For such an intelligent, heartfelt individual, there is a growing amount of hate towards her. I've witnessed it in news articles and comments on my Google+ posts. I am baffled by the right-leaning comments, some of which poke fun at her, calling her vulgar names, and claim she is an idiot, a communist, and so on. All I can conclude from this growing amount of hate is that those who do not know anything about her are the ones that hate her the most. They are uninformed conservatives with no desire to learn anything about her history. All they know is that she is an up and coming Senator, with a bright future (or whatever rhetoric Fox News has told them to believe). Her successes must be intimidating to conservatives, yet they refuse to see or realize how hard she is fighting for the very people chastising her.
Who is Elizabeth Warren?
There's a great amount of information about Senator Warren on her .gov website. The biography on her site lists many of her achievements before she ran for Senator. Warren was a law professor for more than 30 years, including 20 years at Harvard Law school. She "is recognized as one of the nation's top experts on bankruptcy and the financial pressures facing middle class families." Warren has a long history of achievements as a professor, a writer, an advocate, and "is widely credited for the original thinking, political courage, and relentless persistence that led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau." Before becoming a Senator, she "won praise from both sides of the aisle."
This bi-partisan love for Warren disappeared after she was elected to the Senate in 2012. What a shame.
Warren is now the Ted Cruz of the Democrats
I shared an article on G+ referencing the MSNBC.com article Dem House Aide: Sen. Warren is now the Ted Cruz of our party, By Michael LaRosa, 12/12/14, and not only was the point of the article completely missed (since most just read the title of the article, and not the content), but the name calling and hatred became abundant. Let's understand what the article was implying:
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) rebellious stand against Democratic leadership – including President Obama – on Thursday’s vote to fund the government has incited a palpable sense of anger in some circles of the party.“She is the Ted Cruz of the Democratic Party,” one senior House Democratic aide complained, comparing Senator Warren to Senator Ted Cruz’s hard line tactics last year when he led a caucus of House Republicans to shut down the government in an effort to defund Obamacare.“[Sen. Warren is] the purist who may stand on principle, but refuses to be part of the governing majority,” the aide added.
The article isn't saying Warren is like Cruz in what they stand for, it is explicitly referring to Warren as a person standing on principles that will not be negated by her party's pressure to conform.
Warren sticks to her words and promises. That is an admirable and rare trait for a politician. Other Democrats who fear this only weakens the party. The party has been weak for a long time, and perhaps Warren is exactly what Democrats need to grow a damn backbone.
Claims made against Senator Warren
I've seen many references about Warren being a liar, as she is not Native American. In fact, it appears as if this one issue is what many conservative Warren-haters cling to as a sole reason to hate her. What you need to know about this claim can be found through the Washington Post, and is clearly outlined in Everything you need to know about Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Native American heritage, by Josh Hicks, 09/28/2012.
According to the article, Warren "checked the box" claiming Native American heritage, based on family lore. She may have been given opportunities based on affirmative-action and her supposed Native American ancestry.
Does this negate all of Warren's hard work and achievements? Absolutely not. Does this make her a habitual liar? Not at all. If this is what you're holding on to as a way to discount everything Warren has achieved, your case holds no water. Not a single person reading this, nor a single person in the history of politics has been able to avoid something so trivial in their lifetime as this issue. It doesn't make you a bad person, nor does it make you evil. It makes you human. Did she make a mistake and benefit from it? Possibly. Yet she remains an outstanding advocate for the principles she holds so dearly; principles that benefit a majority of Americans, even the ones who claim to hate her.
Edit April 2019 to add:
I am fully aware of the use of the word "trivial" in the above paragraph. I apologize to each Native American that was offended by this issue with Elizabeth Warren. I've read differing opinions on the topic. Many Native Americans are personally offended by this incident, while others forgive her for assuming something she thought was true. It is necessary for me to recognize how at the time of writing this work, I did not fully understand how this was NOT trivial to others affected by the issue.
Run, Warren, Run!
Many of my readers would love to see Elizabeth Warren in the White House. So here are some links you may find interesting if you'd like to follow her or the push for her to make a 2016 Presidential Bid:
However, you might be sad to see this headline:
Elizabeth Warren: ‘I am not running for president’ By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times - Monday, December 15, 2014
Elizabeth Warren: ‘I am not running for president’ By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times - Monday, December 15, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment