Why Hillary Makes Right-Wingers So Crazy

[DemocratSinceBirth]

The composure and toughness she demonstrated at the Benghazi hearing threatens a worldview rooted in patriarchy.

When sizing up a politician’s potential for filling the role of commander-in-chief, there are a number of things the average voter might assess. For instance, you might want someone who can keep her cool under fire.

On Thursday, appearing before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Hillary Clinton proved that she had that stuff. Even if she offered the occasionally sharp rejoinder to questions from Republicans on the committee—a committee that the Republican House majority leader all but admitted was convened to harm her presidential bid—her demeanor remained remarkably consistent throughout.

In assessing a prospective president, you might also want to consider a candidate’s stamina, seeing as he or she is angling for perhaps the most demanding job on earth. After at least nine hours of testimony in an 11-hour stretch, Clinton proved she’s got stamina in spades. We likely won’t be hearing much more talk about whether she’s too old for the job.

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All of which calls the question: Why on earth have right-wingers always been so unhinged in their hatred for the Clintons?

It was that he was married to that woman—a woman with a brain as big as his, ambitions as big as his, and who had been the breadwinner of her family, freeing her husband to seek low-paying positions such as governor of Arkansas.
No, it wasn’t Bill’s draft-dodging or his weasly answer when asked if he had ever smoked pot. It wasn’t even his philandering. It was that he was married to that woman—a woman with a brain as big as his, ambitions as big as his, and who had been the breadwinner of her family, freeing her husband to seek low-paying positions such as governor of Arkansas. Worse, she wasn’t keeping her breadwinning under wraps. She had a high-powered career as an attorney, and she was proud of the fact. And even worse than that, Bill made it clear that he was proud of her accomplishments.

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Because there’s nothing so threatening to patriarchy than a smart woman—especially one who is playing to win.