Watching the news about the Inspector General’s report on the FBI, and Hillary Clinton’s three word tweet in response to it, I was startled by the commentator’s summation.
“Still bitter, he said, shaking his head reproachfully. Everyone on the panel agreed.
STILL??? After the ordeal of the craziest, most obscene presidential election in history, being threatened by stadiums full of slobbering racists screaming LOCK HER UP, what should Hillary Clinton feel? How long is she allowed to feel bitter, if at all? Maybe she was bitter even before the election. Maybe she was born bitter. Bitch.
Why can’t she be more gracious about everything? Why can’t she let it go? In fact, why does she need to tweet at all? It’s so bitter of her. She should just shut up, as many have said, over and over and over.
I am no Hillary apologist but I voted for her, wholeheartedly. Because I’m not crazy.
The use of the word bitter as a pejorative has always fascinated me. It implies an aspect of judgement and condemnation, in a way that “resentful” or “angry” does not. There’s a finger-waggingness to “bitter,” like “God, just get over it, you loser”. With Hillary, of course, the contempt is move overt.
I asked some friends if they thought that bitter is a word more often applied to women than men. No one thought so. But when I googled the definition of bitter, here’s the first one that came up:
See the phrase they used for 2. ?
Ha! I rest my fucking case.
A bitter woman is the worst thing on earth. She’s like a dreaded woman “with baggage,” only worse. She should be shunned. A bitter man probably has a damn good reason for his feelings. Maybe his wife ran off with the milkman.
A bitter woman is just damaged goods.
Imagine an essay on how to spot a bitter man in his 30s!
I read a study that said 25% of people report having felt bitter at some time in their lives. I’m going to say that this is preposterous, and only shows how bitterness has become the most shaming emotion, more shaming probably than feeling homicidal. I’m proud to say that I feel both. Not all the time but at least once a day.
I wrote about bitterness as a disorder here. What a good writer I was back then! I can honestly say I feel bitter about losing my abilities, along with my youth. But that’s okay. Lil’ Spiteful has always been my imaginary gang name, because Lil’ Bitterness isn’t as cute.
Thoughts, arguments, bitter rebukes, anyone?
I am a bitter man. I’m still bitter. I could go through chapter and verse here (ie. “She not trustworthy.” Oh really, you know her personally and she lied to you or didn’t repay a debt. “She made paid speeches to Goldman Sachs [Sanders’ big tagline}. For a quarter of million dollars, not many of us would refuse such a gig, even if we had to kiss their asses for 45 minutes and I don’t think she did that. “She’s only out for herself and would be nowhere with Bill.” Why she’s been doing good things for people her entire life, she served as an aide on the goddam Watergate Committee, proposed Universal Healthcare in the 1990’s (take that so-called Progressives), was Secretary of State. “Oh yea, while Secretary of State our people died at Benghazi.” Yes, a tragedy, but you go over there and try to protect everyone from those maniacs, and so on). But what makes me most bitter. are not the Trumpsters, these people have always been a part of humanity and always will be, it’s the so-called Progressives, who themselves bitterly, jealously and nihilistically bashed Hillary right up and through the election (and many still do even though it’s fucking over), and didn’t vote or threw away their vote for Jill “Nobody” Stein and influenced many others to do so. Not only should these people have known better (shit, I thought they had brains and cared about America) but they willingly or thoughtlessly helped elect (and maybe did elect at the margin) Trump. There is blood on their hands too. Therein my bitterness lies. Hillary Rodham Clinton Forever!
I’m bitter. I know I’m not supposed to be because it’s unattractive, but I am. Life is not fair, we all know that. Some people get vacations all the time. Some people have to spend a lot of time cleaning up shit. That would be me, the cleaner-upper of shit, and the one who didn’t get and didn’t get and still hasn’t got.
I think people use bitter for a woman because if a woman is unhappy, she has obviously done something wrong and she deserves it because she should be able to rise up and be a saint or an angel.
I hope my bitterness will turn me into an angel, but so far it hasn’t
A foreign power screwed with our democracy. Congress has gotten over it; why can’t you?
Speaking (commenting?) as a native Arkianese I do have to say, after having endured, from 1979 into the 21st Century the both of ’em – I am supremely happy to see their [political] demise.
Speaking as a person who is well-versed in the intricacies and intimacies of practicing in the field of Top Secret (30+ years) there was simply no way I was ever gonna vote for her.
***
Romeo? As I understand it the “foreign power screwing with our democracy” consisted of sowing dissension through spending something in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand bucks on ad-buys for social media – largely targeted toward places such as Ferguson Missouri and Baltimore Maryland – places not too well known previous to the elections campaigning for people living on herbs where the Love lives so I do find myself wondering whether the foreign power might’ve been better served by purchasing the services of some lobbying outfit off K-Street?
But, given what I’ve “spoken as” alluding to my second above that, “30+ years” My being so encumbered with a TS clearance meant that, I cannot speak to being a social media guy. Matter of fact I was, by regulation, barred. But that was another age I suppose. Still, just from the few “ads” I’ve wasted my time looking at, in my humble opinion I’d have to say anyone influenced to such a degree they’d “changed their vote” on the basis of the content had some issues with gullibility to begin with.
Lil’ Bitter Honey suits you better, ha ha.
I think of Hillary as deservedly pissed.
What a mess. Some days I just want to be the Chad character on SNL.
I am Australian and unqualified to comment on whether any American candidate is appropriate for your presidency.
But misogyny is real and women are unfairly targeted when they express any form of emotion like ‘bitterness’ that isn’t palatable. Here is what our first female prime minister experienced – https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/ladylike-julia-gillards-misogyny-speech.
And whether you agree with our prime minister’s politics or not this is what she had to say about the sexist lens through which women’s experiences are filtered when she was dumped by her party – “I want to just say a few remarks about being the first woman to serve in this position. There’s been a lot of analysis about the so-called gender wars, me playing the so-called gender card because heaven’s knows, no-one noticed I was a woman until I raised it. But, against that background I do want to say about all of these issues the reaction to being the first female prime minister does not explain everything about my prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing about my prime ministership. I have been a little bit bemused by those colleagues in the newspapers who have admitted that I have suffered more pressure as a result of my gender than other prime ministers in the past, but then concluded that it had zero affect on my political position or the political position of the Labor Party. It doesn’t explain everything, it doesn’t explain nothing, it explains some things, and it is for the nation to think in a sophisticated way about those shades of grey. What I am absolutely confident of is it will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that and I’m proud of that.”
Fingers crossed for our and your next female leaders. May they all be as bitter as they want.
I agree bitter is the wrong adjective to apply. I would choose warmonger to start.
She along with our “progressive” liberal government at the time, are responsible for the destruction of Libya resulting in a new wave of destitute and desperate immigrants. As for Russia cost her the election, how about the astute readers and commenters here asking some basic questions like why democrats voted continuously for war as opposed to medicare for all, why unemployment is so high, why the rich are richer and the rest of us are poorer, homeless, and insecure. Russia did not do this to the U.S. This is the one of the biggest lies to be promulgated by government and media to distract us from the real problems we face. “If they can get us asking the wrong questions they don’t have to worry about the answers.” Thomas Pynchon. (for reference I call myself a socialist and despise Donald Trump but understand that he is not at the root of the social and economic problems in this country.) And I want to add that I am glad you are blogging. I am a long time reader, don’t know how I discovered you but I think it was my obsessive googling when under extreme stress due to similar family situation. I agree with you most of the time but Hilary to me is representative of the Democrats policy of death by a thousand cuts. Socialism or barbarism!