Hillary keeps humanity in the game

[Bravo Zulu]

Hillary keeps humanity in the game
by Columnist
Tony Norman

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Over the weekend, the Times published a fascinating piece about Hillary's correspondence with a high school buddy, John Peavoy, from 1965 to 1969. The letters are, to quote the article, "angst-ridden and prosaic, glib and brooding, anguished and ebullient -- a rare unfiltered look into the head and heart of a future first lady and senator and would-be president."
None of the 30 letters is reproduced in full, but the Times published excerpts that go a long way in undermining Hillary Clinton's image as a political automaton.
There was something intensely familiar about her solipsism. In one letter she writes: "Sunday was lethargic from the beginning as I wallowed in a morass of general and specific dislike and pity for most people but me especially." Who hasn't scribbled this same sentence in all of its purple-prosey glory while a freshman in college?
The more I read, the more I began to feel a sense of kinship with the insecure woman who would be president. She's not my first choice, but I'm going to give her more credit for being human. She has a capacity for genuine growth that isn't evident in most of her competitors.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07212/805645-153.stm

[ixion]

1. yeah, I've been charting her "growth"

and I put that in quotes because it's debatable that the evolution of the politician that is Hilary Clinton could be called "growth". Rather than evolving, I would say her politics have been de-evolving.

I disagree with the author about this capacity for growth.

[JohnnyLib2]

2. And agree with the author's point and disagree with you.

Being in the same age range, I was in college with bright and capable (young) women like HRC. In my memory,there was insecurity; there was discouragement by profs of some professional aspirations, and there was a much more narrow role for women. Think of it this way: the campus leaders were probably self-assured men -- future politicians-- in the 60s.
Most of the social changes in opportunities and expectations for women have
come in the years since. So yes, the woman under discussion has capacity for change.

Whew! My wife will like this one.