Melanie Morgan

Some of you may remember Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien. I knew her before she hyphenated her name. Yikes, time flies! I am especially proud of her, because she shows more guts and courage than any so-called journalist covering the Democrat presidential contest. She took on Hillary Rodham Clinton in a public venue. Wow. I am awed.

You won't hear how the slug-fest turned out by the elite media. But you will read about it here, thanks to GREAT folks at FreeRepublic.com

Today I Met Hillary in Nashua, N.H. also known as “The Gate City”
by Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien

Today, Friday the 13th of July was my lucky day. I went to Daniel Webster College to meet Hillary Clinton.
I knew that the chance of that really happening would be slim. I arrived a little late but just in time for the program, that had been billed in the paper as free and open to the public to begin. I had called Hillary headquarters for tickets a few days prior. A friendly staffer told me that my tickets would be at the door and that there would be a 1/2 to 3/4 hour question time after her talk.
“Great”, I thought to myself, that will be a good time to see how open and free it really is. I’ve seen pre selected questions before and I loathe that process, it’s a sham.
When I got there, they did not ask my name or anything. It was fantastic that they gave out water bottles. I found the crowd of about a couple hundred strong to be a bit anemic in their overall vibe.
People were pleasant but not wicked thrilled to be there. I thought it would be a much different feel. Bill Clinton spoke for a bit, then Hillary spoke. I don’t care what any of her enemies say, the truth is she is looking better than ever now. Hats off to her hair, make up and style people. I hoped my luck would hold and she really would take random questions.
Throughout her speech, she made some points I agreed with, such as let’s treat our returning veterans better and interest rates on student loans should be as low as they can possibly be. Amen.
When she was done talking music started. Not looking good for that question asking session I dared to hope for...
I went up to the group heading towards the stage to meet her or her husband. It gets cozy fast in those crowds. There was a lady next to me, wearing a tee shirt that declared her as a health care voter, who had two canes she used. I tried to help her squeeze in a bit and half joked with her to whack the folks pushing in front of her with one of her canes. The poor lady might have fallen over if she did. For goodness sakes-can’t Hillary get staffers to watch out for and help those folks. Just a little free advice. Get them all up front, life is hard enough for them. The lady gave up and left.
I was not too far from the former President so I called out to him but he didn’t see me. Hillary came up next and I held out an old light green colored postcard towards her as others were holding tickets, baseballs and stuff like that.
She took my postcard, signed it and asked “Whose is this?” I said it was mine and asked her if she believed Juanita Broaddrick. “Who is that?” she asked.
I replied “The woman who said she was raped by Bill Clinton in 1978.”
“I don’t know anything about that” Ms. Rodham Clinton said, still holding my card
“I sent you a videotape of the interview she gave to Dateline NBC and I’m sure you have received it, I sent it by certified mail and that’s the receipt showing your office got it that your holding.”
At some point around this time someone behind her asked my name so I told them what it was.
She gave the receipt back to me.
I asked her again if she believed Juanita Broaddrick.
“I don’t know what your talking about.” she then started going back towards the direction she had come from, away from her husband.
I had to yell so she would hear me over the music as I asserted “That’s not true!” and went on to ask her “Why are you doing this? You’ve always been so good to rape survivors.”
I was thinking about how she started Arkansas’ first rape crisis hotline and helped start its first rape crisis center. I would have loved her way back then for that.
The people around me suddenly discovered they did not like me and began making vehement requests to have someone get me out of there.
A well groomed, handsome man in a suit with one of those clear, curly wires in his ear, a Secret Service agent perhaps, grabbed both my arms above the elbow and began pushing me backwards and telling me I had to leave.
So I did. Well, I began to.
An enthusiastic, yet clueless young campaign worker invited me to take a sign up card thing so I could get campaign updates.
I declined her offer by muttering a swear phrase that encourages people to go have fun with themselves but I don’t think she heard me.
As I passed the media stage I thought I’d at least talk to some media folks and tell them my side of the story. I had printed it up on a sheet of paper I could give them.
About four guys in suits with wires in their ears were joined by an equal number of Nashua Police officers who told me I couldn’t do that. So I began to leave again..
All eight of them were kind enough to escort me toward the gate. Who says chivalry is dead?
As officers of the law, I will obey them but I couldn’t see why I was such a threat. I’m 130 or so pounds soaking wet, I was wearing a dress and heels and so upset and humiliated I’m was trying hard not to cry and not always being successful.
This was a very hard thing for me to do. I try to be polite but I also know that I must be bold and assertive as well to get the answers I want. I know my intentions are pure and this gives me confidence. At that moment, knowing my intentions were honorable, this caused me to be very angry too. I declared that the event was a sham. To me it was. If a candidate wants to earn the right of having said they were vetted by the tough, hard question asking New Hampshire citizenry, then I respond that she must earn that right. Hillary is not doing that, walking away from tough questions and not being brave enough to take random ones that a whole crowd can hear. Does she think were stupid?
As we all walked on, I was struck by the irony of what the Nashua Police were doing. I asked them how they could square what they were doing to me with what they do all day long for work, fight crime and have to kick me out when all I did was ask a tough question. I asked them how they could sleep at night.
I told them I was a polite person, I never did anything wrong. I wanted to say I’d been a Girl Scout Leader and all I ever do in life is take care of other people. I’m even doing laundry right now as I write this.
One of the men asked me what I asked about. I told them I asked about Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who said she was raped by Bill Clinton and that I couldn’t figure out why Hillary would have ever cared about 18 minutes of blank tape during the Watergate scandal but never wanted to know where her husband was on April 25, 1978, a date he will not account for and the date Broaddrick says the rape happened.
I pointedly asked one of the officers that a man running for governor would have those records, an Attorney General would have those records, right?
They world be someplace, right? No answer, I wasn’t expecting one anyway.
We got to the road and that’s when it got really weird. One of then asked me where I was parked. I pointed towards my car near the airport. Another asked me if I was ok to drive.
“What!?, yes I can drive, I’m fine to drive!” He must have thought I was nuts or he deals with so many drunks this is an automatic question..
I began to walk towards my car, I wanted to get out of there so bad.
An officer started talking about the fence, the gate or whatever but I tried to tell him “OK OK, I’m leaving, I’m leaving” but he kept trying to tell me about the gate.
I could not disobey the officer who was trying to make me listen to what he had to say so I had to walk back to him.
I said “Yes, sir yes, sir, I’m listening, I’m listening.” That’s when he told me that on the other side of the gate was state property. After I crossed over it, if I were to come back I would be arrested.
I was shocked, I’ve never even gotten a speeding ticket in my life. I said stuff like “What!?, I’ll be arrested!?”
“Why,why would you arrest me? What did I do?”and “I can’t believe this, why?”
He only said the same thing over again but this time with an emphatic “Mamn” at the beginning of his sentence.
I thought about walking to the fence as fast as a snail or coming back over just 1 inch to find out why I’d be arrested.
But that would be a high price to pay just to find out and I had to get to my job. How do you call in to get someone to cover for you because you got arrested ? I don’t want to find out. Well, my story ends there and my washing machine just stopped...

Speech written and given by Katherine Prudhomme

Saturday August 19, 2000

Good afternoon. My name is Katherine Prudhomme. I am a wife, a mother, the first female graduate of my trade high schools machine shop program and I am a rape survivor. As such I am wearing a dark green ribbon today to tell the world "I am a rape survivor and I will not be ashamed!" I thank all who have chosen to wear light purple ribbons showing that they believe and support Juanita Broaddrick. Thank you also to the many generous volunteers who helped make this happen today.

Last December during the New Hampshire primary I asked V.P Al Gore during a live, televised town hall meeting at WNDS TV studios not far from my Derry home if he believed Juanita Broaddrick. She is the woman who made the highly credible claim of rape against a sitting president, William Clinton.

Juanita Broaddrick was a volunteer on the "Clinton for Governor" campaign when she says she was raped in a Little Rock, Arkansas hotel room. Broaddrick, a successful nursing home owner with nothing but peace of mind to gain from telling her story was interviewed by Lisa Myers in January 1999. The interview aired February 24 of the same year on the Dateline NBC program.

Most people who saw the interview believed Mrs. Broaddrick. President Clinton, responding through his lawyer, has said this claim is false. Havenít we been down this road before with Clinton? And havenít we found out what his word is worth? His word is worth nothing. To not believe Mrs. Broaddrick, to think Bill Clinton is not a rapist is to make a liar out of Mrs. Broaddrick. I wonít do that! I thank all of you who came out here today for saying with me ñ I believe Juanita Broaddrick!

Al Gore told me he did not see the interview and didnít know how to evaluate all the charges. I wonder what made the Anita Hill case so much easier for him to evaluate? Gore went on to tell me how he thought the American people were tired of all these charges and wanted to move on.

That last statement really made me mad. What is he saying to me? That if I donít "want to move on" then I am not one of the American people? Or is he telling those who still think that rape is a crime in this country and believe their president may be a rapist that they are out of touch with everybody else? Are we out of touch ? I say no! We are in fact in touch! WE are in touch with truth, we are in touch with justice, we are in touch with kindness and we are in touch with doing the right thing! And I wonít be manipulated by anyone who may try to tell me otherwise!

Gore has an undeniable record of believing women when they make a serious charge of sexual mistreatment by powerful Republican men. He stood up for and defended Anita Hill when she said she was sexually harassed by now Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Why then did he just dismiss Juanita Broaddrick? One would think such a "caring" person as Gore would have at least watched the interview Mrs. Broaddrick gave to Lisa Myers.

But he did not. Mrs. Broaddrick is simply to inconvenient for him to acknowledge. It takes a strong person to stand up for what is right when it is inconvenient and I learned that day last December that Gore is not a strong person.

Letís move on to a women who has been at the forefront of the womenís and human rights crusade for decades. Hillary Clinton is someone that rape survivors such a myself or Mrs. Broaddrick or the brave green ribbon wearers among us should be able to turn to and depend on. But we cannot. Hillary Clinton has betrayed us.

She has words ñ thousands of them ñ that say she is on our side, but is she really? Consider these examples:

In the aftermath of the recent group sexual attacks during New Yorkís Puerto Rican Day Parade Mrs. Clinton called for increased penalties on those convicted of group sexual wilding. Of this incident Mrs. Clinton has said "We all looked on in horror at the videotapes because we know these women. They are wives, and sisters, and daughters. They are friends and neighbors. We know that if it could happen there - in broad daylight ñ it could happen anywhere. This is a crime against all women ñ everywhere. And so we have to say enough is enough. This violence is unacceptable and it must stop."

Well, Hillary I feel your pain, because I too have a videotape, a videotape of Juanita Broaddrick telling her story to Lisa Myers that I will give you today. It is a videotape that I have looked upon in horror. And when it told a tale of disgusting violence committed against a woman in broad daylight... A women who could have been my sister, my daughter or my mother... I too have to say "enough is enough ñ this violence is unacceptable and must stop".

Also consider what Mrs. Clinton said to the Inter-American Development Bank on October 20, 1997, "I am proud that my husband has stood up as President to confront the violence and to protect American women. While grassroots organizing by women is vital to each countryís tackling the crisis, it is only when men ñ from the level of men of the barrio to the level of men of the presidential palaces ñ join hands with us to stand against violence against women that we will know our societies have truly been transformed"

President Clinton has stood up to confront violence and protect American women? Why then has he refused to say anything other than this rape allegation is not true - and with this man we would be foolish to believe his words alone ñ we need proof! Why wonít he tell the American people where he was on the date in question - April 25, 1978? At that time Mr. Clinton was Attorney General of Arkansas. Those records do exist. Why canít he take a stand on this and tell us where he was that morning? Mrs. Clinton you have said you talk with your husband about everything. What have you said to him about this? Because it is only when the men at the highest levels of our society, such as men of the presidential palaces join hands with us to stand against women that we will know our societies have truly been transformed...

That is why I, such a little person from Derry, New Hampshire believe that I truly have no choice today but to resort to this grassroots organizing. Grassroots organizing that I know that you, Mrs. Clinton, deep in your heart would not only approve of but applaud, if only I were not here to stand up for Juanita Broaddrick. For she is someone so totally inconvenient for you to believe. But I think you do.

To this last part I gotta say - Girl ñ get a backbone! We are told over and over that you are a strong woman. Show us some proof. Show us who you are with your actions not just with your words. Because actions beat words hands down every time.

Do the right thing Mrs. Clinton. I know that for you it must be the most difficult thing to do. This occasion demands no lessor action of the good and the brave. In answering .. or not answering the question, Mrs. Clinton, you will tell us loud and clear who you are.

Ask your husband if it is true that he committed this violent hate crime, a felony in all 50 state. Experienced investigators interviewed Mrs. Broaddrick and believed her. Experts in the field of sex offender treatment believe her. United Sates congressman Christopher Shays believes her. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Americans believe her. Do not dishonor all them with any further silence on this issue.

Mrs. Clinton, if you donít believe Mrs. Broaddrick, you must tell us why! If you want the honor of representing in the United States Senate my beloved mother, my sister and a true heroic feminist if ever there was one, my young nephew - still learning the lessons of life that children learn simply by watching how adults like you, Mrs. Clinton and me behave, now and last but certainly not least - the millions of wonderful New Yorkers I am honored to be among today.

Mrs. Clinton, donít take us back to the day when women were believed only when they were perfect or only when they were convenient to believe.

Mrs. Clinton, let me be clear, I ask you a question today not about the consensual affair that your husband had with Monica Lewinsky. No kind fair minded person would think to invade the privacy of your marriage in such a way.

I ask only about the charge made by Juanita Broaddrick, that she was raped by your husband. I believe Juanita Broaddrick ñ do you? Rape is not a sin. Rape is not just a mistake. Rape is not just a difficulty in someoneís marriage. Any answer to the question "Do you believe Juanita Broaddrick?" that uses any of these terms to describe rape is unacceptable.

I ask you this one question, Mrs. Clinton not to be mean or cruel to you but to be a good person. I want to be a positive and active member of the larger village. I want to do right by the children of today who sadly, may be the rape victims of the future. I am trying to be a wise village member who hacks away at the roots of the problem of sexual violence while some may be only grasping at leaves. That means I must talk about the violent hate crime against women called rape, not just when it is easy. I must also do it when it is hard.

Mrs. Clinton, I think it is kind to Mrs. Broaddrick that people stand up and say what so many have been thinking all along ...