I Cannot Tolerate Another Second of This

[Content Note: Violent imagery; misogyny.]

I've got a new essay up at BNR: "We've Reached Peak Hillary Hate (Thanks to Our Noxious Media)." It details a number of historical media offenses against Hillary Clinton, as well as some recent garbage, including a shockingly awful headline in today's Washington Post: "In Trump's moment of triumph, Clinton is in the crosshairs."

And it comes on the heels of another absurdly dishonest headline from them: The continuing political decline of Hillary Clinton.

The "political decline." Of a woman who just made history. Who won her primary by a large margin and is leading in the general election polls. Who is the closest any woman has ever come to the White House.

The story opens thus: "If it weren't for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton would be the most disliked major-party presidential nominee in recent American history."

Sure. If it weren't for Donald. It doesn't have anything to do with a media who has been writing dogshit articles like this about her for thirty years.

And continue to write them, even as the Republican convention is peppered with unfathomable garbage like Dr. Ben Carson suggesting she's aligned with the Devil and prominent speakers leading chants of "lock her up."

After calling for someone who has never been convicted of a crime, or even indicted, to be sent to prison, where is there to go from here? Republicans' hatred of Hillary has escalated to a point where literally the only room left is calls for violence.

And here we are: "United Airlines suspended pilot and Republican West Virginia lawmaker Michael Folk from flying after he said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be hanged." Repugnant, to say the least.

Unfortunately, he's not alone: New Hampshire state representative Al Baldasaro, who advises Donald on veterans' issues, said "Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason."

There's a lot more at the link, including a huge section on how holding Clinton to the wholly unreasonable standard of perfection is part of what drives this swill.

I am entirely done with soft-peddling this stuff. The media is fomenting violence against her. And I will not sit quietly by.

Neither will my colleague Peter Daou: "Explicit Calls for Violence Against Hillary on the Rise."

In his piece, he references a fundraising email just sent out by Clinton's campaign, authored by Clinton, the subject line of which is "A Witch Hunt," and which reads in part:

When I emailed you yesterday, I thought the behavior at the RNC couldn't get a whole lot worse. Tuesday night proved me wrong.

Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey (and a possible attorney general if Trump wins), stood on stage and accused Hillary of being a criminal, bellowing "GUILTY" over and over again as the crowd egged him on.

He had the entire arena chanting "lock her up" -- a cry that has become the mantra of the RNC.

If you closed your eyes, you could imagine it being a lot like a witch trial -- they were barely one step removed from screaming "burn her at the stake."

It felt like a dark turning point in American politics -- a sign that our nation is on the brink of something dangerous that we might not recover from.

Honestly, I'm sitting here just on the verge of rage-tears after reading that. THIS IS NOT OKAY.

I want to ask every fucking Republican why I just had to get an email from my candidate telling me she feels like she's being hunted because of their violent rhetoric. I am livid about this.

For months, I have spent virtually every waking moment of my day doing everything I can to get Hillary Clinton elected and push back on the increasingly disgusting and dangerous rhetoric emanating from the Republican Party. I can't find any more time in my day to dedicate to this cause unless I sleep less. Well, if that's what it takes, then that is what I am going to do.

After reading that email, something in me has changed. Forever. I cannot abide this. I will not.