It seems this blog has been rendered into a discussion board of Sen. Clinton's motives, and an analysis of her campaign.

So, I thought I would add to this by reciting a poem that moved Sen. Clinton back in 1995.  Sen. Clinton has a chapter on her book (Living History) on this poem ~ the chapter is called "Silence is not spoken here"

Silence

Too many women in too many countries
speak the same language of silence.
My grandmother was always silent, always aggrieved
Only her husband had the cosmic right (or so it was said)
to speak and be heard.
They say it is different now.
(After all, I am always vocal and my grandmother
thinks I talk too much)
But sometimes I wonder.
When a woman shares her thoughts, as some women do,
graciously, it is allowed.
When a woman fights for power, as all women would like
to, quietly or loudly, it is questioned.
And yet, there must be freedom -- if we are to speak
And yes, there must be power -- if we are to be heard.
And when we have both (freedom and power) let us now be
understood.
We seek only to give words to those who cannot speak
(too many women in too many countries)
I seek to forget the sorrows of my grandmother's silence.

ANASUYA SENGUPTA

There's more...

I participated in the Day of Silence today at school, and wrote the following statement to explain my participation to others:

As you may know, today, April 25 2008, is the Day of Silence, a national movement calling attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who must endure bullying and other harassment. But my silence in specific is also to call attention to all the silent victims on this planet: the millions of victim in Darfur, Iraq, and other areas of crisis, the hundreds of millions who face malnutrition worldwide, the billions who live in poverty; all the forgotten people of the world in general, as well as all those who will suffer in the future from the problems we have forced ourselves to forget. For 365 days a year, we are silent on these problems. I can only regret that my own silence will be for but one day.

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I would like to recite a poem that most of you will not have heard before.  The poem is by a (then) 17 year old girl named Anasuya Sengupta, who recited it for Hillary Clinton, during her first official visit to India in 1995.  The version recited for Hillary was short (A first lady's schedule does not permit for lengthy recitals, I suppose.  The full version is below the fold), so here goes...

Silence by Anasuya Sengupta

Too many women
In too many countries
Speak the same language
Of silence...

We seek only to give words
To those who cannot speak
(too many women
In too many countries)
I seek only to forget
The sorrows of my grandmother's silence.

Hillary Clinton was inspired by this poem!  

I do not know the reason why she was inspired.  I am not that inspired myself, at least not to the extent Hillary was.  But then again, I am male; and I have never spoken or understood the language of silence.  Hillary went on to devote an entire chapter of her bestselling book "Living History", so she must have been inspired.  Perhaps she understands the language of silence.  It was apparent, even during her visit in 1995, that Hillary Clinton had been moved by that poem.  Newspapers in India talked about little else for days (I am a news junkie.  I read about 20 newspapers every day, and I was fascinated by it. In those days, you had to go to the library to get hard copies of newspapers, and that is how I spent many Sundays).  It was clear that Indians were moved by the fact that the "most powerful First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt" had been moved by a simple poem by a 17 year old girl.  Even the press contingent with Hillary was moved.  Joe Klein, later remarked "One day, she visited a remarkable economic program for untouchable women who were ragpickers. They sang We Shall Overcome for her in Gujarati, and tears filled her eyes. All us cynics in the press corps went weepy too."

Now, let me take a cynical view of things: perhaps Hillary Clinton was not inspired by the poem, but recognized it as a major public relations opportunity.  I have never heard anyone suggest this, so this suggestion is my own idle mind at work.  I am probably wrong in this cynical viewpoint, but allow me some latitude and follow along.

In 1995, relations between India and the US were somewhat strained (cold war hostilities, etc. etc.), they were to get strained even more when India tested nuclear weapons (in May 1998) and the Clinton administration slapped on some severe sanctions.  The world's most powerful democracy, and the world's largest democracy were on a collision course.  Opinion within the US was somewhat indifferent: India was not yet associated with outsourcing, and most Americans did not care about India.  Within India, however, the image of the US took a nosedive ~ there was substantial talk of developing ICBMs to target the US (by now, most Indian newspapers were on the web; so it was much easier to follow the discourse).  There was only one thing that prevented relations from deteriorating even further ~ the substantial amount of goodwill generated by Hillary Clinton's visit in 1995.  It was this thread of goodwill that was used by the diplomats from both sides (the US was represented by underSecy of State Strobe Talbott) to initiate discussions that led to President Clinton's immensely successful visit in 1999, and on to even stronger relations now.

Imagine that!  All that for the sake of a poem written by a 17 year old girl.  As Barack Obama would have said "Just words!" I do not think ANYONE could have planned it like this ~ even Hillary.  But, I presented a cynical view of things because I am a cynic myself.  If this whole excercise was planned, then she must be smarter than Richard Feynmann, and she is wasting herself in politics.

Now let us consider the backdrop from Hillary's angle.  This was 1995 ~ Hillary Clinton was widely derided as the failed author of health care reform, as being responsible for the Republican revolution, and of all the consequences that came with it.  Hillary Clinton had been beaten down by failure.  She got pulled up by a simple poem from a 17 year old girl.  Hillary later said: The poem struck a chord with the audience members. Anasuya, lovely, humble and shy in the face of all the publicity her poem generated, was astounded that women all over the globe were requesting copies of it.  Her words also affected my travelling companions in the Washington press corps, who responded to me personally to what I was saying about women's lives and rights. Reporters asked me after my speech why I hadn't addressed these issues sooner... The transformation that took place in my relationship with the press was one of the pleasantest surprises of the trip."

In presenting my case for her, I would like you to first consider the case against her.  The case against her has always been that she does not care for anything but herself.  The case against her has always been that she is in it only for herself.  Jesse Jackson Jr. best described the case against her with his memorable words: "But those tears also have to be analyzed. They have to be looked at very, very carefully in light of Katrina, in light of other things that Mrs. Clinton did not cry for, particularly as we head to South Carolina where 45% of African-Americans who participate in the Democratic contest." The case against her has NEVER been that she was not smart enough, or not hard-working enough, or that she does not have enough experience, or that she is not ready.  The case against her has been that she is too ambitious, she is too greedy, she will do anything for herself, etc. etc.  She does not care.

In light of her being moved by a simple 17 year old girl, in light of her being moved by a group of ragpickers who sing "We shall overcome" in a language that she does not understand, and in light of her throwing up after meeting mutilated women in Rwanda (an incident that I did not discuss in detail because I am unable to get accounts of it in local newspapers), it is clear that she does care.

She may not have cried for the victims of Katrina, but she did cry for the ragpickers, and she did heave up for the women in Rwanda.

She does care.  That is my case for Hillary !!

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(This is a follow up to "The Silence is Killing Us"

    What I am about to write about has got to be one of the most horrific crimes I have ever heard about and as I was reading it I couldn't believe it. What this crime says about us as people is startling and damning. How could we have let places in this country get this bad? This neglect of the poor has to stop; this silence to criminals must end.

There's more...