2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: It kills me to come to a gathering place for democrats [View all]JHan
(10,173 posts)Whole year Clinton was dragged to the level of Trump. There was no distinction made between the candidates - emails were equated with all of Trump's horrors. Uncurated emails were scoured for scandal. Journalistic integrity in reporting leaks went through the window. As for Clinton's email scandal, on the face of it - to me- it was nonsense, and as the investigation wore on, it was confirmed that there was no there there. Comey, being Comey, interjected himself into his conclusions as FBI Director - no surprise as he's something of a zealot. It all added to more speculation and terrible journalism till ridiculous comparisons were made with Watergate.
And the pneumonia episode showed our terrible tendency to dehumanize politicians and there was the whiff of sexism.
Politicians get sick all the time. I don't need them to tell me when or how unless it's really really serious. Clinton did what many women do, (I do this) , which is to soldier on in the face of illness. It reached the level of absurd when there were calls for her to release her medical records - which none of us are entitled to, it was bad enough when Democrats asked for McCain to divulge his in 08.
The one good thing about 2016 is the reminder that grassroots activism is important, the Democratic Party has a great opportunity to truly distinguish itself as enlightened and forward thinking compared to the regressive world view and policies of Trump and the GOP.