marc Lasry, on Sunday night. Lasry married Alexander Swieca, a 25-year-old former University of Michigan quarterback, who is the son of another billionaire hedge fund manager, Henry Swieca.
The couple was snapped wishing the bride and her groom well and posed for photos with guests at the opulent wedding hosted at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
Hillary and Bill Clinton were all smiles at the wedding of Sophie Lasry, the daughter of billionaire Marc Lasry on Sunday night in New York City. The former first couple waved to guests as they were escorted inside by Secret Service agents

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Reviving Evita Post 2016: The Hillary Comparisons Stand

I have never and will not tolerate those who, never having researched the true history of Eva Perón, slap back the comparisons with Hillary Clinton. I do not mean this in the popular context [Eva:bad = Hillary:bad.]  I mean it in the context of both women fighting for the people. Those who have bought the US propaganda against Evita need to do a little reading to discover who she really was: her values, her aspirations, her achievements.

On that note, I celebrate the San Diego Rep revival of the Rice-Weber opus "Evita" which I classify as more than a musical since there are no spoken words. I consider it an opera. I have seen five productions - two on Broadway. At one time I knew every word of the libretto and also completely blew my voice singing it. I wish I could see this production. If you live in SoCal, you are very lucky!

The U.S. presidential race was still raging last year when San Diego Rep and its artistic director, Sam Woodhouse, chose a show that seemed ideal for the times: “Evita.”
After all, Woodhouse points out, “the quest of a powerful woman to make change in the country she loves is at the core of this piece,” and the parallels between Eva Perón and Hillary Clinton — two popular but polarizing figures who were first ladies — seemed too rich to pass up.
SNIP
... Eva Perón — known adoringly as “Evita” in Argentina — was a champion of the working class and social reform in ways that went far beyond mere pose or populist rhetoric.
Woodhouse cites a long list of social reforms that the Peróns rolled out between 1946 and Eva’s death from cancer in 1952: social security, a minimum wage, universal free education and health care, paid vacation for workers, maternity leave.
“Eva was the leader of the first feminist political party in South America,” he continues. “Women’s right to vote passed during their reign. You know how horrified segments of the American population get when the concept of universal health care is mentioned? (Well), it was instituted in Argentina in the ’40s.
“That's a short list, (but) it's an amazing list of social and political transformation. Regardless of what the military or the aristocrats said, that happened.
Read more and get ticket information >>>>
I could not agree more with Sam Woodhouse's interpretation of Evita - the woman. She was a social reformer remembered lovingly and with reverence by those who benefited from her works but despised and disparaged by the oligarchs and all those who chose to stand by them.

I was a very little girl when Eva Perón died. I remember my mother and my aunts being devastated and weeping. In the black and white press and on TV her hair looked white. I thought she was old and could not understand why everyone thought she was so young, but I knew she was important. Much later I learned who she really was.

I grieved that we did not have our own Evita until Hillary came along. But then, there she was! Proposing similar policies. A First Lady fighting for health care, collaborating with Mother Teresa (who would/must have loved Evita). All the better that she was not older than I - she was my contemporary. I rejoiced!

History tends to run roughshod over women like Evita and Hillary. Even now, we see efforts to destroy Hillary's legacy in the same way Evita's has been altered.

I am not Sam Woodhouse. I think I might love his production. One change I would make: I would fashion the Che character after Bernie Sanders. The fit is perfect. The socialist v. the democratic/progressive Eva. I can hear the Bernie/Che character singling "Oh What a Circus" about Hillary. He is singing it now. He should be banned for life from the Democratic Party. But I would love to see a white-haired Bernie in rumpled fatigues following Evita around onstage. That, after all, is who he is, an aging wannabe Che.

I wish I could be in SD to see this.  The tickets are reasonable. The production sounds so exciting with student participation. I think I would love it!

Break a leg, you guys! My heart is with you!

Recommended reading:
Fraser, Nicholas; Navarro, Marysa (1996). Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón. W.W. Norton & Company.
Naipaul, V.S. (1980). The Return of Eva Perón. Alfred A. Knopf
Perón, Eva (1952). La Razón de mi vida. Buro Editors.
I have more titles but they are in the attic. I will supply them upon request.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Hillary Clinton's Girls' Day Out

When your family is out of town and you have a big book tour coming up, how do you spend a Saturday? Hillary Clinton gathered a few gal pals for a shopping spree in the city. Lots of great pics here from Daily Mail.

Lady of leisure: Hillary Clinton enjoys girls' day out in New York City as she shops along Madison Avenue and even stops to hug a fan

  • Hillary Clinton was spotted on New York City's Madison Avenue on Saturday

  • The former first lady was seen with two friends and stopped into various stores 

  • The Clinton family went their separate ways for the weekend

  • Daughter Chelsea attended a book-signing for She Persisted in the Hamptons 

  • Husband Bill visited the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center in Colorado

It was a girls' day out for Hillary Clinton as she and two friends shopped along New York's Madison Avenue on Saturday.The former first lady was dressed in a navy blue ensemble, along with black flats, as she laughed and walked on the city streets with her gal pals.
Flanked by three walking Secret Service agents and two Secret Service vehicles behind, Hillary was greeted by members of the public who seemingly showed support, taking selfies and giving hugs.
It was a girl's day out as Hillary Clinton and two friends shopped along New York's Madison Avenue on Saturday

Friday, August 4, 2017

Onward Together! The Wheels are Rolling!

Congrats to Adam Parkhomenko and Emmy Ruiz! It's like old home week with Ruby Cramer breaking this story about our friends from the campaign trail. Great to see that Dennis Cheng is also there.

Hillary Clinton Hires Two Former Campaign Aides For "Resistance" PAC

Onward Together, the group formed earlier this year, has hired Emmy Ruiz and Adam Parkhomenko, veterans of both Clinton's presidential campaigns.
Originally posted on August 4, 2017, at 6:31 p.m.
Updated on August 4, 2017, at 8:19 p.m.
With Adam and Emmy on board, the grassroots are sure to coalesce into a mighty engine ready to roll through the upcoming contests for statehouses and Congressional and Senatorial seats. All Aboard!


Susan Bordo on Hillary Derangement Syndrome

Susan Bordo, author of The Destruction of Hillary Clinton, has chimed in on the pre-publication "reviews" of Hillary Clinton's upcoming memoir. While Hillary's book will not be released until September, alt-right psychics and soothsayers are already anticipating the content and critiquing the unpublished work.



The book hasn’t even come out yet, but it is already being “reviewed” in the conservative press. A small sampling: Damon Linker, in the Week: “There is not a chance in the world that Clinton’s memoir will frankly examine and reflect on the true causes of her catastrophic defeat.” Matt Vespa, in Town Hall, predicts the book will be “an extended version of her alternative history in which Russia, the FBI, the media, the DNC, and Republicans all conspired to torpedo her presidential ambitions.” Stephen L. Miller, of Fox Newsactually goes as far as to state unequivocally that the book “definitely won’t tell you what really happened.” The book’s title itself—What Happened—has been described as “ridiculous” by Bre Payton of The Federalist, implying that it’s pure hubris for Clinton to claim that knowledge; she then produces examples of the most vicious take-down tweets of the cover.

Describing a book without even having read it is a ploy familiar to those of us who teach, and I really don’t expect any better from the conservative press than a version of “Clinton CliffsNotes.” I was taken aback, however, when Chris Matthews of Hardball sneered at the press description that Clinton, in the book, would be describing the multiple “forces” that she had to contend with during the election. “Forces?” I remember him asking. His scrunched-up face signaled skepticism over the choice of such a volcanic image. Let’s not go too far here, implied Matthews (who in 2008 described Clinton as “witchy” and “a she-devil”), she wasn’t exactly an innocent Dorothy swept up by powerful winds.

Bordo states, "What’s so startling, however—even to someone like me who has followed the twists and turns of Hillary-hating for decades—is its persistence during the nine months since the election." It is remarkable. Just last night, Trump generated a "lock her up" chant at a rally in West Virginia. I do not remember any president continuing to disparage an opponent so long after an election.

On the other hand, since the 2008 election I have been part of a large, tight network of Hillary supporters who have remained close-knit for almost 10 years and counting.  I do not recall any candidate retaining such an active, passionate support base after losing a nomination.

We were ready when, in April 2015, Hillary said, "Go!" We had never left training camp after 2008. We had kept up with her, followed her through the State Department, her speaking tours, and her book signings. We were ready for Hillary.

Testament to the campaign Hillary ran in which we all participated was the enormous popular vote she won. When you outdo your opponent by nearly three million votes, you can hardly be called a loser. Obviously other forces were at work to bring you down.

That is Hillary's story to tell. Her team looks forward to her book tour and to reading what she has to say about her historical run in her own words.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

About Those Pantsuits: Hillary Clinton Boosts Young Designers

If Hillary is your style icon, here is some news about those pantsuits, and it is good news! You, too, can dress Hillary-style!
 

Style

Hillary Clinton's New Pantsuit Look Comes from Two Millennial Female Designers

Posted on August 2, 2017
 
Andrew Toth/Getty
Winning the popular vote but losing the presidency in the Electoral College has hardly seen Hillary Clinton wallowing in sweats. Sure, she went through a phase of walking the backwoods of upstate New York and indulging the selfie requests of fellow hikers. And she’s admitted to finding comfort in play time with her grandchildren and a glass (or two) of chardonnay. But the former first lady, senator and secretary of state is clearly moving on. She’s written a new memoir coming out in the fall, playfully promoted her namesake pumps designed by Katy Perry, and now is giving her iconic lob-and-pantsuit look a fresh twist with the young suit brand Argent, a line designed by two millennial women.
To receive her “Champion of the Century Award” from Planned Parenthood back in May, Clinton selected a suit jacket fittingly created by two young, female designers—and with a pretty budget-friendly price. (Somewhere between the Ann Taylor pieces in Clinton’s closet and the a very pricey look by Giorgio Armani she’s also worn.)
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