Saturday, February 27, 2016

Clinton Looks Forward to the Big Race

In her South Carolina victory speech, Hillary said the necessary things about the upcoming primaries – not taking anything for granted, competing for every vote. But she is clearly setting herself up for a confrontation with Trump:
We don’t need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers. . . . We need more love and kindness in our hearts and more respect for each other, even when we disagree. I know it sometimes seems a little odd for someone running for President these days, in this time, to say we need more love and kindness in America. But I'm telling you from the bottom of my heart, we do. We do. We have so much to look forward to. There is no doubt in my mind that America's best years can be ahead of us. We have got to believe that. We've got to work for that. We have to stand with each other. We have to hold each other up. Lift each other up. Move together into the future that we will make.
The "American never stopped being great" line aligns her with Obama, whose last few big speeches have all expressed a belief that this America – more multicultural, less racist, less sexist – is the best America ever.

2 comments:

G. Verloren said...

"...a belief that this America – more multicultural, less racist, less sexist – is the best America ever."

The problem is that from the perspective of America's xenophobes, racists, and misogynists, things are at an all time low.

They can only tolerate improvements in the lots of women and minorities if they are accompanied by equal or greater gains for themselves. It's not enough for them that the overall prosperity of the nation is increasing - if their own slice of the pie doesn't grow as much or more than anyone else's then they feel cheated, and of course that feeds right into reinforcing and "confirming" their biases and hatreds.

The traditionally privileged see their exclusive place in the sun rapidly deteriorating, and it frightens them and makes them desperate. They lash out in response, trying to reassert their "dominance", trying to "win" what they see as a just and noble struggle to preserve what is "rightfully theirs".

When Trump talks about "making America great again", he's talking about restoring white male privilege, and his supporters understand that and worship him for it.

Susi said...

Historically, I'm a Republican... I believe in so many of their values. However!! This current Republican Party is cold, calculating and has abandoned the moral values that I believe. All the candidates are repugnant. The 'Christian' right would make their G-d nauseous.