May 3, 2016

In a desperate attempt to be relevant, Rush Limbaugh is focus-group testing new themes against Hillary Clinton for Donald Trump to use in the days to come.

Today's test is one that every woman who has ever worked her ass off to get to the next goal has heard: She'd be nowhere without that man paving the way for her.

Except, it's pretty ridiculous. Check out Rushbo's "argument," such as it is.

"In fact, Hillary Clinton has never gotten a job, a position, that wasn't due to Bill. That was not due to her husband," Rush said, as a declaration that the little lady clung to hubby's coattails for everything she ever got.

He continued, "I mean, she marries Bill. She knowingly gives up on her own life and career path and decides to hitch up with Clinton for whatever reasons but among those we know that she intended to follow everywhere he went and take over at various stages. And to make his career hers. And then as he cheats and goes off that reservation, she stands by him, thereby indebting herself to him and the Democrat Party for as long as she lives. By not leaving, by not even blaming him, by trying to blame the vast right-wing conspiracy, she makes sure that Clinton's reputation holds."

Okay. So she was a supportive wife who supported her husband's bid for public office and stood by him for her own personal reasons, not the least of which might have been that she actually believes in working things out rather than walking away? I don't know any of that for sure, but it's as plausible as Limbaugh's nonsense.

So if I'm hearing this right, Rush Limbaugh says Hillary Clinton made Bill Clinton, but everything she ever won was because of Bill Clinton.

There's a nice sexist double standard, all packaged up in a bow for Donald Trump to use at his next bizarro rally.

I'm sure you know this already, but Bilge Boy's claim is also false.

  • As chair of the Legal Services Corporation, she tripled the budget—despite President Reagan’s repeated attempts to kill the program.
  • As chairwoman of the Arkansas Education Standards Committee, she successfully brought core classes like physics, math, foreign languages and music to more than 200 high schools, and increased the number of high school graduates going to college by 25 percent within four years.
  • Led the fight for universal healthcare in the early 1990s.
  • As one of the most prominent women in the world, she went to China and proclaimed that “women’s rights are human rights.” Later, as Secretary of State, she reprised that speech, proclaiming to the world that “gay rights are human rights.”
  • She was a leader in the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which to this day helps millions of uninsured children access healthcare.
  • As First Lady, she helped shepherd the Adoption and Safe Families Act to passage, which changed the way the country looked at adoption—focusing on the needs of children ahead of all other needs. It was an idea that she herself helped develop two years before and one that ultimately increased foster adoptions by more than 60 percent.
  • She broke the glass ceiling repeatedly, including serving as the first female senator from the state of New York and the first former First Lady ever to win elective office.
  • As Senator for New York on 9/11, she helped secure $21 billion to rebuild the city—and fought to pass legislation to provide first responders with health care.
  • As a Senator, she was an advocate for veterans and service-members. On the Senate Armed Services Committee, she introduced legislation to help family members care for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury. She also worked across the aisle (with Senator Lindsey Graham, no less) to expand health care access for members of the National Guard and reservists. For those who had lost loved ones who served, she worked to increase military survivor benefits from $12,000 to $100,000. And she fought and succeeded in keeping the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station open, saving 800 jobs in New York.
  • In the Senate, she championed immigration reform, serving as a key member fighting to pass the DREAM Act.
  • In the Senate, she co-wrote a law that requires drug companies to actually safety-test drugs before they are prescribed to children—and to relabel drugs with information about safety and dosing for children.
  • In the Senate, she “led the charge” on the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which ensured that companies could be held accountable for equal-pay discrimination.
  • As Secretary of State, she played a key role in the decision-making behind the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
  • As Secretary of State, she promoted American interests in China. During that period, exports to China increased 50 percent.
  • As Secretary of State, she brought China and Russia to the table—leading to the harshest-ever sanctions on Iran. This effort ultimately resulted in the nuclear deal with Iran, which more than any other action may have kept the United States from going to war.
  • As Secretary of State, she achieved the New START nuclear arms control treaty with Russia.
  • Speaking of Russia, she achieved a number of successes on that front: in addition to the New START treaty, she got Russia to agree to bring sanctions against Iran and convinced Russia to abstain from a UN Security Council resolution granting intervention in Libya.
  • As Secretary of State, she personally negotiated a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
  • As Secretary of State, she created a new position—the “Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues,” which works to promote women politically, economically, and socially around the world.

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