Should Hillary have left Bill?

[kenny]

She stayed married to him after he was caught cheating.

Should she have left him?

 

[telephone89]

I vote no, because it's no ones business if she stays or leaves except hers.

 

[missy]

Ha, no, in my opinion they deserve each other.

True or not you decide. There are just too many allegations and too many incidences that point to their true character. IMO.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/08/exclusive-paula-jones-the-truth-about-bills-women-would-destroy-hillarys-political-career/

 

[mary poppins]

I voted other because it's not my business.

Nobody has all the information or feelings necessary to determine the individual situation other than the parties involved.

 

[Sky56]

Hard to say, it's such a personal decision. Whether her political prospects would have been improved if she left him, hard to say, too.

Taking it to a personal decision, if my husband did what he did, I would find it very difficult not to leave. I'd rather be single and live alone than have a husband who wasn't loyal to me sexually and emotionally.

Many married people have "arrangements." I've known some (not my cup of tea!) The pair stay married and live in the same house. One spouse has numerous sexual affairs and the other knows all about it. One couple I know stays together because they are business partners and have financial entanglements. I judge silently in my mind, but on another level, I don't judge also...because it's none of my business. These people are not public figures, so for the Clintons, well, it is another ball of wax.

 

[missy]

Each couple, each individual, has to make their own minds up about staying or leaving a relationship when there is infidelity. Usually when infidelity occurs there is a deeper problem in the marriage and that deeper issue needs to be worked on together if the marriage and relationship is worth saving. So I would never tell someone to leave their partner due to infidelity. It's what happens after that will show, for better or worse, the future health of the marriage. Though infidelity is pretty egregious IMO I think one can recover if the couple wants to do the work to make their relationship healthier. However I have always felt that if one's relationship is in trouble the couple should work on it before resorting to an affair.

 

[tyty333]

I think it should be left up to her/them. Talk about humiliating though. He'd really have to kill my a$$ for the rest of his life for
me to stick with him!

 

[missy]

I think it should be left up to her/them. Talk about humiliating though. He'd really have to kill my a$$ for the rest of his life for
me to stick with him!

+1 on that. Though I would be afraid of catching something if he ever kissed my ass.
His extramarital affairs started soon after they got married. He sure didn't waste time.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/01/14/what-bill-clinton-infidelities-mean-for-hillary-campaign

https://www.truthaboutdeception.com/cheating-and-infidelity/politicians/bill-clinton.html

 

[mom2dolls]

I think they have an arrangement that has little to do with a traditional marriage. They both had political aspirations that will only work if they stay married. Who is to say she has not had affairs as well?
I think they are the Underwoods from House of Cards. Kevin Spacey once commented that the characters are loosely modeled after actual politicians.

 

[HollyS]

She stayed married to him after he was caught cheating.

Should she have left him?

Why?

They have used each other for their various reasons over the years, and they are stronger together in a political sense than they would be apart. Which is her reason for staying. And then again, maybe they do love each other.

As for splitting up because a partner cheats . . . every couple handles a crisis differently and a "one size fits all" answer doesn't work for everyone.

 

[boerumbiddy]

I voted Other because it is None of My Business.

 

[kenny]

For a member of the general public, yes it's nobody's business.
But when a candidate is running for president of The United States everything about her/him is subject to scrutiny.

People say don't judge.
I cannot think of a more important time to judge than whom we pick for this job.

But is it even relevant?
I say, yes.
One function of a US president is to be a role model, a person with standards and morals I consider acceptable.
BTW, that's why an atheist will never get the job.

 

[telephone89]

Guess y'all should start asking how many sexual partners each person has had? Totally relevant right? Too many and they're out of control, too little and not enough life experience.

This is as relevant as the topic at hand. IE, not at all.

 

[kenny]

I think she should have dumped the lying cheating jerk.
In my book if she stayed to improve her political career/income that's a mark against her.
I admire people who do the right thing and take their lumps ... which I have done a few times and suffered financially/professionally for doing it.
I look down on people who put ambition over ethics.

I'm still voting for her though.
If she was neck and neck with another electable Dem her staying with Bill might be the straw that broke this camel's back, and got me to vote against her.

 

[tyty333]

I think it should be left up to her/them. Talk about humiliating though. He'd really have to kill my a$$ for the rest of his life for
me to stick with him!

+1 on that. Though I would be afraid of catching something if he ever kissed my a$$.
His extramarital affairs started soon after they got married. He sure didn't waste time.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/01/14/what-bill-clinton-infidelities-mean-for-hillary-campaign

https://www.truthaboutdeception.com/cheating-and-infidelity/politicians/bill-clinton.html

Ha Ha... I'm not sure I would really want him kissing anything of mine come to think of it!

 

[Amber St. Clare]

Every person has that tipping point that would cause a break-up, but I don't think Hillary cared WHO Bill boinked, all she was in for it by then was the political connection.

I''d have left after finding out the initial infidelity. By sticking with him she said, either directly or indirectly, that it was OK for him to cheat. Personally, I couldn't tolerate that level of disrespect from my man, but then I don't want to be president.

 

[Bonfire]

I think they have an arrangement that has little to do with a traditional marriage. They both had political aspirations that will only work if they stay married. Who is to say she has not had affairs as well?
I think they are the Underwoods from House of Cards. Kevin Spacey once commented that the characters are loosely modeled after actual politicians.

I also think they have an "arrangement". Hillary has had political aspirations since college days. She turns a blind eye to his embarrassing indiscretions in exchange for his political prowess. For a disgraced and impeached former president, he is still in demand and a powerful campaign presence. He has made millions from his speeches. Good old Slick Willie. Btw, Bill and Kevin Spacey are buds.

 

[Dancing Fire]

..Bill is very faithful compared to JFK...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I voted Other because it is None of My Business.

Exactly...

I know it may be difficult to resist judgement but unless there is abuse, I do not express my opinion on other people's relationships. People are attracted to power. We know Clinton is not the only president to cheat on his wife.

 

[Maria D]

..Bill is very faithful compared to JFK...

From what I've read, that's probably very true. Shall we start a thread entitled "Should Jackie have picked up JFK's brains off of the trunk of the limousine he was shot in?" I mean, she loved him and all - but he was a cheat and she knew it. Shouldn't all women do what others, even complete strangers, think they "should" do, instead of what they want to do?



edited to add: This poll rubs me the wrong way because of the wording. If the question was "Would YOU have left Bill?" I wouldn't feel so snarky about it.

 

[AGBF]

..Bill is very faithful compared to JFK...

From what I've read, that's probably very true. Shall we start a thread entitled "Should Jackie have picked up JFK's brains off of the trunk of the limousine he was shot in?" I mean, she loved him and all - but he was a cheat and she knew it. Shouldn't all women do what others, even complete strangers, think they "should" do, instead of what they want to do?



edited to add: This poll rubs me the wrong way because of the wording. If the question was "Would YOU have left Bill?" I wouldn't feel so snarky about it.

Thanks, DF and Maria. You both made points I would not have noticed. Did not notice. JFK never entered my mind as we were discussing all of Bill Clinton's crimes of the boudoir, but I lived through JFK's presidency and then read about his many, many, many affairs as word of them came out later. And really, I think it was probably a lot harder on Jacqueline Kennedy than on Hillary Clinton because, from what I read, she had been romantically in love with Jack Kennedy when they married and we know, from her pregnancies, that they continued to be intimate throughout his time in The White House. (Unlike The Prince and Princess of Wales, for instance, when he strayed.) Plus Mrs. Kennedy was not a career woman. Mrs. Clinton was a brilliant lawyer who was occupied with health care policy even when she was First Lady. She had other interests besides Bill. We know Mrs. Kennedy wanted a divorce and was bought off by her father-in-law because she was so unhappy. No one has suggested that Hillary Clinton was pining for Bill!

I could be wrong, I get the sense that Jackie Kennedy was really hurt by Jack's cheating. I am sure that Hillary Clinton was angered and humiliated by Bill's-especially since it was so much more public in this era-but I do not know if she was as devastated. Of course there is no way to know someone's heart unless you know the person very well indeed.

 

[Gypsy]

She chose not to. So, I assume she had reasons for staying. I respect her choice.

 

[Polished]

Somewhere around that time I read that Hillary thought it was an indulgence to think too much about how you feel, allowing yourslef too much time for "wallowing". She stayed but she might well have stayed for strong reasons rather than weak ones. She also appeared to think about it as a "problem" Bill had - not an excuse (to her perhaps) but an explanation. Everything pointed to her being motivated to stay in the marriage.

 

[Rhea]

For a member of the general public, yes it's nobody's business.
But when a candidate is running for president of The United States everything about her/him is subject to scrutiny.

People say don't judge.
I cannot think of a more important time to judge than whom we pick for this job.

But is it even relevant?
I say, yes.
One function of a US president is to be a role model, a person with standards and morals I consider acceptable.
BTW, that's why an atheist will never get the job.

Is it though? Is something that a couple does in their private lives actually our business? I want to know about any abuse of power with an intern or similar, but I don't need every gory details about any consensual, adult relationship or affair that they had, worked through, fought over, or separated over. Similarly I believe the French people have a right to know about President Holland and his potentially endangering national security by sneaking out on a motorbike at all hours to conduct an affair. But I care less that it was an affair and more about national security as well as his political ideas on gay marriage, balancing the budget, and workers rights. The debate about his marriage or relationship is his alone.

I hate US politics. As an American living in England I've become used to much more relevant politics. My husband thinks I'm crazy for loving how out of people's personal lives European public and press are with politicians when he still considers it too much. But US politics is just dirty, mud slinging and foul. US politicians talking about penis size on a world stage. No wonder they are the laughing stock. I'm much more concerned about how the world sees the US in relation to political decisions.

Hillary and Bill did what was right for Hillary and Bill. Only they can evaluate and assess how they should have and will continue to handle the situation.


ETA: edited for clarity.

 

[MollyMalone]

I think she should have dumped the lying cheating jerk.
In my book if she stayed to improve her political career/income that's a mark against her.
I admire people who do the right thing and take their lumps ... which I have done a few times and suffered financially/professionally for doing it.
I look down on people who put ambition over ethics.
I'm still voting for her though.
If she was neck and neck with another electable Dem her staying with Bill might be the straw that broke this camel's back, and got me to vote against her.

As your if recognizes, you don't know the reasons she did not divorce him. I can say that I've been in their presence twice in the past 12 years: first, at a benefit dinner, and much more recently, happened to be seated behind them at a Broadway show. They seemed to genuinely love and adore each other, were "twinkling" in the other's presence.

Second, I am baffled by the proposition that it runs contrary to "ethics" for a person to remain married to a spouse who has cheated on them. Why must they leave the marriage in order to secure your approval (and all other things being equal, your vote) for having done "the right thing, taking their lumps"?

Third, you're voting for the country's President, a position s/he will hold for no more than 8 years, not a life partner for yourself or even a friend.

That you have yet to criticize Donald Trump for having been a philandering husband, but are damning here the woman candidate -- on the ground that the wronged spouse should abandon the marriage after sexual dalliances come to light -- has more than the whiff of a regrettable double standard.

 

[momhappy]

I think that they are perfect for each other - one lying, cheating jerk deserves another.....

 

[Laila619]

She stayed because of her political aspirations.

 

[arkieb1]

I think it's her business not ours, even public figures deserve a private life. You can't judge someone else until you walk a mile in their shoes.

A number of your current male presidential candidates are lying cheating scumbags, so really the whole idea people are judging her based on her husbands bad behaviour is a double standard.

 

[chrono]

I think it's her business not ours, even public figures deserve a private life. You can't judge someone else until you walk a mile in their shoes.

A number of your current male presidential candidates are lying cheating scumbags, so really the whole idea people are judging her based on her husbands bad behaviour is a double standard.

I was going to write a long spiel about how it is between the two of them and that there are so many cheating husbands currently holding office in the US and in the past, so Ark's post says it best for me.

 

[ragiff]

As far as I'm concerned who cares that her husband cheated on her, nothing new there and it happens to many of us. She and everyone else in world choose which bed to sleep in whether it be for love, financial gain, or even future political gain (Her husband has helped her candidacy).

Now, we SHOULD be judging her for not handing classified docs properly. Having served in Armed Forces and still carry Security Clearance this topic makes me sick. She has denied at every turn and continues to. She should not even be able to run as a candidate if shes under investigation by the FBI (although they are protecting her because of her position). Do people even realize the crime she committed? The "hacker" who leaked all the info on Clinton is being extradited to the united states as we speak, it could get interesting going forward. The people supporting her recent actions are delusional, she should be in jail or house arrest (given her position). Not running for president.