...and so it begins.
Hillary Clinton was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House.
Hillary Clinton holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Wellesley College, and a law degree from Yale University.
Michelle Obama holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Princeton University, and a law degree from Harvard University.
Besides being highly educated, successful career women married to post- and future- presidential figures, what do Hillary and Michelle have in common?
Why, they're both America-hating feminazis, don'cha know!! At least that's what the right-wing smear machine is going to have low-information (bitter?) voters believing over the next months and years (assuming Democrats close the deal this election cycle). Reading DKos these days, it may be hard to remember there was a time when Hillary Clinton was once admired and respected by progressives for her independence and drive. Nowadays, reading DKos is often similar to reading Newsmax.com when it comes to Hillary, where the worst motives and interpretations are knee-jerkingly attributed to all things Clinton. Mission accomplished for the neocons, I guess.
But be forewarned, those same smear merchants on the right will get to the Obamas in due time. Michelle is already in their sites. I just hope in the future, I don't visit DKos (or whatever exists 15 years in the future) and see a decade's worth of ad hominem GOP talking points being appropriated by Kossacks (or Kossack equivalents) to attack Michelle Obama for being on the wrong side of a future politician. But history has a funny way of repeating itself.
[To be fair, I've cringed during this campaign when Hillary and/or some of her surrogates applied GOP-style hits on Barrack Obama. And her pandering has been a real disappointment. But many accusations against her on this website have been unwarranted, and seem eerily similar to GOP-style hits. (Disclaimer: my vote for Hillary in the primary came from my high respect for General Wes Clark, who endorsed her early on--I thought she might give him the VP spot. Obama has been a far superior candidate since February, but I don't dismiss Clinton's record over the decades so easily. I still want Clark as VP.). But unlike the saltiest among you, I have no doubt she will step back into the fold and campaign hard for Obama in the fall.]
Rest assured, the GOP loves to see Democrats borrowing from their playbook to undercut each other. All the dung they hurled at the Clintons over the years paid off for them. It brought us George W. Bush. It also provided a story line for how the corporate media treated Hillary from the outset. Now, they're dusting off the old playbook they used against Hillary for Michelle.
Let's take a short trip down memory lane.
Beginning with Daniel Wattenberg's August 1992 The American Spectator article "The Lady Macbeth of Little Rock", Hillary Clinton's own past ideological and ethical record came under conservative attack.[73]
Vince Foster, Rose Law Firm, Whitewater, Susan McDougall, etc.--Ken Starr went on a tax-paid witch hunt. Despite all the investigations that led nowhere, there are still many websites up and running dedicated to perpetuating rumors, innuendo, and proven lies about the Clintons. Some of those rumors and pejoratives (Billary, Shrillery, etc.) have been adopted right here on DKos with great conviction and venom.
Hillary has made a lot of mistakes in this campaign, and I know a lot of Kossacks (Kos himself, for example) want to poke her in the eye every chance they get and disparage her for continuing her campaign. Yes, it's over. But many people are forgetting about the historic nature of her run. A lot of women want to see her to reach the finish line. Can you blame them, any more than the very solid bloc of African-Americans who place a great deal of pride in Obama's historic run?
The Obamas have already become subjects of websites and emails dedicated to perpetuating rumors, innuendo, and lies.
Make no mistake about it, the Hillarization of Michelle Obama has begun. The Tennessee GOP has just released a new video making hay over Michelle Obama's old "proud of America" statement. Before that, there was a lot of talk about her college thesison the "racial divide" at Princeton. (As it turns out, her racist college roommate actually was horrified at the thought of a black roommate.) There's more, but I don't want to propagate that kind of nonsense here. I just want to make a point.
The next time you have the urge to bash Hillary, best to do it with your own thoughts. Don't let the right wing poison your mind, because today's Michelle Obama can easily be transformed into tomorrow's Hillary Clinton if you let the dung sink in long enough.