Hillary Clinton has not dealt perfectly with the women who her husband had affairs with and so we should erase her feminist record. Every accomplishment she has made. A life time’s work with women and children should be erased because she is not perfect. She stepped onto the international stage and in China proclaimed that women’s rights are human rights and since then that has become a worldwide mantra. Women are significantly better off then they were 20 years ago or 40 years ago. But she spoke against the women that had affairs with her husband. That is the argument that Republican’s have been prosecuting for years and Donald Trump is trumpeting it from the roofs. His followers love it. His surragates pivot to and levy that attack with glee.

I’m not married so I don’t know how I would react. I’ve seen it in my own family though and know how my mum reacted. I never knew of dad’s affairs when I was kid. She told me about them when I was older. How my dad got someone pregnant, an abortion or miscarriage – I’m not sure which – ended it mum did not go into specifics. She did tell me about the woman who was so in love with dad she carried the torch all of her life. Mum made sure she was informed when dad died. Mum was gracious, even to dads third wife, until the Funeral. Mum was one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met. She only left my dad, when his bipolar emotional abuse and nervous breakdowns became too much and she found herself standing behind him with a knife and imagining herself killing him. She never would have, I know my mum, but that idea or the idea of the reverse – he slept with a loaded gun under his pillow – scared her enough that she made her plan and she left. She didn’t fight to keep us by her side. I can’t judge her on that. It was best for her and I only lived with her for a little bit – I was a teenager and she lived in a trailer in Socorro NM and dad moved to the house they had just bought in Santa Fe. After Las Vegas, NM it was a big change and it was a nice house – with a pool. From all of this I know one thing – mum would not judge another woman on how she reacted to her husband’s affair and I won’t do it either. I don’t care if Hillary’s in the public eye. She deserves privacy//

At the same time, I really don’t hear about Donald Trump’s affairs or his divorces, other than in passing. The disrespect that he shows to women is so baked in, apparently, that the pot ignoring the kettle and calling the fire black is just to be disregarded.

I don’t think these attacks will stand – other than with the people whose hatred of Hillary Clinton is so deep that they won’t listen to anything. The people who want to fall back to the standard “look” that they are used to – a white male in the White House.

But it does show the glaring double standard that Hillary Clinton is subjected to. She must at every moment be perfect.

Trump’s foundation has proven illegal dealings. He’s using it as a slush fund and I’m still not sure what it does other than give donations to pay off Donald Trump’s debts or make him look good using other people’s money. I know what good the Clinton Foundation does. I can look at all of the donations made to it and very honestly I really don’t care that they take from a country like Saudi Arabia – using some of their money to do good is a good thing. Maybe giving them positive reinforcement for doing something good reinforces their desire to do that again. When my nieces get a good grade, or show interest in science I notice and I try to reinforce that. The Clinton Foundation has also found a way to put some accountability in what those who are involved do. You don’t get a second invitation to the CGI if you haven’t at least made some efforts to follow through on the previous year’s promises. It does good things. I haven’t seen much of what the Trump foundation does. Yes, it donates money and makes illegal purchases and pays off settlements against him.

Hillary Clinton has spent her life working for women and children. She is now being accused of wasting those years because she has not single-handedly changed the course of the government. When she was First Lady or as a senator or as Secretary of State. When she noted in the debate that pretty soon everything bad that had happened in her lifetime would be her fault – Trump barked out good. He says she’s been fighting ISIS all her life – but she and President Obama founded it – but she’s totally ineffectual – facts be damned. The arguments are dizzying and confusing and oh – nothing Trump has done prior to today should be taken into account.

When we ask the very valid questions about what conflicts of interest this so called businessman may have – we are told don’t worry his kids will take care of the business and he won’t care about anything. Who could believe that? He advertises his businesses at every turn. He did it in the debate. His kids will be totally separated from a Trump Presidency but Ivanka will make sure “child care” will get done and the kids are the only ones he  will listen too. It’s a circle of lies and deception.

The media plays into it. They cannot hold onto the real issues on Trump. They follow his distractions. At the same time, they hound Hillary Clinton on emails and the Clinton Foundation and even on Benghazi because the Republicans and Fox News say that these are the stories that must be covered and if they do not then they are being partisan. They will acknowledge on one hand that there is no there there and on the next they jump through the hoops that the Republicans and Donald Trump insist must be used.

At every turn, they talk about Hillary Clinton being dishonest and disliked. They ask her why – a question no other candidate is asked. In every story they will mention that she is dishonest and or unlikeable.

The media is beginning to occasionally call Donald Trump a liar but it’s rare and they don’t call him dishonest. The man lies constantly Hillary Clinton does not – it’s one of those proven things called facts – but it is ignored. It’s a crushing double standard. Then they ask her why she isn’t doing better in the race when they are giving Trump billions in free media. It’s another of those pesky facts. And it’s of those pesky double standards.

Trump, a 70 year old businessman is given pass after pass because he isn’t “experienced”. His bad behavior, his outrageous statements, his shady business dealings, his lies are all “not a big deal”. Hillary Clinton is called out because she is too perfect. She is too good. She has worked in the public sector all of her life, working for people, and that is a bad thing. Yes – she hasn’t done enough. She hasn’t singlehandedly solved every problem in the country by herself. She didn’t react perfectly to her husbands affair. She didn’t tell us she got a common illness quick enough. She isn’t….

It’s a double standard that every woman, every person of color, is very used to – and for her it is the perfect double standard.