I don’t know why I just now heard about this, seeing as the story broke in October and, apparently, underneath most people’s radars. It didn’t make a significant splash in the national news.
It should have.
I have repeatedly expressed concerns about Hillary Clinton compromising too much. This is just one of many examples. As the Wall Street Journal reported:
Hillary Clinton voiced anger over a State Department decision to make U.S. passport application and oversea birth forms gender neutral by scrapping references to “mother” and “father,” worrying that the change would provide partisan fodder for Fox News and conservatives such as former Alaska gov. Sarah Palin, a newly released email shows.
Sarah Palin?! Who cares about what Sarah Palin, Fox News, and other conservatives think? They should not be polled for Civil Rights decisions, at all, period. And yet, she clearly did, as the public email below shows:
That’s outrageous. And what is that about her saying that she won’t defend that decision? And disagreeing with it?
And the result?
About a half hour later, her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, replied: “Reaching out to folks to find out.”
The new language was quickly dropped.
The following day, Ms. Mills sent to Mrs. Clinton an Associated Press article headlined: “State Department steps back on gender-neutral parentage, won’t replace terms ‘mother,’ ‘father.’”
Those are real consequences.
Let me be absolutely clear here.
Because Clinton thought the position of Fox News, Palin, and far right conservatives was more important than the position of so-called “nontraditional” families, she had the language taken out.
This wasn’t back in 2004, when she famously talked against a Constitutional Amendment to make same-sex marriages legal, citing personal beliefs.
This was in 2011. 2011, when support for same-sex marriage was at 53%.
2011, when she was Secretary of State.
It is as much a part of her record, in my opinion, as anything she did while in this office. It is one of many examples of her compromises on Civil Rights that she seems poised to continue.
The change was not proposed and then rejected.
It was made. And then rejected, not by the Republicans, but by Clinton herself. She effectively turned progress backwards. Because, in her opinion, it was impractical.
I don’t know what to say. It’s not just this one incident. It’s her theory of governing, in general, that’s off.
We are at a crucial moment in our nation’s history. We cannot afford to drag our feet out of fear of Trump or Palin or any of their ilk. Which is why I think Clinton supporters should probably think long and hard about the future they want for this country.
Thanks for reading.
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