Open Letter To Hillary "Triangulator II" Clinton

Hey Folks!

Below is a letter shared with me by my friend Jack Burgess. He expresses very well his (and my) feelings about Ms. Hillary Clinton. Will the REAL Democrats (if there is such a thing) please stand up?

- Uke Man


OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON

Dear Senator Clinton:

I am sorry to say that I cannot contribute to your campaign for the United States Senate or, should you choose to run, for the Presidency. I say "sorry" because as a feminist and an active Democrat I have believed for thirty years that women are underrepresented in our government, and that having a woman president would be one of the most valuable advances we could make politically to further gender equality. Like millions of Americans I see you as the most likely candidate to become that first woman president. And, until a couple of years ago, I saw myself as a strong supporter of you and your potential candidacy.

This is no peripheral matter to me. As a leader in my teachers' organization in Columbus, Ohio I worked hard for gender equality, establishing a Task Force on Sex Discrimination, suing the school board for discrimination in women's sports, picketing discriminatory school events, negotiating the first maternity leave policies, and working in the broader community for gender equality. I did so not just for women's rights, as important as they are, but because I believe that gender inequality is one of the major problems on our planet, hurting not only women everywhere, but to a lesser extent men as well, and contributing significantly to problems of hunger, economic retardation, and war itself.

Which brings me to my main point: There are two reasons why I cannot support you. The first was and is your support for the illegal, immoral, and counterproductive war on Iraq. I believe you to be a very well-informed and intelligent person, and as such, I believe you must have known that none of the reasons given for attacking Iraq were valid. It appears to me that your vote was intended as political cover for what would surely be an attack from the right on your perceived "softness" on terrorism. So, your vote was to aid your career, but also to send young men and women into harm's way, and to inflict untold injuries and death on the Iraqi people, to protect your career from assault from the right. If I am wrong about your motives, I apologize. But if so, and you did not understand, or failed to inform yourself about the facts in Iraq, this too would disqualify you. Twenty-one Democratic Senators and most Democrats in the House---including all of Ohio's---figured this out. I will support them, rather than those who support this war.

If any other reason were needed for not supporting your candidacy, it came yesterday, when it was announced that you were supporting a constitutional amendment to ban "desecration" of the American flag. As a civil libertarian I am greatly saddened by this move. Your support for this repressive idea---which crops up ever so often, usually when the Republicans are in trouble---may finally put it over the top. Such an amendment, forcing people to "honor" the flag, will have the opposite effect. We have enough trouble of this sort already, with the "under God" words making millions of Americans particularly uncomfortable in the pledge to the flag. You cannot coerce the American people into a false unity behind a symbol, any more than President George Bush could unite us all behind his war. People burn or otherwise protest against the flag only when they are greatly aggrieved. Usually it's about war, or discrimination, as when American Indians don't see the flag as a positive symbol, or some African Americans, or Muslim-Americans question their own treatment under the flag.

As a veteran and a patriotic American, I fly the flag regularly at my house. But as a teen I just once respectfully declined to salute the flag, though remaining seated and quiet. I wanted to see what would happen. I was sent immediately to the school office. As a teacher in the intervening years, I saw this sort of thing repeated over and over. Amending the Bill of Rights to require obeisance may force people to be more superficially respectful, but I hope not. We Americans hate to be forced to do anything. It's called freedom. It's called individuality. It's called liberty. We value these things greatly. The result of your flag amendment, should you be successful, will be more division and animosity, not less.

I am aware that you have supported some positive legislation and that you have sometimes spoken out for working people. But so have many other Democrats who do not support the war or support taking away any of our personal freedoms. I will support them instead.

Yours truly,

Jack Burgess
Teacher of American & Global Studies, Retired
Formerly, Executive Director, Columbus Education Assn., &
Labor Coordinator, Ohio Volunteers for Dean