hillary clinton Archives

Editorial July 21, 2018

Does Vladimir Putin own Donald Trump?

At the now infamous US-Russia summit in Helsinki, Vladimir Putin made what President Trump characterized as “an incredible offer”: In exchange for allowing Special Counsel Bob Mueller to question Russian intelligence officers indicted in the collusion probe, Putin wants to question Americans he claims were involved in ‘crimes’ against Russia.

Putin accused American-born British financier Bill Browder and his partners of conspiring with US intelligence officials to launder $400 million out of Russia and into the campaign coffers of Hillary Clinton.

Total funds raised by Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election cycle amount to $563 million, so that would mean Browder and associates funded an astounding 71% of her campaign. Perhaps the sheer absurdity is what forced Putin to recant his statement.

Nevertheless, the Russians released a list of 11 Americans they want to question, including Michael McFaul, former US Ambassador to Russia under President Obama and a vociferous Putin critic. The list also names at least two other diplomats, as well as members of the intelligence community.

On Wednesday, New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman prodded press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to clarify President Trump’s position. Is he really willing to hand American officials over for questioning by Putin?

“There was some conversation about it,” Sanders said, “but there wasn’t a commitment made on behalf of the United States. And the president will work with his team and we’ll let you know if there’s an announcement on that.”

Let’s be clear: no president should have to “work with his team” on this. The immediate, obvious answer is “nyet!” What could possibly be more impolitic than subjecting American diplomats to interrogation by a hostile power without a whiff of evidence? And what could possibly make Trump look even more like a Putin stooge?

The common thread connecting the 11 Americans singled out by Putin seems their work on sanctions against Russia. This is really about Bill Browder and the Magnitsky Act.

Although Putin now treats Browder as a bête noire, they were once allies. Browder’s Hermitage Capital Management was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was suddenly stripped of his visa and deported as a “national security threat.” The exact reason is unclear, but it’s worth noting Hermitage had made a habit of auditing corrupt Russian conglomerates with ties to the Kremlin.

In the wake of Browder’s expulsion, Sergei Magnitsky, Browder’s Russian accountant, alleged that police helped organized crime groups to take over three of Hermitage’s businesses and claim fraudulent tax refunds on their behalf amounting to $230 million.

Magnitsky was arrested in 2008. He was held for 11 months without trial, denied necessary medical attention, and then beaten to death seven days before the Russian government was legally required to release him.

The murder of this whistleblower triggered an international outcry. Browder reached out to his political contacts in the US, who responded by introducing the Magnitsky Act. Signed into law by President Obama in 2012, it barred Russians accused of human rights abuses from entering the US and froze their stateside assets. The Act was later expanded to include criminals from other countries as well.

Canada passed its own Magnitsky Act in 2017; the UK and the Baltic states have done likewise.

Putin has fought bitterly against this legislation. Repealing Magnitsky was apparently the big ask of Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Kremlin-linked lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. and other Trump campaign officials at Trump Tower in 2016 after offering dirt on Hillary Clinton through intermediaries.

As fate would have it, Veselnitskaya also defended Prevezon Holdings Ltd in American court, a Russian firm accused of laundering $14 million of dirty money into the New York real estate market. About $600,000 of those funds came from the $230 million tax fraud that caused Magnitsky to be killed in the first place.

Trump’s ham-fisted overtures to Putin make less than no sense from a policy perspective.

The Russian Federation is a kleptocracy to rival Ferdinand Marcos’ Philippines or Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire. It is a pirate state, run by a cabal of crooked bureaucrats, tycoons, and gangsters who have plundered their country’s natural wealth, depriving their own people.

Despite an official salary of US $302,000, Putin lives in a $1 billion palace and owns a $500 million yacht. He may, in fact, be the richest man in the world, and he didn’t get there by saving paycheques from his days as a middling KGB officer in East Germany.

Russia has invaded Crimea, shot down a passenger jet over Ukraine, and propped up the mass-murdering Assad regime in Syria. Russian intelligence operatives have hacked into American political institutions, interfered in an American election, bought influence with right-wing groups like the NRA, and waged an information war against the concept of democracy itself. They haven’t backed off, either; if anything, they’re doubling down.

Sanctions, combined with tepid world oil prices since 2014, have crippled Putin’s economy, and his popularity is in serious decline. Given his intransigence, the sensible course is to keep up the pressure until his people finally tire of him.

But Donald Trump continues to give succour to Putin, his cronies, and their corrosive conspiracy theories. That’s why the mainstream media is (finally, belatedly) asking: does Putin literally own Trump?

Trump doesn’t have the power to give Russia Bill Browder; Browder has been a citizen of the UK since 1998. He probably won’t hand over American diplomats like Ambassador McFaul either. Still, that he would even contemplate it can only be described as rock bottom, even for an administration that has hit rock bottom many times before and kept on drilling. They’re fracking for personal worsts.

If President Trump is a Russian asset, he’s certainly the most guileless in history. Yet he seems poised to get away with it by virtue of his position and his cult of personality.

Somewhere, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are clawing at the lids of their coffins.

News September 29, 2017

Hillary Clinton stops in Toronto with praise and a look to the future

“Resist, insist, persist, and enlist.”

That was the message former Democratic presidential candidate and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left with the crowd of over 5,000 people squished into the Encare Centre near Exhibition Place in Toronto.

“I’m here tonight to talk about a book, but more then that to talk about the issues that confront us,” she said. “I don’t want anybody to give up because it’s hard. It’s not going to happen just because we want it to. We have to work for it.”

During the hour-long talk on Sept. 28, Clinton discussed the results of the 2016 election and looked to the future of politics, not just in the United States, but around the world. With a nod to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his gender-equal cabinet, Clinton reminisced about “what happened“ a year ago. She spoke candidly about the mistakes she made during the campaign, how the FBI director’s investigation directly interfered with the votes, and the continuing influence of Russia in U.S. affairs.

Finally, she spoke with grace and honesty about her experiences as a woman in politics. “I admit that I’ve always felt that I had to be careful in public, to keep my guard up. Well, that’s all gone.”

Her new memoire, What Happened, has been criticized by many current politicians in both parties for staying in the limelight following her loss to now President Donald Trump. But Clinton, as she says, is not letting go of her opinion. Her newest organization, Onward Together, was founded in May to help encourage young people to get involved in the democratic process and to support grassroots organizations that are helping engage youth in the conversation.

“I am not going anywhere except in the middle of the debate about our future!”

Here are four of the most powerful themes Clinton touched during her speech:

Women in politics

“The only way I know of to get sexism out of politics is to get more women in to politics.

For men, professional success and likability go hand in hand. Not for women. In other words, the more successful a man becomes, the more people like him. With women it’s the exact opposite. The more professionally successful we are, the less people like us. Probably a few of you in this room have an inkling as to what I’m talking about. And not only that, women are seen favourably if we advocate for others, but unfavourably if we advocate for ourselves. That struck a cord.

It is eye-rolling to see a picture of a group of white, someone elderly men, sitting around a table deciding what health care women need. So I’d like more women in politics so our politics is more representative and then the voices of families and communities and entire nations are heard. “

On accuracy and truth

“There is no such thing as an alternative fact. Despite the best efforts by some, to wage a war on reason and evidence, we can’t let that happen

We are living through an all-out assault on truth and reason. When leaders deny things we can see with our own eyes, like the size of a crowd at an inauguration, or refuse to accept sound science when it comes to urgent challenges like climate change, it isn’t just frustrating to those of us living in the fact-based universe. It is insidious and deeply subversive to democracy.

Democracy is under assault. We must insist on truth and accuracy and we must hold elected leaders and the press accountable when they do not perform on behalf of truth and accuracy.”

On Trump looming over her during the debate

“I wrote about this because I wanted to take you into my mind about what it’s like to be on a stage in front of probably 60 to 70 million people watching and to have you opponent stalking you, and making faces, and generally drawing attention towards himself in contrast to what we were supposed to be talking about – simple things like how to create jobs and give people better futures by making college affordable – so, I had prepared for the debate and I suspected he might try to do something like that. We actually practiced it. I worked on keeping my composure because I thought you’d kind of want a president who is composed. It’s one thing to practice it, and another to be there in the moment.

Yes, my mind was going, calm, composed, versus ‘whip around and say you like to intimidate women, you are not going to intimidate me, back up you creep.” It might have been more satisfying, but I’m not sure it would have been the best strategy. “

On seeing a woman as president in our lifetime

“Well I certainly hope so. I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen. Our system though is really tough. How come other countries have had at least one woman as a head of government? In our system, literally anyone can run for president. As we have seen. In our system, it comes down to the level of your devotion to the job you want to get and why you think you would make a good president and why you think you will make a difference. And it comes down to your pain threshold and I think we may well have in 2020 maybe 20 to 25 who will run.

Eventually, we will have a woman president and I hope she is someone I can agree with so I can support her!”

Featured photo by Gage Skidmore.

Fashion January 20, 2017

Should you ditch your daily makeup routine?

A part of almost every woman’s morning routine is makeup. Whether they go for a neutral look with some concealer and blush, or opt for a more glamorous contour and fake lashes combination, it’s no secret that women spend a lot of time enhancing their physical features for both visual appeal and mental satisfaction — no woman can deny the power they feel when sporting a bold lip.

However, there seems to be a shift in beauty practices recently, as female powerhouses such as Alicia Keys and Hilary Clinton were seen at some very public events without a spot of makeup on their faces. The message behind this small change is simple; women don’t need makeup to be fierce. Its not only empowering, but rather inspirational. The no-makeup trend has created a wave on social media with both women and men either criticizing or embracing their choice to wear makeup, in addition to posting bare faced selfies for hundreds of people to view.

Brr.

Although it would be empowering to hop on to this bandwagon as a testament to 2017, going makeup free is just not something I’m ready to commit to. I personally love the transformation that comes with a good makeup look. It gives you the ability to travel eras; from a classic 1920’s winged liner and red lips look to a modern day grunge, featuring black lips and a smokey eye.

Personalities alter with makeup. Ladies can attest to the flirty side that is revealed with the right red lipstick, or the inner goddess that comes out to play with a dark, burgundy pout.

Unfortunately, I’m still at a point in my life where going bare-faced makes me feel less confident and a little underdressed. Battling self esteem issues has influenced me to hide my imperfections behind a plethora of concealer and a dash of self loathing. But the more runs I make to the convenient store across the street in sweatpants and the unwanted guest on my forehead, the more I realize the beauty that comes with going au naturel.

The vulnerability that comes with a bare face is refreshing. It allows people a more personal view into your life. Only a handful of people are able to see a glimpse of what you look like first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. And although expanding your audience to your Chanel bags and freckles can be daunting, it is something that should be on your bucket list.

Going makeup free not only forces you to build self love and confidence, its opens the door to breathable, clearer skin- in addition to more time spent doing things other than cleaning your makeup brushes, taking off your makeup, and of course the stressful morning ritual of actually putting it on.

If Alicia Keys can hit the red carpet with her perfect flaws, an army of empowered women is bound to follow. It’s time women gave patriarchy the middle finger and stopped covering up behind over priced foundation. “Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing,” as Keys so beautifully vowed.

I’m behind you, Keys- a few times a week, especially on Sundays.

Will you join the makeup free trend? Let us know in the comments below!

News November 9, 2016

Fear and hatred elected President Donald Trump

“This loss hurts, but please, never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it. It is worth it,” Hillary Clinton said during her concession speech on Nov. 9. “And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable, powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

The United States has a new President — and that President is Donald Trump.

I’m numb. I’m not even sure I’ve completely processed this information. As editor of Women’s Post, I was watching the election results come in Tuesday night with the expectation that I would be writing a piece the following day about the first female President of the United States. Staff created some templates with details of Hillary Clinton’s life, focusing on her expertise and capability for the office. There were photos, graphs, and lots of feminist quotes to throw in. It would have been easy to put together a great profile for our readers.

Instead, I’m writing a piece about how a racist, misogynist man who thinks sexual harassment is locker talk, who was endorsed by the KKK, and who believes that all immigrants are thieves and rapists, became President of the United States.

Let’s tackle the first aspect of this question: how? How on earth did this happen?!

Obviously, there were a lot of factors. Voters were upset with how their political system worked and wanted change. There was a predominant disgust of “the elite”, an undefined group that tends to include politicians that can’t relate with the majority of the American people. When voters get frustrated with their politicians, it makes it hard for them to vote for the status quo. It also didn’t help that the FBI interfered with the election by releasing unfounded information that brought Clinton’s emails back to the surface at a critical point in the campaign.

But above all else, I think the underlying reason why Trump won is hate. Hate of “the other” and fear of “non-American values”. Throughout this campaign, Trump has capitalized on the fear and intolerance of the American people. Hate of immigrants, hate of women, hate of African Americans, hate of the LGBTQ community, and hate of the media. Hate for “the other” — people who are not like you. Hate of uncertainty.

This fact makes me sad. As a Canadian, I was raised with an understanding of tolerance and acceptance, that people, no matter their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, should be treated equally. I was taught that respect and kindness was the ultimate value. Sure, I know Canada isn’t perfect. This country has it’s own problems with racism and misogyny, but it’s nothing compared to what I witnessed during the US presidential campaign.

The Trump rallies incited violence, talks of waterboarding and torture for enemies, and general sexual harassment. Protesters were attacked for simply holding up signs that said they were anti-Trump. People of various ethnicities were dragged out of conference rooms. Is this what Americans should expect from their new president?

Trump won the election with 279 electoral votes compared to Clinton’s 218 (as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday). It was a close race, much tighter than anyone expected, with large swing states flip-flopping between the two candidates until about 3 a.m. What does this mean? A lot more people in the United States let fear dictate their decision, fear of unemployment, fear of immigrants, and fear of the unknown. Instead of voting for someone inspirational, capable, and strong enough to incite real change, they voted for the person who made them scared of the future. This person told them they should be afraid, that the political system was rigged and corrupt, and said he was the only person that could protect them from these evils. And people believed him.

The sad reality is that this is democracy. I can’t say I’m angry or disappointed with the American people because it is their right to vote for the person they want to be President. I can, however, say that I’m disheartened by how much hate and fear Americans seem to have in their hearts. I’m saddened the American people felt like Donald Trump was the only solution.

In this particular case, hate and fear won the day — and now the world will have to deal with it.

Featured October 12, 2016

Are you fearful of a Trump presidency? You should be.

Note: offensive language to follow.

I can’t wait for the American elections to be over, but at the same time, I fear it. I fear the very real possibility that Republican candidate Donald Trump could be the next President of the United States.

The man is a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, and just plain stupid. He has no real policy other than “kill ISIS” and can’t frame a sentence with any sort of grammatical structure.

Despite his lack of policy, ideas, or genuine political experience, what really bothers me is his attitude. He doesn’t give a shit about the job of president. He just wants the power that comes with it (and probably the money).

Trump’s actions speak louder than the words he constantly spits out in front of the camera. “No one respects women more than I do,” he says into the microphone just days after a video was released showing him saying he likes to kiss women without their permission and “grab (women) by the pussy.” He retorted in a non-apology by saying this was “locker room talk.”

This, my fellow readers, is the definition of rape culture: thinking it’s okay to talk about violence against women (which by the way inspires real violence against women) and then not acknowledging anything is wrong.

But, Donald Trump doesn’t care about rape culture; just like he doesn’t care about women, immigrants, the poor, and, well, anyone who isn’t white and wealthy. It’s obvious to anyone with a heart beat that all he wants is the position — so that he can prosecute who ever he wants and do whatever he wants. For a man who is probably on the verge of bankruptcy, despite the $14 million loan his father gave him, the office of the presidency is a jackpot; it’s nothing more than a chair and a paycheque.

Sadly, here’s the rub: it doesn’t matter what the media says or how ridiculous an answer Trump gives people during the public debates. It doesn’t matter that Hillary Clinton is much more qualified and has to demonstrate these qualifications with Trump looming over her in an intimidating manner. The people who support Trump will vote for him no matter what, and that is where my fear comes from.

The way he talks makes people afraid of the world, and therefore people are willing to throw away common sense for someone who says they will protect them from those evils. These evils could be immigrants, terrorists, and yes, even women.

If Trump is elected President come Nov. 8 (Not the 28^th as he has claimed), the United States will de-evolve — it will no longer be known as a country with freedoms for everyone. It will no longer be a country others respect. In fact, it will be a country everyone (even Canada) fears.

What did you think of Sunday night’s debate? Let us know in the comments below!

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News September 28, 2016

What did you think of the first presidential debate?

I usually don’t pay attention to American politics — at least not to this extent. But, against my better judgement, I was compelled to watch Monday night’s debate. I thought, if anything, it would be an entertaining evening. Boy, was I wrong.

It was not funny. In fact, it was brutal. Republican candidate Donald Trump proved he’s clueless on policy, lacks self control, and has no real ideas besides keeping jobs in America and kicking out immigrants. He told the moderator that the Stop-And-Frisk program was needed to lower crime in big cities like New York, even though a judge ruled it unconstitutional and racist.

At one point, he even admitted to not paying his income tax, saying “that makes me smart” when Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton brought it up.

The icing on the cake was when he said Clinton didn’t have the “look” or “stamina” for the job, an obvious reference to her being a woman in Washington. Throughout this whole circus of a debate, all Clinton could do was smile, probably to keep herself from shouting or laughing uncontrollably at Trump’s ignorance.

Clinton, on the other hand, sounded extremely presidential. She had an economic plan, spoke with authority about international trade, and didn’t jump to conclusions based on unfounded fact. She was able to calmly deliver a few great one-liners too.

While she did sound a bit rehearsed, that’s not a bad thing. As she said in the debates: “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did. You know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that’s a good thing.”

I agree Hillary. I agree.

The American presidential election has turned into an insane race anchored in sexism a la Trump. The whole debate was like an abusive relationship — woman says something reasonable, man screams at her and calls her an idiot. This man says that everything is her fault. This man interrupts her and talks down to her. This man says he has a great temperament because he was going to say something insulting about her family, but didn’t. After the debate, this same man blames his poor performance on his willingness to hold back so he doesn’t embarrass the poor, weak, woman.

This is the man America may elect to be president. Dear God.

A leader is supposed to inspire and make you feel safe. All Trump made me feel was sick to my stomach.

All of this is to say, vote. Please. Please. PLEASE! If you are an intelligent human being, do your research. Don’t ever trust a politician blindly. Look at their policies. Think about who you want to run your country. Think about what could happen if the wrong person is elected into office.

Usually, I refrain from offering editorial endorsements. I don’t like telling readers who they should, or shouldn’t, vote for. But, in this case, there is too much riding on it. It’s not just America’s fate being decided on Nov. 8. It’s that of the world.

Saying that, please, for the love of everything you hold dear: vote for Hillary Clinton.

What did you think of the presidential debate? Let us know in the comments below and subscribe to our weekly newsletter!

Living September 14, 2016

A bout of sexism: Clinton is not too “weak” to be president

The United States presidential election seems to be a race between two cartoon characters rather than a campaign to find a leader for one of the most powerful countries in the world. The rat race continues with claims that Democrat leader Hillary Clinton might be too “weak” and unhealthy to lead the country due to a bout of pneumonia.

Health concerns have been a point of contention in this election because Clinton, 68, and Donald Trump, 70, are the oldest competing campaigners in US history. At the 9/11 ceremonies on Sunday, Clinton appeared to faint in public and her doctor later announced that she had come down with pneumonia. The media and Trump supporters have latched onto this diagnosis as proof that Clinton is “weak” and may not have the strength to lead the country.

Both candidates have previously released health reports to the public, with Clinton offering a two-page detailed report stating she had previously suffered from blood clots and fainting. On the other hand, Trump gave out a four-paragraph report in which his doctor explained he had “astonishing health” and would be the “healthiest president yet”. Comparatively, it is easy to see which candidate is giving the most information on the status of their health.

Though Clinton has been honest about her health in the past, her bout of pneumonia plays against her, especially considering she is the first female candidate in history to run for president in the United States. Opponents may use her pneumonia as an example of how her status as a woman makes her weaker. If Trump had become sick during the campaign, he would have claimed it was because he was working so hard and has been putting ‘the people’ first. Americans would have applauded his efforts. Sure, with the campaign in its final two months, this is not a good time to be fainting. But Clinton is a human being and all people, men and women, are susceptible to getting sick. Let’s not play a double standard.

The way that many Republicans and media outlets are claiming her illness makes her a weak competitor is ridiculous. Pneumonia is a fairly common occurrence, affecting over one million Americans per year. In fact, her attendance at the event even though she was ill shows she is quite strong and dedicated to her campaign.

Maybe the people backlashing Clinton should be looking inward and should assess why they are placing so much pressure on one individual to be perfect. Is it now necessary to elect a leader in perfect health? Have the rules changed and to err is no longer human?

The US election is a prime example of how propaganda can be so damaging to the democratic process. Clearly, it pushes candidates to the brink of exhaustion and wastes time focusing on trivial issues. Perhaps Clinton felt she couldn’t rest even though her doctor ordered it because of a potential backlash, which is completely unacceptable. Instead of goading Clinton and calling her weak for getting sick, let’s focus on making sure Trump doesn’t get elected — because then we will surely have bigger problems than a bout of pneumonia.

Stayed tuned as election day grows closer as we will find out the fate of the United States on November 8, 2016.

Living December 13, 2013

Stop what you are doing and watch Lisa Kudrow’s character slam sexism in politics on the show Scandal

Sexism is still very real for a lot of women everywhere in their lives, but we’ve come to forget that it hurts even women who are leaders and politicians.

In a speech on the TV show Scandal that appears to have been ripped directly from Hillary Clinton’s diary, Lisa Kudrow slams the culture of sexism that still exists for female politicians in everything from the men they run against to the media that covers them.

Watch the clip and let us know what you think, does Kudrow’s character hit the nail on the head or what?

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