When I first heard about this ad from Hillary Clinton I thought it was something from The Onion or some other satirical website, but, no, it turns out that Ms Clinton really did say these things:
Younger readers who weren't around in the 1990s may not know why this ad is so breath-takingly, jaw-droppingly incredible.
In the early 90s it came to light that her husband, Bill Clinton, the President of the United States of America, had been accused by one woman (Paula Jones) of exposing himself to her, by another woman ( Kathleen Willey) of groping her, by another woman (Juanita Broaddrick) of raping her and by another woman (Monica Lewinsky) of carrying on an affair with her and then lying about it under oath. This last accusation was shown to be true which led to Clinton's impeachment for lying under oath.
And these were just the women who had the courage to come forward. How many others there were who didn't come forward we'll probably never know.
So, what was Mrs. Clinton doing and saying when all this was unfolding? Was she telling these women they have a right to be heard and a right to be believed? Was she standing with them to ensure that justice was done? No, not exactly. She was in charge of managing what her husband's aide, Betsey Wright, memorably described as "bimbo eruptions." During her husband's campaign for the presidency and afterward Hillary did everything she could to deny these women a voice and to convince the nation that they shouldn't be believed. She was complicit, if not instrumental, in discrediting them and their stories.
She went on NBC's Today show, for instance, doing an interview with Matt Lauer in which she called the allegations against her husband part of a "right-wing conspiracy" against him. She sent James Carville and others out to smear Paula Jones, calling her trailer trash.
Now she's telling women just like these that she's with them and that they deserve to be believed, and she's doing it with a straight face. That's chutzpah.
