On SAFE's (Stop Abuse for Everyone) website, providing resources for victims of domestic abuse, they list Bill Clinton in the category of "well known domestic violence victims", explaining as follows:
According to a generally complimentary biography Hillary's Choice, by author Gail Sheehy, Hillary Clinton has attacked her husband on several occassions. In 1993, Hillary allegedly slashed Bill Clinton's face with her long fingernails, leaving a "mean Claw mark along his jawline." Dee Dee Myers, the White House spokeswoman at the time, later explained to Sheehy that it had been singer Barbara Streisands visit to the White House that had sparked Hillary's rage. According to Christopher Anderson, author of Bill and Hillary, Hillary also assaulted him on August 13, 1999, after the Monica Lewinsky revelations. Anderson writes: ''Much of what transpired next between Bill and Hillary Clinton was plainly audible to Secret Service agents and household staff members down the hall. In the past, Hillary had thrown books and an ashtray at the President--both hitting their mark...Hillary rose to her feet and slapped him across the face--hard enough to leave a red mark that would be clearly visible to Secret Service agents when he left the room.'' Sheehy's account of the incident is similar, though the book also mentions a lamp that was thrown by Hillary Clinton in this or another incident, but she does confirm the the August 13, 1999 assault by a quote from Hillary friend Linda Bloodworth-Thomasen who was staying with her husband in the private quarters nearby who confirmed that Hillary Clinton ''smacked him upside the head.''
These are troubling allegations that would appear to render Hillary's far-reaching support among women problematic. One would think that domestic abuse would be a cause worthy of great concern among women voters, especially those who rue double-standards placed on women in politics.
If it were a man accused of these sort of assaults against his wife, he would be justly pilloried and directed to counseling and treatment - certainly not a viable candidate for president, lauded as a champion of his gender. In fact, Barack Obama's opponent for the Illionois democratic senatorial nomination, Blair Hull, was forced to withdraw after similar allegations of spousal abuse.
If the allegations are true, and given the pro-Clinton sources, they seem credible, why would women support Hillary in denying, rationalizing or minimizing this sort of behavior, thereby perpetuating such patterns of abuse?