We Can’t Blame it All on Race

     I’ve been reading Hillary Clinton’s Living History, the book she wrote about her life before she became Secretary of State. She was a superstar in her own right before she met Bill. Her intellect, on full display since President Obama selected her to serve as his Secretary of State, was evident from a very early age.

     Hillary tells a fascinating story about her life, a story that so many of us can identify with, though hers has reached higher highs than most of ours have. She was a great student and went through all the angst of growing up and trying to make the right decisions about her education and her future. The charismatic Bill Clinton won her over and together they tried to improve the healthcare system for our country. 

     Reading the account from Hillary’s viewpoint is fascinating and sheds  a different light on the entire era. All that is history and can be ascertained in news accounts and a myriad of books.

     What has shocked me into reality and forced me to take another look at my current view of our political system is that the pushback and virulent attacks on the Clintons and their attempt at reforming healthcare was no less vile than what has gone on since the election of our first Black President. It has been so easy to blame everything that has been going on in DC on hatred directed at Barack Obama because of his race. They did the same thing to Bill Clinton, a good old white southern boy.

     The Clintons didn’t pass healthcare reform. President Obama did. How he did it against all odds, who knows?