Actions speak louder than words.
It seems that most people agree with this idea -- unless, of course, they choose not to. Why would someone make such a decision? The following scenario should provide a crystal clear answer.
“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all, and among those rights are the right to speak freely and the right to be heard,” Hillary Clinton declared at a 1995 United Nations meeting.
Since then, she has tripled down on female issues. They are pivotal to her campaign; especially equal pay and preventing sexual assault.
When it comes to dealing with women, though, the rosy picture fades. Fast.
At the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation, men are paid 38 percent more than the opposite sex -- specifically when executive positions are considered, according to some number-crunching by The Daily Caller earlier this year. It is based not on conjecture, but the Foundation’s 2013 tax information.
The Daily Caller also determined that, compared to women, men in senior roles are typically compensated $109,000 extra per year. Interestingly, there are almost three men for every one woman “occupy(ing) the executive suites at the Little Rock, Arkansas-based foundation.”
One wonders what happens to women employees who, as Hillary said, “speak freely” and demand “to be heard” about this situation.
Bad as it is, Clinton’s track record with girls stands outright horrific. The story of Kathy Shelton is the starkest example.
On a spring day in 1975, the then-12-year-old Shelton was riding her bicycle to church. A car pulled up alongside the girl and two males -- one adult, one a minor -- abducted her. As the captors drove away, Shelton’s clothes were ripped off. She cried for help, but aside from her abductors, nobody was able to hear.
The kidnappers eventually drove into an expanse of fields. They exited their car, forcing Shelton out as well. Both males proceeded to rape her and afterward beat Shelton so severely that they believed she had died. The kidnapper-rapists returned to their car and drove away. Before leaving, however, one had some words to impart.
“You like it, don’t you, b---h? You like it! You want more of it!” Shelton recalled him saying on a recent Fox News broadcast.
Somehow, she gathered the strength to crawl toward a nearby house where help was summoned. Shelton slipped into a five-day coma. Upon waking, she learned that her ability to bear children was gone.
Shelton’s adult attacker, Thomas Alfred Taylor, was found and charged severely. Luckily for him, his defense attorney was Hillary Clinton.
She decided it would be best to assail Shelton’s character. Court records reveal that Clinton claimed the girl sought “out older men” and partook “in fantasizing.” Meanwhile, Hillary believed her client was guilty as hell.
“It was a fascinating case...He took a lie detector test! I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs,” Clinton admitted, followed by laughter in a 1980s interview archived by the University of Arkansas.
Forensic evidence proving the rape took place was thrown out of court thanks to Hillary’s efforts. She negotiated Taylor’s charge down to “unlawful fondling of a minor”. He was incarcerated for less than one year.
“I don’t think [Clinton’s] for women or girls,” Shelton just told the London-based Daily Mail. “I think she’s lying, I think she said anything she can to get in the campaign and win. If she was, she wouldn’t have done that to me at 12 years old.”
As a sociopolitical realist, I do not imagine any of this will have the slightest impact on Hillary’s core supporters -- seeing as they are apparently motivated by hatred of Donald Trump rather than love for Clinton. These folks have exempted her from the ‘actions speak louder’ rule.
That being said, whatever undecided voters remain should think this entire matter through carefully. Ask yourselves this: ‘Does Hillary care about someone like me? Would Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullin, or Trump really be any worse?’
Like the Clinton campaign asks, are you “Ready for Hillary”? , ,
Joseph Cotto is a historical and social journalist, and writes about politics, economics and social issues. Email him at joseph.f.cotto@gmail.com