Tag: Hillary Clinton

The Acceptance Speech I would Love Hillary Clinton to Give

~ slfuchs ~ 2 Comments

(In my dream last night it was November 9, the day after the election, and Hillary Clinton delivered the following speech)

 

Thank you America! Thank you! Thank you for making me the first candidate in history to win the electoral votes in all fifty of these great United States.

While I am beyond grateful for the overwhelming mandate you have given me, I know that this victory does not reflect in the minds of many voters complete confidence in the abilities and experiences of Hillary Clinton. I know that I received many votes because of the glaring character flaws of my opponent and the fears to which the thought of a Trump presidency gives rise.

I know that many of you question many of my actions in the past concerning my speeches, my use of a private email server and the deletion of many emails while I served as Secretary of State, and the relationship between our family foundation and my official duties.

I realize now that it was fair game for people to raise these issues.

I am, of course, eternally grateful to those who have so enthusiastically believed in and supported my candidacy. I would not be here with out you. Still I must acknowledge that some of you were overzealous in criticizing those who criticized me. In America we need to listen to and learn from those who criticize us as long as they do so in a civil tone.

On this day of victory, I want to say to my constructive critics: I HAVE HEARD YOU!

 I have heard you, and I promise as your president never again to do anything that will raise your suspicions about the ethics of my actions.

In his travels across Germany, speaking in school, synagogues and churches, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs has said time and again:

We cannot undo the past, but the future is our to shape.

The past is past. I have made my share of mistakes, and I will do my utmost not to repeat them. Please know, my fellow citizens, that I will try to the very best of my ability to act in ways that will only bring honor to our great country and to the high office to which you have elected me.

May God bless us all as we contemplate the future, and May God bless the United States of America!

Thank you!

My Clinton Conundrum

~ slfuchs ~ 8 Comments

 

Make no mistake! I will vote for Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States, and I will pray that she wins.

Of those with any chance of winning, she is by far the better candidate. It’s not even close.

In fact if I didn’t know how people laughed at Hitler and thought him a beer hall buffoon in the 1920’s I would not think Donald Trump had as ghost of a chance of being president.

But he does!

He effectively cleaned the clocks of a bevy of experienced Republican candidates to win the party’s nomination. That’s enough to scare me.

But what scares me even more is that the more outlandish things he says, the more some people rally to his support.

On one level I understand. People are hurting, and people are scared of the international terrorist threat the world faces. He talks tough and promises change. But his type of change violates every ideal of our democracy including but not limited to: Racial and religious equality, paying (and if you are a presidential candidate disclosing that you pay) your fair share of taxes, understanding that we are a country built by immigrants and doing what we can to help those escaping tyranny. The list is endless, and for more on why the election of Donald Trump would be disastrous, please do a search and read the previous essays in which I make this point on my webpage blog, www.findingourselvesinbiblicalnarratives.com.

And that brings me to Hillary Clinton.

I have expressed my concerns about her character and past actions in a number of Facebook posts. I shall not rehearse them further.

It concerns me that people who love and care for me, and whom I love and care about, have expressed anger and dismay that I would dare say negative things about Ms Clinton.

It disturbs me that some would try to suppress what I consider legitimate criticism of Ms Clinton. It disturbs that think so highly of her that they completely ignore the entire stream of concerns about her that have surfaced in the last 25 years and consider any criticism of her out of bounds.

It disturbs me too that because the election of Trump would be an unmitigated disaster, some think that any criticism of Hillary Clinton should be entirely proscribed.

To my mind the uncritical support of any candidate is inimical to our American democracy and dangerous for our country.

As I often say, “We have all been expelled from the Garden of Eden.” There is no perfect candidate. No, I am not crazy about Ms Clinton, and I have expressed my reasons. Not to do so would be to betray my conception of what our country, freedom of expression and our democracy is all about.

Having said that, I consider Hillary Clinton the best candidate running for President of the United States.

I support her, and I will vote for her, and I urge all of you who care about the future of our country and our children and grandchildren, whose lives will be affected by this election, to vote for her as well.

 

 

Other Women in My Life

~ slfuchs ~ 2 Comments

Although I am not 100% decided, I will probably vote for Hillary Clinton in the Connecticut Democratic Presidential Primary.

If I do, it will only be because I dislike her as a candidate less than I dislike Bernie Sanders.

Because I have written that I am not eager to see Ms Clinton become President of the United States, some have accused me of being sexist.

I would not like her any better if she were a man.

If anything, I would favor her because she is a woman. During a trip to Israel in 1984, I’d learned that the late Geraldine Ferraro would be running for Vice-President. I considered it a cause for celebration.

Looking back over my career as a rabbi, I believe I have done my part to advance the status of women as Jewish clergy.  I am proud to have played a pivotal role in bringing:

  • The first female rabbi to Columbia, Maryland
  • The first female Cantor to Columbia, Maryland
  • The first female rabbi to Nashville, Tennessee
  • The first female Cantor to West Hartford, Connecticut
  • The first lesbian rabbi to West Hartford, Connecticut

I wonder if any of those calling me the “S” word can make such claims. All of those initiatives met resistance, and I did not make these hires unilaterally. But because I was the Senior Rabbi of the congregation in each case, none would have occurred had I not pushed for them. In each case I’m glad I did.

Because of my track record, I bridle when people say that I don’t like Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. My wife says I am jealous that nobody will pay me $250,000 to give a 45-minute speech to Wall Street bigwigs. She is right.

But like Mr. Sanders, I wonder what great wisdom Ms Clinton could impart to warrant such munificent compensation.

Yes, I believe those fees are unseemly to say the least, but I am equally disturbed by Whitewater and Ms. Clinton’s quick turn of profit in the commodities market.

There are other things about Ms Clinton that displease me, but the time has come for me to overlook them. She is not only my likely preferred Democratic candidate, but she is the one with the far better chance of defeating Mr. Trump in the general election.

That to me is job one.

As for the fact that Ms Clinton is a woman … that is the best thing she has going for her.