It's a pity when good candy goes bad. It sits on the shelf and its once sweet shell begins to break down into its essential chemicals, it's snappy nougat becomes flinty and flakey and its eye-catching wrapper fades and becomes brittle.
Sic Semper Zagnutis.
When Bill and Hill presided over all during the Nirvana Nineties, generating prosperity and (relative) peace and the White House was ground zero for every heat ray and disintegration beam The Republicans could hurl at them, they took on heroic qualities, complicated but clear, in the face of the pinched, pissed-off, pseudo-patriots obsessively intent on bringing them down.
But too much time spent being a hero can have corrupting effects; bravery can evolve into desperation and the cause for which the hero once fought becomes inexorably entwined with the insatiable desires of the ego.
Thus it is with Hillary. Like the aforementioned candy-bar (an admittedly labored metaphor written through a haze of generic cough medicine, as I have a touch of the grip), Hillary's stock hasn't been rotated and her once unique tang has turned toxic. Too much exposure, too much desperation to restore her relevance has led to a tragic display of her inner workings, indeed the inner workings of The Clintons themselves. After touting her own experience and ability to be ready for anything at any wee hour of the morning, she has in fact demonstrated the opposite and has proven herself to be in possession of too much opportunism, too little restraint and not a lot of class. She is clinging to her prime which has, sadly, just passed and should instead now endeavor to preserve what remains of the spirit and power that defined her two Bushes ago. (Gonna be tough with that "obliteration" comment she made a few days back. But hell, the MSM barely mentioned it, anyway.)
And Bill? His hair deservedly white, has also curdled somewhat, having become bellicose, turned inside out and deployed as H's erudite front-and-center hit man, doing the job once consigned to his own sleek squad of bobbers and weavers, shuckers and jivers. He's once again managed to taint his own resurrected record and -- heresy! -- has overstayed his welcome. Shelf-life, you see?
(cough)
Sorry. One sec---
Okay.
The classic Hillary is the one that would have inspired the next generation, herself as living history, watering the very grassroots of advocacy and activism the same way Conservatives so expertly did for their soon-to-become-viral legions decades ago. The Hillary being sold now will just give them a belly ache.
There's another candy being touted at the moment. It's new. It's smartly packaged. And it tastes fresh.
And hope has no foreseeable expiration date.
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Steven, about that generic syrup...get the good stuff or don't even bother.
'After touting her own experience and ability to be ready for anything at any wee hour of the morning, she has in fact demonstrated the opposite and has proven herself to be in possession of too much opportunism, too little restraint and not a lot of class.'
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thanks steven,
very well said...
hey, are you talking about Licorice, again?
That was a beautifully written essay on the old Hillary whom I grudgingly admired as the wife of the President I voted for twice. The Clinton years were halcyon, brimming with prosperity and remarkably peaceful with Bill being on such easy terms with world leaders. I'll never forget him breaking down in genuine laughter with Boris Yeltsin. But that was then and this is now. I might vote for BIll again if he was running except for the remarkable young leader that emerged from the 2004 Democratic Convention and gave a speech that knocked the socks off of most who heard it. This country today is thirsting for change and we see it in Barack Obama whose cool headed and non blistering approach to politics will lift us out of the mire created by eight horrifying years of Bush-Cheney.
I hope Hillary will get off the campaign trail before she makes such a back handed issue of race, that this country will lose ground in that arena.
Unfortunately, I think the Clintons have not made the issue of race back-handed but under-handed and they've already pushed this country back several years from the progress it made. This weekend Bill has been in WVA telling voters that Obama is mocking them. I'm not black but even I know that's code for 'uppity'.
I think the Clintons are trying to make it impossible for Obama to win in November so she can have a shot in 2012 by driving the wedge between Democrats even deeper. I think they want Obama to lose so they can say 'I told you America won't elect a black president'.
Were you perchance on drugs during those "halcyon" years? Or are you being facetious now? That laugh he shared with fellow-thug Yeltsin was at the expense of the American , Russian and Iraqi peoples.
Wow, what happened to all the Hillary supporters? They seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth!
Anyway, I still think Hillary has one option left that'll get her into the White House.
I'm talking about the VP gig, of course. If she can swallow her pride, she has all the credentials to be a great Vice-President.
She should call John McCain right away and get herself on the ticket.
"Jiggle me timbers!"
Glad your fever hasn't dulled your pen Steven. Loved the analogy. Feel better soon!
Hillary's "unique tang has gone sour."
Oh, Steven...really?
The cold meds must have made you miss the perfect rimshot aside: I guess that explains Monica.
Buh-duh-bump!
Also, later on, Bill's "taint?"
Are you just being coy with us?
JP
Bitter.
Obliterate.
100 years in Iraq.
There is a vast difference betweens these words and therefore the people who used them in context of their use. The paradox is often a useful perspective. An old psych trick.
Assume Obama accuses others of being bitter because he is bitter. There is probably not a black man alive who has not been subject to baseless ridicule.
Assume Clinton does not want to obliterate but feels as though she is being obliterated. Clinton views the world as against her, destroying her, so she must destroy. The Republicans tried to destroy her, perhaps more than any one person in history.
.McCain does not want to fight for 100 years but has been fighting for a 100 years. Some part of McCain is still in Hanoi and does not see why any other generation should expect to be spared the same.
Could these stress pressure points add some predisposition the judgment of the candidates? Sure. Everyone has a pressure point, a hot button or a cause most favored. The remedy for this is principle. The only assurance you have that a President will not give reign to their inner demons is the apparent strength of their moral and ethical compass.
There is no perfect candy, always just what you want. There is only a more worthy candy.
While it provided a path for possible ascension to the top shelf of sweets, Steven, her time maturing in CONgress' pantry also reintroduced her gooey activist center as a Goldwater Girl, and enlightened every true liberal just how much the stamped expiration date had been exceeded. The sugary common ground between ingredients, on each side of the isle there, perhaps achieved DLC goals of wooing back those crispy 'Ray-gun Democrats' into the mix, but it also compromised the shelf-life of those ingredients. And, it's that understanding of a taste bud's needs that provide any unique 'candy' with the irresistible flavor of TRUTH desired by ALL thoughtful consumers. Without insight then, that the best candies are rarely the easiest to make, EVERY candy just ends up as ...a jawbreaker.
Thank you for the metaphorical journey.
If she would've stayed positive, without all the negative and lame attacks, a lot of Dems would have considered her. With her attacks, she rallied a small segment of the Dems, instead of doing everything possible to appeal to the whole party, and to Independents. We expect this kind of behavior from a Repug, but never from another Dem. Really bad strategy.
I agree. She may be ahead right now had it not been for her Rove-style tactics. The mistake for Hillary was that there was a notion that she couldn't complete with "hope," and she ran the "fear" campaign instead.
You are absolutely right! All she would have had to do is say 'we believe' , and then state the similar stances to Obama on the war, economy, etc. and people would have probably picked her by default because of her longevity. Instead she chose to run a losing Republican campaign. Personally, I think that because she was smart enough to know that giving Bush a blank check to wage war was political pandering to the right, she hasn't recovered from the guilt of selling her soul and overcompensated with negative attacks whenever Obama brought it up.
Also, with her pathetic and transparent attempt to appeal to "the center" with guns, trucks and whiskey, she alienated the left. I, for one, was wholly appalled at the hypocrisy of trying to advocate for lower gas prices with a publicity stunt involving a half-dozen (or more?) of the biggest gas-guzzling vehicles ever made.
What the hell was she thinking? Was Hillary seriously "feeling our pain" by staging a photo-op of the very overconsumption and wasteful behaviors that the oil companies directly glean their record breaking profits?
Ironic? Nah, lets all buy RV's and paint "Stop Wasting Gas" on the sides as we, as a whole country, hold giant promotional drag races for peace.
I think think I've actually been to one of those racing events here in GA. When 'Truckasurus Rex' gave that little pep talk about ecology to the monster truck fan's kids...it was inspiring and educational in a uniquely American way
You're beginning to understand the nature of all politicians. Keep studying, grasshopper.
It would have been more accurate to have said "all politicians I have voted for or would consider voting for" Overdog
The new candy I saw being prepared in this campaign is called Chelsea. It became obvious that she is being trained to be the next female presidential candidate.
I think Hillary and Bill both did not realize that they are sixteen years older and running for president ist harder when you are in your sixties than when you are in your forties.
And I agree that Hillary was trying get revenge for the humiliation suffered. But that is no good reason to become president. I was hoping for a ladylike, sophisticated, peaceful woman president, not a gun waving, shot downing pick up truck driving warmonger, who tries to appeal to the mostly uneducated and uninformed.
They are not the "idiotic corporate media," they are the "looking out first and foremost for themselves and their board of directors (and our wealthy friends) corporate media."
It's not idiotic what they're doing, it's criminal, because they do business on our public airwaves.
And it's specific and systemic in the corporate news world. At every level.
Which is why I get my news from Matt Frei and the BBC. And BBC.com. And online.
Speaking of TV, I have seen 8,000 other photos of Steven Weber who do him much more justice than the one at the top of this page.
Steven, send Arianna your new headshot, please.
If Hillary had just been Hillary and had no one advising her and she just winged it alone, without Bill, I believe she would have done better.
But fate has a way of arriving with a whole new plan and that we needed a black man for President in this racist country just couldn't be put off any longer.
Yes, women too are 2nd class citizens in some circles, but blacks have had it too bad for too long and its time for a REAL change and I hope Obama knows this is a ripe issue and takes it on.
Just popping in to give kudos for the Costello reference.
Ditto.
I'm shocked by what you've written Mr. Weber. Using that same logic you shouldn't complain if your career dries up in Hollywood (regardless of the good work you've done) when you become old candy. No one survives and achieves a level of success without accumulating scars and enemies. Obama will get his. My guess is at the end of his reign as the new candy bar many of you who are now touting him will be trashing him and touting the next new sweet on the market. Of course he'll cash in with book deals etc and all his followers will get is a disturbing sense of having been ripped off.
ElizaW
Thanks for having the omnipotency to predict the future of Sen. Obama. Me thinks you prediction is not based on genuine analysis. Rather, it strikes me as being an angry diatribe against Obama (sour grapes may be) because he defeated Queen Clinton without going into the gutter of politics as usual. Lately, It's been very hard for me to tell the difference between Hillary Clinton and the "Right Wing Conspiracy" that she heroically fought against in the 90's. No wonder many of her nemesis were rooting for her. No one can accuse her of not learning the political lesson of the 90's.: "Personal destruction of your opponent is absolutely necessary if you want to win." by all means if it requires throwing all the garbage in "the Kitchen sin," by all means do it.
nk007
When Obama talks about the audacity of hope and promises his supporters a better tomorrow do you thank him for the omnipotency to predict the future? I seriously doubt it. I think you reserve your barbs for people who have the audacity to point out that Obama has yet to prove himself as anything but an inspirational speaker. And judging from your comments he's inspiring some of his followers (you) to lash out in ways that make it clear the more things change the more things stay the same. So much for a new voice, a new chapter, the new politics.
>she was determined to avenge her very public humiliation over her husband's betrayal which she never processed.<
An interesting thought. Could also be that Hillary, having been made to feel victimized and powerless by both her errant hubby and the Rethuglican hit-squad, has been seeking to empower herself to the degree enjoyed solely by world leaders.
the oddest thing to me, in watching this Clinton Campaign, it seemed like they both were oblivious to the existence of the Internet.
It was bizarre!
anyway, feel better, Steven
especially youtube.
Along these same lines ... it's always best to avoid watching actors whose performances you enjoy appear on talk shows or write blogs posts. Once they out themselves as being spectacularly inane or pointlessly mean-spirited, you are hard put to get that out of your head the next time you see them onscreen. No matter what role they are playing you keep remembering when they piled on so ungraciously and unnecessarily and you think ,"So like a giant tool."
...Mother...?
Too funny! That's why I love reading your stuff Steve, I always laugh out loud (even when you reply to a such a hypocritical comment).
That was a good one! I like your blogs, Steven.
...hahahahaha
LOL! Nice one, Steven. Feel better. And keep posting.
ha! ... the only thing worse than sour grapes is "bitter" grapes
Hillary and Bill - putting the "nasty" in Dynasty since 1992
This post just inspired the imaginary Ipod in my cranium to which I often refer, to shuffle to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgyPs5bS3DM
As a long term counselor, I sincerely feel as though her campaign degenerated into totally toxicity and mean spiritedness, primarily based on its inherent motivating factor. That was that she was determined to avenge her very public humiliation over her husband's betrayal which she never processed.
Just a theory but revenge is energetically not really a great motivator for public service.
She had incredibly poor discernment in her selection of advisors and lousy money management skills as well.
It's really sad but I really feel Clinton fatigue is vastly underestimated.
In this land once lauded as the land of diversity, two families were not intended to dominate one branch of government for decades on end.
Yikes & Phew.
Someone one another forum said John McSame is the candidate for the 19th century. Hillary was the candidate for the 20th century. Obama is the candidate for the 21st century.
With all the rancor of charges of racism and sexism, I really feel ageism will be the overriding factor in this election.
That is, if our votes could possibly be counted accurately and it wasn't for those damned nefarious voting machines and our idiotic corporate media.
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Posted May 7, 2008 | 02:51 PM (EST)