Mr. Write's Page

It’s an unfortunate fact that some people simply aren’t likable. They come across as sour, distant, resentful, or whatever — probably because of some personal issue that festers within. How they got that way, only a qualified psychiatrist could explain.

People like that, I assume, are unhappy about some event in the past. Or maybe they regret how life has turned out. Whatever the reason, it gives them a bad attitude and makes them uncomfortably unpleasant.

I put Hillary Clinton in that category.

I’ve never liked Hillary very much. From my vantage point, she doesn’t seem like a very nice person. Not malevolent, as the right-wingers portray her, but not exactly kindly and amiable, either.

Of course, when a politician is targeted for decades by the Right-Wing Hit Machine, it’s no surprise that they become guarded and suspicious.

But I’m not talking about the Hillary she evolved into. I’m referring to the real Hillary, as we saw her in the early days, when Bill was Mr. Affable, a smiling, aw-shucks Southern politician, and she was his icy, no-nonsense wife from Chicago. The one who refused to stay home and bake cookies.

Early on, I pegged her as a sour person with issues, and I still do.

But, hey — so what? Hillary Warmth she isn’t. But she is easily the most competent person in politics.

Hillary is driven. She is hell-bent to climb the political ladder because she is wired that way. She has a fierce determination, a fire in the belly you don’t often see. In practice, that means she gives it her all when she addresses a task.

It’s a trait you want to see in your doctor, your lawyer, and, by God, your President.

Fortunately, Hillary is a Democrat, so her head is on straight. Her beliefs are, by and large, normal and rational. She is grounded in reality.

She certainly isn’t the “cartoon Hillary” created in conservative La-La Land for the consumption of the loony right-wing base. (How they got that way, only a qualified psychiatrist could explain.)

On the subject of reality, consider some facts.

— Hillary started out as a successful lawyer. When she became First Lady, being Hillary, she tried to make a more significant contribution than her predecessors. She did serious work on programs to help children. More famously, she tackled healthcare, trying to make it more available and affordable. To no avail, thanks to GOP obstruction.

— When she was elected to the Senate, she began by keeping a low profile and patiently learning the system. She did her homework. She applied herself. Her colleagues widely respected her commitment and regarded her as sincere, hard-working, and effective. That’s a genuine fact. Look it up.

— As Secretary of State, she worked tirelessly and did a commendable job for the country. Like Obama, she gained the genuine respect of the majority of world leaders. That, too, is a genuine fact.

But facts, as you know, are expendable inside the bubble that insulates the Fox News crowd from the rest of the world. The righties never hesitate to make stuff up, no matter how insane on its face, if it works to their political advantage. They are experts at selling ding-dong ideas to the ding-dongs.

Even though Hillary’s solid record in the Senate and as Secretary of State is well-documented, her enemies label her a failed Senator and, usually, the worst Secretary of State in history. It’s a lie, but the party base loves it and no doubt believes it.

Furthermore, in their version of reality, Hillary is a serial murderer.

During Bill’s first year in office, White House Counsel Vince Foster committed suicide. The right-wingers claimed that Foster actually was murdered, on orders from the Clintons. Why? Foster was about to reveal his affair with Hillary and other nefarious things. Yep.

There are still websites today that detail the many murders supposedly committed by the Clintons. Bill and Hillary, you see, have rubbed out over 90 people over the years. John F. Kennedy, Jr. was among them. Seriously.

As we all recall, Bill eventually was revealed to be a womanizer. After much drama, the matter fell out of the public eye. But when Hillary got serious about a run for President, the right-wingers came up with a new wrinkle: they dragged Hillary into the issue by portraying her as Bill’s “enabler” and the person in charge of hounding and discrediting his accusers. Whatever works, folks.

Because Hillary was Secretary of State when the Benghazi attack occurred, the Republicans tried to pin the blame on her. Why not give it a shot? It might hurt her presidential bid.

One of Hillary’s finest hours was her testimony in 2015 before the House’s laughable Benghazi Committee. They underestimated her, and after a remarkable 11-hour session, she left her Republican attackers looking silly.

Hillary Clinton during her testimony before the House Benghazi Committee.

Now that the presidential campaign is underway, all the old garbage is being unearthed and flung against the wall again. Plus, new conspiracy theories are being added to the list, some totally deranged, some containing a tantalizing scintilla of fact (e.g., her non-government email server).

One recent attack is that Hillary has dreadful health problems that she and her campaign are covering up.

Last month, the righties began peddling a fake medical report about Hillary’s health. Under the name of Hillary’s real physician, the report claims that since 2012 (when she suffered a concussion), Hillary has experienced blackouts, memory loss, and uncontrollable twitching. 100 percent fabricated.

The report claims Hillary has been diagnosed with “Complex Partial Seizures” and “early-onset Subcortical Vascular Dementia” (aka Alzheimer’s). Included in the report is an image, labeled as an MRA of Hillary’s brain, showing ominous abnormalities. Again, all phony, all fake, all lies.

Now the righties are taking shots at the Clinton Foundation. They claim donors got special treatment when Hillary was Secretary of State. They say the foundation is nothing but a cash cow for Bill and Hillary and needs to be shut down.

This is bound to get conservative blood boiling, and the allegations are easy to make. But they obscure the fact that the Clinton Foundation is an important, highly effective charity.

Some of its accomplishments since 2005, according to Forbes:

— Provided treatment to more than 36 million people with tropical diseases.

— Raised $313 million for research on new vaccines and medicines.

— Arranged access to healthier meals in more than 31,000 American schools in poor communities with high obesity rates.

— Helped provide better maternal and child care to more than 110 million people.

— Negotiated price cuts as high as 90% for HIV/AIDS treatment for more than 11 million people in 70 countries.

— Planning to build a world-class cancer diagnostic and treatment system in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti.

But sure, shut that phony operation down.

Some other recent anti-Hillary accusations I rounded up with a quick bit of Googling:

— She has had at least four lesbian lovers.

— She “embraces every sexual deviancy you can imagine.”

— She wants to flood the country with immigrants — specifically, “uneducated, diseased, criminal, lazy” immigrants — because they are reliable Democratic voters.

— She wants to “usher in the Antichrist.”

— If she is President, Christians will be thrown into jail for expressing their views.

— She intends to seize all guns in order to stop an armed rebellion by, you know, real Americans. (As Obama also was poised to do, for the last eight years.)

For goodness sake, get a grip. Hillary Clinton is not the evil, perverted, over-the-top cartoon version that the right-wingers have created to please the “lock her up” crowd. She’s just a hyper-motivated politician, driven by something inside, who wants the presidency as much as she wants oxygen.

She may not be Hillary Warmth, and that’s a shame, but she deserves the job. She’s easily the most prepared and most qualified person around.

And besides that, it’s way past time we had a female President. 240 years as a country, and we have yet to elect a woman to the office. That’s embarrassing.

By any measure, Hillary is a good choice for the job.

Especially when you consider the alternative.

How he got that way, only a qualified psychiatrist could explain.