Hillary Is a Strong Woman

When I first started high school in 1993, names like "Hillary Rodham Clinton" and "Anita Hill" were ubiquitous, if you were paying attention. And, as I've noted here and there, I have been paying attention for as long as I can remember. (Arguing about Dukakis versus Bush the First while walking home from elementary school with Ad am S iple. This, I assure you, will be a story to tell the kids or grandkids, when he becomes Attorney General/President/Something Like That some day.)

I'm not sure of that many ninth grade girls with a subscription to Time Magazine, who read it weekly, alternating between it and issues of Seventeen and Spin. But that was me for you. It was a good thing we had to sell magazines for fundraising, because it lead me on a path to making media a regular part of my day, when I had to purchase my own subscriptions to fill my quota. What also helped was that Mom and Dad read the news everyday and watched it every night.

I'm thinking about this right now as I read articles and hear news stories on Secretary Hillary Clinton's first diplomatic trip abroad to Asia. It's still a little jolting to say Secretary Clinton, though I like the sound of it as much as I like the sound of "former President Bush".

This New York Times article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/world/asia/21diplo.html?th&emc=th ) discusses Clinton's unorthodox, yet far more engaging, appraoch to foreign diplomacy. I blogged about her appearance on a variety show in Indonesia called "Awesome." But she also gave speeches to all womens colleges and she'll be going to church in China tomorrow. (Or is it today there already?)

One young woman, a woman who stated that she played baseball, who attended one of Hillary's appearances asked how it was that Hillary became such a strong woman. Hillary said she played a lot of baseball and played with a lot of boys -- which was cute, but you got what she meant.

And how is it that women of my generation got to be so strong, as that Japanese woman put it? By growing up with women like Hillary Clinton to emulate since the time we started high school. That's why I'm always calling her Hillary My Love. Yes, my own mom is of quite strong character, to put it mildly, but I also grew up with a national figure. And for that, I am very grateful and happy. It's also gratifying to see her in a new position of power, even if it isn't President. I think everything worked out just as it should have, in the end. I can't wait to see what else Secretary Clinton has in store.