Hillary Attends Gay-la.
As Bill Clinton was being inducted into the "Black Hall of fame" in Arkansas last Saturday night, his wife was being honored with the Dade Human Rights Foundation’s 2002 National Impact Award. Approximately 1,400 people paid $175 a plate at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood to see Sen. Clinton get her award. The foundation recognized Hillary for her staunch support of homosexuals, including her support of extending benefits for September 11 victims to "same-sex" partners and her co-sponsorship of a bill that would prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on "sexual orientation." She told the rapt audience that "One of the pieces of unfinished business in this country is that we eliminate all vestiges of discrimination and bias and be sure that the laws fully protect all of us. . . we have a long way to go, but we are making progress." One of those in attendance said of Mrs. Clinton that "It’s wonderful to have a role model, someone we can take pride in who supports us and who doesn’t make you feel like second-class citizens. Hillary makes you feel just like everyone else." Hillary also received praise from Janet Reno, former U.S. attorney general and Florida gubernatorial candidate, who told the audience that the former First Lady "speaks volumes for Americans fighting against discrimination."
Clean Water.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, Sen. Clinton wrote a column in the Albany Times Union castigating the White House for not doing enough keep our water clean. First she touted her own efforts to keep New York’s water clean, including by working for the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lake Champlain Basin Program Act of 2002 and the Great Lakes Legacy Act. She also was careful to mention that she introduced the Finger Lakes Initiative Act, which will cost taxpayers $50 million over the next five years. After tooting her own horn, she turned to the Bush White House, writing that "the administration refuses to clean up the waters known to be polluted, or to stop sources of pollution, including untreated sewage." Not only does President Bush want to do nothing where water is dirty, says Hill, but his administration also wants to change the Clean Water Act "so that certain waters are no longer covered. The administration believes if the Clean Water Act no longer covers them, then it does not matter if they are dirty. Of course it matters." Her column, in effect, implied that the President wanted children to drink and swim in dirty water.
No to Reform.
A popular and much-hyped election reform bill finally passed the Senate last week by a 92 to 2 vote, with only Hillary and her New York colleague Chuck Schumer voting opposing it. They both claimed that the bill’s tougher requirements for identification at polling places may prevent or discourage minorities from voting. Hillary told reporters that she fears the identification provision "will disproportionately affect ethnic and racial minorities, recently naturalized American citizens, language minorities, the poor, the homeless, the millions of eligible New York voters who do not have a driver’s license, and those individuals who otherwise would have exercised their right to vote without these new provisions." Needless to say, Hillary neglected to mention that the election reform bill also allows the use of Social Security cards, utility bills, government paycheck stubs, and many other forms of identification. In general, Sen. Clinton’s opposed the bill because "It will make it harder to vote in New York." However, Sen. Chris Dodd, the Democratic author of the bill, noted sarcastically that bill was supposed to help the country, not any one state: "I’m not in the Connecticut Assembly or the New York Assembly. I’m serving the United States Senate. I was under the impression that we were serving the country here."
Trouble for N.Y. Dems?
The pathetic performance of Carl McCall’s campaign for governor has many New York Democrats whispering that their state party is facing a "national humiliation" because of Bill and Hillary’s handpicked candidate. The New York Post reports that former President Clinton was grimly told that McCall may finish an embarrassing third in the election-behind Gov. Pataki and Independence Party candidate Tom Golisano. A third-place finish by McCall would demote state Democrats to Row C on the ballot for the next four years, after the Republican and Independence parties, despite having millions more registered voters than these two parties. The implication is that such a setback could seriously harm Hillary’s potential presidential bid. A leading Dem told the Post that the "Clintons were supposed to be helping revitalize the New York Democratic Party, not presiding over its destruction."
