“As a person, I’m O.K., as an American, I’m pretty worried.” -Hillary Clinton
Understandably, Hillary Clinton has laid low since her heartbreaking presidential defeat in November. While many of us wish she had won, her absence from the public eye does seem to have lent her a previously unheard frankness. The former Secretary of State was featured at last week’s Women In The World summit in NYC in her first official interview since the election and she had plenty to say about her sickening loss and the current state of the union.
Clinton didn’t mince words when New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asked her about Russian meddling into the election, comparing the country’s action to Watergate and saying, “I’m hopeful that the Congress will pull together and realize that because of the success the Kremlin feels it’s had they’re not going to go away. So whatever party you are, whatever business you run, whatever concerns you have, if we don’t take action together to hold whoever was involved accountable, they will be back time and time again.” She was even more frank when sharing her observations about the Trump administration. Stating, “I don’t take any pleasure in seeing the kind of chaotic functioning. Here’s what I don’t understand — I don’t understand the commitment to hurt so many people that this administration, this White House, seems to be pursuing.”
She was blunter still when discussing the level of sexism in this country: “The targeting of women — which is what’s going on — is absolutely beyond any political agenda.” On her loss she proclaimed that “Certainly misogyny played a role” as it did in her success as Secretary of State: “It was a job that I was asked to do by a man.” Clinton got feisty when discussing recent Republican efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act. “They had not a clue what that meant. I don’t know if any of them had ever even read the bill…The things that come out of some of these men’s mouths! Like, ‘why do we have to cover maternity care?’ Well, I don’t know, maybe you were dropped by immaculate conception?”
While Clinton has no plans to run for any other office she is currently writing a book about the events leading up to that election and of course, she will continue her life’s work – advocating for women and children. We can’t to see everything that the new, uncensored, Hillary can accomplish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EptSiGwuaKc
Clinton got her mojo back by decompressing away from the public eye. In contrast, Bernie Sanders has remained firmly in the political spotlight since the election. His latest endeavor takes makes perfect sense considering his commitment to community outreach and his devoted fan base of young voters. Sanders now has a Facebook Live talk show and it is a sort of twenty-first century update of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats in which the 32nd president had thirty radio broadcasts to communicate with the country about current events. Sander’s show is only four episodes in and is already wildly successful. On the show, which functions as a sort of interactive podcast, the Vermont Senator interviews important figures (his climate change episode with scientist Bill Nye racked up over 4.5 million views). To make sure that the show touches on the issues that are important to everyday people, Sanders goes through comments on his Facebook page to see what people are discussing. He is also planning on touring the country to bring working class citizens on the show – those same people who rallied behind him during the election. So far, plans indicate that he will start his national tour by talking to fast food workers about raising the minimum wage. Watch new episodes of The Bernie Sanders show live on his Facebook page.
