Hillary, Kamala & Liz the Story of Cool Girl Syndrome

I will never know any of these three women on a personal level.  So all I can judge by is their records, their words, and their actions.  All of those things inevitably leave me with an impression of each woman.  Now first thing I want to tell you is, if Liz Warren is chosen as Biden's VP pick, I am going to get right on board and vote for that ticket.  But here's why it won't bring me any joy.  

With Hillary, I feel in many ways I was Present at the Creation.  Not at her creation, nor even at her formative years.  But the creation of her public image?  Oh, I was there.  It was 1992.  And it was vicious.  And it was misogynistic.  And it was unfair.  And it was cruel.

And I loved her at first sight.  The very first time I heard her speak, I loved her.   She was me, and  I was her.  I saw her.  I felt she saw me.  And when the men in my office told me, a very young girl in her first corporate job, that Hillary had "fat ankles", I fought back.  I was furious.  But do you know what I noticed?

That some of the other girls appeared to enjoy hearing it.  And they gave their approval.  They cheered in fact.  And it was that year, that very year, that I understood what performing for the male gaze and their approval cookies was.  And I was filled with disgust at those women.  And that has never changed. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton lived and breathed feminism.  And if you don't know this, or don't get it, you need to watch her documentary on Hulu.  I didn't have to, because I was there.   I was there.   I watched it anyway, and so should you.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was pilloried over her feminism from the very beginning.  She was despised by men, and by the cool girls who bark like seals for their approval.   Being a feminist is a huge part of WHY Hillary Clinton was attacked and slimed for 30 years by the right, and by MEN of all ideologies.   So, let's be very clear; Hillary Clinton paid a huge, painful price for being a feminist.

What was Liz Warren doing?  Well, Liz was being a Republican.  And voting Republican.  Liz Warren spent the entire women's liberation movement as a Republican.  Never lifting a finger for feminism or women's rights, and in fact, by voting Republican, actively undermining both. 

From having read a lot about Liz's history and her resume, I got the feeling that Liz is special.  Special as in; not like those other girls.  So what use would she have for feminism?  Feminism is for ordinary girls.  

I get a really strong vibe that at some point in her life Liz may have uttered those cool girl words:

"I'm not a feminist, I LIKE men."

She just vibes at me that way.  

Liz, in a lot of ways, strikes me as the Scarlett Johansson of politics.  You know how Scarjo is a guy's girl?  You know she is.  Let me put it this way: Scarjo was the only woman in the all-male Avengers, years before there was an Avengers movie.   That's just who she is, and why she was perfectly chosen to eventually be the only woman in the all-male Avengers. 

Then years passed, and Marvel was forced to diversify, and they even developed a woman-led superhero movie with Captain Marvel.  And eventually, Scarjo even had to do some publicity with Brie Larson, who plays Carol Danvers.  I watched one of those interviews and Scarlett was really trying, or kinda trying actually, to be like, rah-rah, LOVE that there's more women in the Marvel universe now.

But she couldn't sell that.  Not to me anyway.   Cause Scarlett's a cool girl, she's not like other girls.  She's the only girl  cool enough to be in the all-male Avengers.  

Now, Scarlett is a big Planned Parenthood supporter.  I don't root against Scarlett.  She's not my cup of tea.  And I don't root against Liz.  She's not my cup of tea.  But I root for Scarlett's films to do well, because that's good for other women in Hollywood.  And I root for Liz to do well, and if she is the VP pick, I will root for her.

But neither of these women will ever see me, nor would they ever root for me, so there's no joy there for me. 

Now, let's move on to Kamala Harris.  Kamala always had Hillary's back.  She never dissed her.  She never claimed that Hillary "rigged" the primary so that all the Bernie bros would give her male approval cookies.  

Kamala is a feminist.  Kamala is for other women, and she lets you see that and she lets you feel that.  Kamala doesn't do shit to get male approval cookies.  

Kamala makes me feel seen.  Kamala would root for me.  

And Kamala is brilliant, but as a black woman, she often isn't seen, and for some reason, Warren is put up against her as "the smart one."   I watch and listen very closely, and Warren is very knowledgeable on some issues, but she's not well-rounded, like Hillary is you know?  

Kamala is.  Kamala speaks to many things, and her depth of knowledge is impressive, and it's broad.   I just don't hear or see anything from Warren that makes me feel like her knowledge is broad.   It's deep, on specific, particular issues.   But not broad.  It's broader than Bernie Sanders' is, that's for sure.  But we are talking about a high bar here; a Hillaryesque bar.   Not a Bernie bar, where you get major points and a month of breathless coverage because a bird landed at your rally.  Outdoors, where you know, birds land. 

As a white woman, I feel seen by Kamala.  How can a black woman or NBPOC feel seen by Liz?  Liz cannot speak to racial issues at all convincingly.    And we all know, and I'm sorry, but we all know that she spent decades passing herself off as a WOC.  That's a huge racial blindspot.  Interestingly, you know who else has one of those?  Scarlett Johansson.

Miss Scarlett believes she should be able to play women of color, trans women, trans men, and also, "trees".   And Miss Scarlett is still yapping that shit in the year of our lord, 2020.  

Just more evidence of my theory that Liz Warren is the Scarjo of American politics. 

I have noticed for a while now that a segment of the white bro left love Warren.  Your Chris Hayes' types.  And they write a lot of articles and take up a lot of air time. These are the same men that slimed Hillary with the same fake attacks first dreamt up by the right wing.  They hated Hillary.   But they love Liz so they can't be misogynists, right? 

Well, they can and they are.  Because again, Liz isn't like other women.  Hillary brought all of those years of being a loud and proud and active feminist with her, and that was baggage.   Because men, even "woke" men don't like that.  And they made her pay.  And these same douchebros, just don't like Kamala.  Why?  Because Kamala isn't performing for them, Kamala is a feminist.  Add in Kamala's blackness, and you've got a whole big mix of frustrated, angry, vicious feelings you've riled up on the bro left.  And the beckys who cheer them on, and get rewarded with "you're not like other girls" attagirls. 

For me, Kamala Harris is Hillary's natural successor.  And I want her to be the first woman President.  I will support any Democratic VP and some day, soon, any Democratic President.   And I love so many of them.  In fact, Liz Warren is really the only one I don't love.  But yeah, my heart's with Kamala first.