We see it every day. A racist remark, a sexist action, a demeaning look. A woman convicted of a self induced abortion.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/appeal-indiana-woman-convicted-having-abortion

Not that long ago, Donald Trump said that women having abortions must be punished. Pro-life groups quickly jumped into the denial of that statement. They said that us poor women were the victims of those nasty abortion providers. Those were the people who should be punished. Except even now that isn’t true. In a country where it is harder and harder for women, especially, poor women to get an abortion this is what you get. The person “providing”the abortion is the woman.

When Donald Tramp accuses Hillary Clinton of playing the “woman card” these are the types of issues that he is belittling. In much the same way when he calls out the line about how badly cops are treated. In that statement he is saying that people who say that black and brown people should not be killed in the streets by police are wrong. The “authority” is right. The white men are right in all situations.

When Donald Trump calls for a ban on all Muslims, when he calls Mexicans rapists, when he says the Chinese are taking advantage of us he is saying that all “others” are dangerous or conniving. Inside or outside this country, citizen or not “they” are not to be trusted.

Don’t let Trump’s outrageous language fool you. This is a general belief held by the Republican Party and many of its members. Trump has just said it out loud in stark terms.

You pretty much can’t talk about Hillary Clinton in terms of the historic nature of her campaign.That is playing the women’s card. Just as President Obama has been accused of playing the race card in instances like saying Treyvon Martin could have been his son. Can you imagine Ronald Reagan being castigated for saying a young white boy killed unjustly could have been his son. Every one would have nodded and probably applauded an apt comparison in a time of stress for the country. Of course, had Trayvon been white his killer would have been arrested immediately.

There lies the problem. As a country we aren’t willing to talk about the prejudices that are still very real in this country. We know, and occasionally the media will admit it, the Hillary Clinton is held to a higher standard. We know that her favorability skyrockets as soon as she is in office. We also know that a woman is seen more negatively when she is seeking a position of power. About the only time you see or hear about Hillary Clinton is when the media talks about her “unfavorability”, asks why she can’t put Bernie “away”, or has something other negative to say about her. At the same time the media, which is obsessed with Trump, looks for ways to normalize him. They give Bernie Sanders every benefit of the doubt.

So what if I were to say that Bernie is only still in this race because he can’t believe that a woman beat him? He thinks that because polls say he does better in the fall he should be the candidate, discounting the will of the voters. The media will talk about that but will rarely add the details that Hillary has 3 million+ more votes & has an insurmountable lead in the delegate count as well. Nope, the man says he should win so that gets all the media attention. When Hillary Clinton says he hasn’t been vetted the media never goes back to his one tough interview – the one he totally failed. When he fails he is given a second chance, usually with the exact same question. Hillary Clinton answers that type of interview regularly and with exacting detail. She is always also the most truthful candidate in the race.

The conversation is all about what should Hillary do to appease Bernie? What should she do to draw his supporters? There is little conversation about what Bernie Sanders should do. He is the aggrieved white man after all.

Do I sound frustrated? If I do its because I am. We can’t talk about sexism. We can’t talk about misogyny. We can’t talk about racism. The conversations seem like they will start, in fits and starts. We saw black men and boys being killed by police, for no reason, with no accountability and there was a moment. Black lives matter was in the news, but Trump happened. The horror of seeing black and brown people being killed by police had the possibility of sparking a national conversation. We need to make sure that conversation continues. It cannot be a speed bump in history. We have to have the conversation. We have to change.

Hillary Clinton said that her campaign was historic in an early debate because she would be the first female President. She was told loudly that shouldn’t be a reason. The truth is she will be the first female President. She never said that was why she should be elected. She only noted that was something unique about her. The reason to elect her is that she is one of the most qualified candidates to run for President ever and she has progressive policies that will benefit and improve this country.

Just as it is with racism,  now is a perfect time to have a conversation about misogyny. The Clinton campaign has many examples. If we can’t talk about it now when will we talk about it? How are we going to fix these problems if we won’t talk about them. If we won’t elect the most qualified person to eve run can we ever elect woman. Children need that example. We gave them President Obama. Will we give them President Clinton?