by Farouk Martins Aresa,
It is so outrageous for anyone to project the sins of philanderers on their reputable wives. While Nollywood and Hollywood actors or actresses may share sexual indiscretions, scandals and jumbo salaries with politicians, we expect leaders to be thoroughly vetted before they are voted in. Actors and actresses depend on how well they fit into their roles or look seductively. So reality gossips and sexual indiscretions from estranged husbands and wives are not unusual.
Politicians on the other hand must be held to the highest standard because of their leadership roles and the enormous responsibilities that fall on their shoulders. African women shy away from politics to avoid catcalls but we have witnessed Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that has been in the political arena for a long time. The wife of Rawlings in Ghana and that of Mugabe in Zimbabwe have been held as candidates for President in their respective countries.
However, United States, for the first time may have the 1st lady President. Hilary Clinton missed it eight years ago, after losing in the Democrat Primary to the first African American President of United States. She has a formidable opponent, Donald Trump if she wins her Party Primary against another vibrant candidate, Bernie Sanders. Sanders and Trump have drawn unusual crowds that are fed up with the status quo politics rigged for insiders by the insiders.
However, Hilary Clinton negatives have been driven up so high among Americans, one would think she had committed some infamy. No other candidates, man or woman, in the American politics has had so many investigations against her during her private and professional life. It is so unfortunate that her prospect for the Presidency may dim based on the characterization of her husband’s past indiscretion while in office as President.
What has changed in modern times is the way Presidents are covered. Other Presidents before Clinton have done worse than having scandalous affair with an intern voluntarily. While many women may understand Hilary’s helplessness in their inability to control the sexual urges of their husbands, any man should be the last person to condemn a woman in such situation.
Donald Trump had indicated all along that he was going to bring Monica Lewinsky affair with Bill Clinton up if Hilary Clinton becomes the Democrats’ Presidential Candidate. He has been doing exactly that anticipating that Hilary Clinton will defeat Bernie Sanders in the Primary. All of a sudden, as soon as Trump brought up the Clinton Affair, the polls changed against Hilary Clinton. Blaming the sins of Bill Clinton on Hilary Clinton is despicable.
Trump claimed Hilary Clinton was an enabler of her Husband philandering because Hilary threatened each of the women Bill Clinton had an affair with. Chei, wow, chai, chai, chai! Most women are never the best friends of the strange women their husbands have affairs with. We actually know some women that are ready to go to war with such women in order to keep their men and homes. Most are respectable and discrete women protecting their interest.
While it is true that some of the wives go crazy or too far, Hilary has not gone as far as slashing car tires, breaking car windshield, going to the women’s houses to create a scene or stripping off their wrappers at parties and in public. African women hardly use guns to fight but some women do. Two women fighting over a man can be fun. But not when some women throw acid on one another and calling their husbands’ girl-friends prostitutes, hoes, harlot and much worse!
There is also the law of marital alienation or disaffection that has been used in courts to claim damages. We need not talk about the worse behavior of men fighting other men over their mere girl friends not to mention their wives. Boy, some men are so ignorant, they are ready to tear-cloth anywhere. Women used to laugh at a friend that fought whenever he saw his wife’s “customers” at parties. He was advised to let her go, that was not a wife. We call them “jaskili”.
Poor Hilary Clinton, she has not done any of these. Yet voters are not mad at Donald for using her husband’s indiscretion against her. Donald Trump has gotten away with labeling opponents anyway he wants. There is a level some people are not willing to stoop to, even as a politician. Mr. Trump has crossed all lines of decency and it is working in his favor. We thought the worst in modern day politics was when Papa Bush used Willie Hutton, a prisoner, against Dukakis.
Actually, when it comes to sexual indiscretion, Mr. Trump, a serial monogamist and a noted philanderer himself, should be the last person to insult an innocent woman that had to endure the full glaze of the public as her husband was humiliated with salacious details evoked from Monica Lewinsky by Prosecutor Ken Starr. Are the American public waiting for an encore just because Mrs. Clinton and not Mr. Clinton is running for office?
While Mr. Trump has been throwing all the jabs at her, Hilary has ignored him dealing with issues that Americans should be concerned about. She must be getting all kinds of advice but not one of those would tell her to reply Mr. Trump personally.
However, Hilary Clinton surrogates or Bill Clinton must stand up to that bully because his past treatment of women he hated and those he wanted have not been commendable. If the facts checkers really want to dig, they will find enough materials to damage his choice of women to pick on, for pleasure or hatred. After all, people living in the glass houses should be the last to throw stones. But Mr. Trump thinks he can shoot anyone in Manhattan without consequences.
He has been a spoilt brat all his life and can never be tamed, not even the Presidency can. More folks voted for Mr. Trump than admitted it in public. He has outdone the Republicans at their own game and may become the next President of U.S.A!
