# The Hillary column **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569 "2016-08-12T15:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/41 "2016-08-15T02:26:30Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > but when I first saw her on TV speaking before congressional committees, my reaction was - Wait a Minute! Why does she have all this power? I never voted for her! That’s completely irrational. Did you have the same reaction when Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, spoke in front of Congressional committees in favor of the ACA? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/42 "2016-08-15T05:05:24Z")
> [@Powers](#): > > That’s completely irrational. Did you have the same reaction when Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, spoke in front of Congressional committees in favor of the ACA? > Powers &8^] Well, First Ladies aren’t supposed to do anything other than oversee planning of fancy dinners or receptions and giving televised guided tours of the White House. Clearly you didn’t get the memo. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/43 "2016-08-15T09:53:39Z")
> [@Hussman32](#): > > I’m puzzled that this was considered a question worth answering. Cecil has never been shy about being liberal, but the answers in the column that I’ve read for 25 years are normally well-researched and based on verifiable facts. This question can only be answered by speculation, and even the speculation is supported by background that I’ve seen in a hundred Facebook posts. True…but I thought it was an especially well-written column. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/44 "2016-08-15T11:04:58Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > She certainly comes across as more power thirsty than most contemporary pols. Her marriage of convenience, the bounding to different states so she can become senator–that seems like more than, e.g., the Bushes. Huh? I don’t see any evidence that the Clintons’ is a “marriage of convenience”. They’ve both made it clear (and the timeline agrees) that it took Bill quite a lot of convincing to get her to say yes. But it wasn’t because she didn’t like him. She was just focused on her career and, according to Wikipedia, “still harbored doubts about marriage, concerned that her separate identity would be lost and her accomplishments viewed in the light of someone else’s”. She also didn’t “bound to different states” after leaving the White House. After Patrick Moynihan retired, Clinton was recruited to run for Senate, so the Clintons bought a house in New York. That’s just one state. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/45 "2016-08-15T19:46:34Z")
If this were a marriage of convenience, ISTM it has sure been quite inconvenient to both parties at various times. ---
**Author:** ![BilledEd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@BilledEd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BilledEd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/46 "2016-08-16T01:05:22Z")
> [@Powers](#): > > Huh? > > I don’t see any evidence that the Clintons’ is a “marriage of convenience”. Do they even live together anymore? I know it’s a question that’s not supposed to be asked, and when people do they’re called all kinds of names, but to me it’s relevant. Seriously, if you don’t even live together why carry on the facade? Politics, that’s why. Or at least how I see it and why I won’t vote for her. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/47 "2016-08-16T02:12:35Z")
> [@BilledEd](#): > > Do they even live together anymore? I know it’s a question that’s not supposed to be asked, and when people do they’re called all kinds of names, but to me it’s relevant. Seriously, if you don’t even live together why carry on the facade? Politics, that’s why. Or at least how I see it and why I won’t vote for her. Just so you know, around here this is known as “JAQing off” – from “Just Asking Questions” (insinuation without evidence, though often in the service of more elaborate conspiracy theories than this.) ---
**Author:** ![BilledEd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@BilledEd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BilledEd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/48 "2016-08-16T04:01:46Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Just so you know, around here this is known as “JAQing off” – from “Just Asking Questions” (insinuation without evidence, though often in the service of more elaborate conspiracy theories than this.) Around here? I’m hardly insulating or referring to something that hasn’t been brought up before or is so out there it isn’t worth a thought or question, especially when she’s asking for my vote. And if you have a response to their warm and close marriage, please, feel free to share it. In the interim I’m left with posts from this site and others that (first) the question should never be asked… > **[Do the Clintons sleep together?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=785399)** > > If only for appearance sake? I can’t imagine them having sex, even by Bill’s narrowed definition. For the purposes of this thread, do they even spoon? > **[What is the state of Bill/Hillary Clinton's marriage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632989)** > > Are the Clintons living together? Anybody seen them smooch since her appointment as SecState? etc…??? Thanks, hh and when it is it’s too complicated for such simpleton outsiders to understand. > **[Bill and Hillary Clinton's deal: a 52-year pact](https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-bill-hillary-clinton-marriage-52-years-20140718-story.html)** > > As political marriages go, few have fascinated the American public more than Bill and Hillary Clinton’s 38-year union. > **[How often do Bill and Hillary Clinton see each other?](https://www.quora.com/How-often-do-Bill-and-Hillary-Clinton-see-each-other)** > > Answer (1 of 18): The Clinton's have more of a political partnership than a marriage. Even before Bill's issues during his presidency their marriage was more of an alliance between two people with similar views and goals. As Chelsea grew up and... It’s a reason I won’t vote for Hillary. Lies and deception to suit and pursue her own needs and desires. It’s so obvious and in your face I’m shocked an article and explanation explaining why people dislike Hillary this couldn’t be included in its analysis. If you’d call it that. Seems sent in from a laptop on the bed over the weekend. Weaksauce. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/49 "2016-08-16T08:46:17Z")
I was just responding to your post, which merely asked a question out of the blue (“do they even live together anymore?”), and ended with your choice to make the supposed cover-up of your implied “fact” the _principal reason_ you won’t vote for Hillary. I can see how the first _might_ not be JAQing off, if it were an offhand reference to something widely discussed overall (a hot topic of the moment), or already a discussion point in this thread. As for the second, hey, you’re entitled to vote how you like, for whatever reason you like. But by putting the two together in one post, without further explanation, you did not elicit the best possible interpretations among your readers. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/50 "2016-08-16T08:57:54Z")
Thank you, though, for the links. The marriage – as a “pact,” its twists and turns, its current state, its future (especially as part of a likely return to the White House) — is definitely an interesting topic, psychologically, politically, and in other ways. (_House of Cards_, obviously inspired by the Clintons for much of its underlying premise, is one vehicle where a marriage of ambituous presidential types has been well explored.) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/51 "2016-08-16T14:01:11Z")
My dad was a shameless womanizer, and yet somehow my parents stayed married for as long as the Clintons, until my mom passed away – my dad at her side. Only once did we talk about why she (a professional, intelligent woman) stayed. She told me that despite all that had happened they truly loved each other. I understood as little then as I do now, but I took her at her word and never raised the subject again. Theirs wasn’t a marriage of convenience, and as JRDelirious said, it seemed pretty darn inconvenient at times, but if they were happier together it wasn’t my place to butt in. People and relationships are complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569/52 "2016-08-16T23:39:58Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > My dad was a shameless womanizer, and yet somehow my parents stayed married for as long as the Clintons, until my mom passed away – my dad at her side. Only once did we talk about why she (a professional, intelligent woman) stayed. She told me that despite all that had happened they truly loved each other. I understood as little then as I do now, but I took her at her word and never raised the subject again. > > Theirs wasn’t a marriage of convenience, and as JRDelirious said, it seemed pretty darn inconvenient at times, but if they were happier together it wasn’t my place to butt in. > > People and relationships are complicated. This sounds like my parents. There was a huge blow out about 20 years ago, I thought for sure it was over, but Mom forgave. They are older now, Mom in poor health, and yet Dad wants no one but him to care for her. I respect their choices. If people like Trump want the rest of us to simply accept his choices of many wives, then I accept Hillary’s choice of one. Also, I think Hillary is fabulous. This woman not only held elected office and served the State, the shadow diplomacy for women around the world is going to be for me her greatest contribution to history. I had no idea until I stumbled on this from 2012 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ECNQDqMoAjw/maxresdefault.jpg "Women in the World 2012: Meryl Streep's Tribute to Hillary Clinton") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECNQDqMoAjw) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hillary-column/762569.md?page=2)