You don't like Hillary Clinton. You don't like that she's re-litigating the election. You don't like that she's being interviewed on NPR. You don't like the book she wrote. You don't like that she's coming to your city. You don't like that she's making money off her book tour. You don't like that she isn't groveling for forgiveness for losing the electoral college, but instead attributing her loss to a number of intersecting problems. You don't like that she said Bernie Sanders wasn't a Democrat.
I've been encountering this attitude frequently over the past few days, and there are rebuttals aplenty. Have you read her book? Are you aware that saying Sanders isn't a Democrat isn't a slur but a statement of fact? Did you know that wishing for the disappearance of the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party is kind of a bananas request?
Men on the left who are currently tearing down Clinton at every opportunity are repeating an insidious pattern that led to many women journalists being attacked online during the election, and to many Clinton supporters I know feeling like they had to conceal their beliefs to avoid being talked down to by frothy-mouthed Bernie bros. So when I hear this stuff, it really makes me wonder if we've learned anything at all from the 2016 election. Because frankly, I'm shocked that anyone has the time to go after Clinton when Donald Trump is rescinding DACA and natural disasters are devastating multiple regions of our country and Betsy Devos is taking us back to the bad old days of campus sexual assault. Nut up and get over it, my dudes! We need you focused on those things, not on how much you just remembered you don't like Hillary Clinton.
Because the left really has to reckon with its own sexism if we're going to move forward and survive this batshit presidency. No amount of "Bernie would've won HILLARY SHUT UP" yelling will change that. And so far, many of the people who've stood up to Trump's awful agenda have been women—Kamala Harris, Linda Sarsour, Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, and Carmen Perez on the left; Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski on the right. Meanwhile, #NeverHillary becomes #NeverKamala—this time with a frieze of racism. The left's sexism springs eternal, as if we have literally any time to waste on pettiness. Newsflash, buds: We don't!
But back to Hillary: The fact of the matter is that at this point, Hillary Clinton probably couldn't stop being a public figure if that was what she wanted. But guess what? Clinton isn't the president. She doesn't hold an elected office anymore. Your good opinion of her literally doesn't matter. She doesn't need it. She isn't courting your vote. She isn't beholden to you or anyone else anymore. And maybe—just maybe—that's what you really don't like about her.
