A Woman Scorned

Like you, when I want a good bracing shot of fake altruism, self-serving moralizing, and pseudo-principled expressions of outrage, I turn to Republicans. I know they're good for it, because that's all they're good for.

Sorry. That's all for which they're good.

Recently, though, I've discovered a Democratic source of this all-too-renewable natural resource. She is, as the N.Y. Times noted on June 12 of this year, "a top Clinton fund-raiser, telecommunications entrepreneur and member of the Democratic national convention's platform committee." She's married to a British Lord.

She's Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild. You may remember her from such recent accomplishments as telling Anderson Cooper, regarding Barack Obama, "...frankly, I don't like him. I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him."

Yeah, that old gag: "elitist," which we thought had been retired along with Newt Gingrich's relevance. Here it is, uttered by a woman who is mistress of the 3,200 acre Rothschild family estate, and who was introduced to her husband (Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild) by Henry fucking Kissinger at the Bilderberg Conference.

(Don't bother applying to attend. Wikipedia: "Attendees of Bilderberg include central bankers, defense experts, mass media press barons, government ministers, prime ministers, royalty, international financiers and political leaders from Europe and North America.")

Forester was recently on the radio here in L.A., talking to the excellent (and Huff Post blogging!) Patt Morrison. The topic: Hillary loyalists, and how they will or will not be able to reconcile themselves to Barack Obama's victory and join in the effort to get him elected in November. It turns out that, alas, Lynn Forester may not. In fact, she may vote for, and possibly work on behalf of, John McCain.

Now, this matter was previously autopsied in these pages on June 13 by Richard Silverstein, here.

Silverstein quite understandably dealt with it by not really believing the Lady meant what she said. So he wrote a few paragraphs and wisely bailed out.

But why should that stop me? Because a month later she's still saying it. Here is what Lynn Forester told (what sounded to me like an audibly incredulous) Patt Morrison. (Listen to the whole thing here, under "Hillary Holdouts.")

"At the end of the day we are choosing the President of the United States, the most powerful job in the world for the greatest county that ever existed on the face of the planet."

(All right, I have to interrupt for a moment and invite you to join me, as we smash our heads against the wall at this GOP-style American-exceptionalist frothing. Can't the U.S.A. be a great country without having to be "the greatest country that ever existed on the face of the planet"? Which itself is kind of a mixed cliché. She means either "on the face of the Earth" or "on the planet." Never mind. Let's move on.)

"And we cannot say that our party, or our loyalty to our party, is our first obligation. We are obligated to choose who will lead this country best, who will work harder for all the people in this county. And so I don't feel guilty at all if I don't vote Democratic. And it was California's Ronald Reagan who said, he did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him."

It's hard to know where to start to adequately describe the bad faith, uber-disingenuousness, and sheer baloney-rich nonsense of this statement. So let's not try yet. Instead, let's just review what "Dan from Brea" (a former Hillary supporter) said when he called in. Because he nailed it:

"I cannot believe anyone who seriously supports the fundamental principles that Hillary campaigned for could say with a straight face that they would consider voting for John McCain...I have a hard time taking your position seriously."

Tell me about it, Dan. Because here's what this woman, whose claim on our attention is predicated on her having worked passionately for Hillary Clinton, would have us believe:

1. That she is of the sincere opinion that John McCain, whose positions on major issues are almost identical to those of His Catastrophic Chimpitude, George W. Bush, will "lead this country" better and "work harder for all the people in this country," than Barack Obama, whose positions on almost every issue are almost identical to Hillary Clinton's.

2. That this attitude represents a selfless devotion to country, if need be at the expense of petty Party loyalty.

3. That Barack Obama has not given Forester "a reason to trust him," but John McCain has.

4. That this position is adequately explained and justified by something Ronald Reagan -- California's Ronald Reagan -- once said.

If you listen to the broadcast, you hear Patt's other guest, Jill Iscoll (fundraiser for HRC and chair of her Senate campaigns) take a somewhat less ridiculous stance. Iscoll, to my ear, even sounds a bit embarrassed by the full-throated absurdity of her sister Hill-raiser.

What the two women have in common, however, is a shared sense of indignation at how Hillary was treated by the press during the primary. There was misogyny. There was sexism. "The press tried to marginalize her," Iscoll said. "She was not a marginal candidate."

"Marginalize"? After months of writing and broadcasting about Hillary's "inevitability"? Whatever. And yes, there were strains of misogyny and sexism in the coverage, just as there were strains of racism. But then Iscoll says, about her candidate, "She is the greatest figure of our age for millions and millions of people, not only in America but around the world."

Again with the face-of-the-planet hyperbole. Meanwhile, neither of these women mentions any of the half-truths, lies, contradictions, fudgings, or evasions for which Hillary was responsible, from I-was-shot-at-in-Bosnia to the-voters-of-Florida-deserve-to-be-heard-even-though-I-earlier-agreed-that-they-didn't.

What we have here, in other words, are two feminists still pissed that their gal lost. They're entitled. Lynn Forester is even entitled (whatever that can possibly mean, coming from me, a nobody with a Dell and broadband), to vote for, work for, and give money to, John McCain.

But don't pretend to justify it on the basis of "leadership." Have the simple honesty to identify your position for what it is: sheer, unadulterated, 99 44/100ths percent pure spite -- one of the most blatant examples of spite on the face of the planet.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. After all, spite is to revenge what masturbation is to sex.

So go enjoy yourself. But don't ask everyone else to applaud you for it, or to adopt your (bogus, nonsensical, pseudo-selfless) "reasons" as their own -- or, worse, to take them seriously and try to dissuade or appease you.

We've had, thanks to the thoroughly corrupted Republican Party, eight nightmare years of lies, propaganda, and insults to the intelligence of ourselves and our household pets, all presented as ostensibly matters of principle and patriotism. The last thing we need is more of it from Democrats -- regardless of their titles.

Cross-posted on What HE Said.

Comments

[superba]

Yay!

[Zhonni]

The funny thing is that people on HuffPo like to write like Lawyers. If you don't read it carefully you would think that she wanted to save money for the Presidential election but don't forget there is a primary and general in a senate race.

The money is for the SENATE PRIMARY between DEMS and GENERAL against REPS in NY not PRESIDENTIAL.

[brijit]

Well, this shows the problem with the use of talking points. Supporters of ___(fill in the blank)____ have to keep repeating the current point even when it's inappropriate to the point of utter insanity. on the other hand, a ladyship and a Rothschild would likely know a lot about elitism.

[4real]

The word Elitist is a code word for something they really don't have the courage to say.

[FACINGREALIT]

Great Article - And what most of these 'so-called supporters' of Hillary don't realize is that they are ensuring that she nor any other woman is NEVER elected!

For their ideology will forever work BOTH WAYS! These same women cannot see far enough in the future to understand that if they ALONE could have gotten Hillary the nomination - she would be IN - but because it is going to take them along with those who supportered Obama to elect a WOMAN their HATED STANCE will prevent their garnering this support for people are not going to give them the statisfaction of their vote!

These women have ensured that NO WOMAN will be elected during their lifetime for sure! Hillary was not a perfect candidate and to vote on someone just because they are a woman shows their short-sightedness and their ignorance.

[FloridaShutterBug]

The myth that these women are rabid Hillary supporters who hate Obama because he __________ (Fill in the blank.) needs to be dispelled. This falsehood was started by the MSM and they still promote it today because they really don't understand what's happening.

These women never supported Hillary and neither know nor care what her beliefs were. They supported the IDEA that a woman should be the most powerful person in the world. They didn't get what they wanted so they're going to slap themselves in retaliation.

As a woman, I'm embarrassed both for and because of them.

[KenFL]

It's all a bit freaky.

This weekend my brother, who has been a liberal Democrat all his life, and was a huge Hillary supporter, told me that he switched his registration to Republican on the day Hillary lost, and now thinks the world of John McCain, has donated to him, and will work hard for his election.

Barack Obama has all the qualities that my brother has admired in a candidate, and shares all his political positions, but since Obama beat Hillary, he is now a dangerous America-hating Muslim terrorist spy, whose wife will force us all to wear "WHITEY" mechanic's patches.

I don't understand it...

[truthskr]

As a feminist who fully supports Barack Obama, I could not agree more.

One has to suspect that Hillary Clinton is deeply ashamed of and embarrassed by these women as well as groups such as PUMA, and like-minded HRC PACs. All they do is reinforce the very unfortunate stereotype of women as intellectually inferior, ruled by irrational emotion, and prone to vengeful spite. When trying to promote an agenda, spite and anger (these women) are extremely poor substitutes for intellect and grace (Hillary Clinton).

[ObserverinVancouver]

One of the comments from Richard Silverstein's article:

"Cecile Richards noted that her mother Ann would say this is like a chicken choosing the Colonel."

If anyone thinks Sen. Obama does not "get" women's issues, they should learn more about his mother. Mother in her teens, abandoned by her husband, had to use food stamps at some point, managed to earn a PhD while raising two children, worked in Indonesia with fabric artists and got involved to some degree in microlending more than 30 years ago, died of cancer while worrying about her insurance coverage. With this woman for an example, there's a good chance that Sen. Obama does "get" women's issues better than some pampered Upper East Side socialite swimming in money.

[Missmn]

"I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him" = I haven't been able to buy him off, but I've had no problem with McCain on that front.

[DasBoot]

Cringe...

Can you imagine people like Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson, Mrs. Rothschild etc. running the Democratic presidential campaign at this point?

Whatever criticisms of the Obama campaign one can marshal these days, just think about what the Democratic party lucked out of...

[Pdubya]

"Allow me to issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes its laws!" Amshell Rothschild

track oil vs. gold and compare it to oil vs. dollar and MAYBE people will wake up and realize this is NOT simply a supply/demand issue, but rather an elitist plan by yes, The Bilderberg Group and other elite clubs to reign in the NWO.

Our pesky constitution is in their way. Thank goodness they have had the majority of our Presidents in their pockets for the last 80 years.

Only Congress shall issue money. Only gold and silver shall be legal tender. PERIOD.

time to smell the coffee folks.

[colleen2]

Just think, Ms Rothschild is one of the few people in the country who would be voting in her short term best interests if she votes for McCain. I don't begrudge her that.
The 'elitist' claim is straight out of the DLC playbook and tells me that Mrs Clinton's surrogates haven't stopped mouthing off in public. I wonder if she is one of the big donors who threatened Nancy Pelosi and the DNC. Now that was elitist.

[NorVaGal]

Lady de Rothschild is one of the few people in the country who, due to her wealth, would not suffer and would actually benefit from a McCain presidency. The rest of us are not so fortunate.

And, it's people like HER who have claimed to care soooooo much about the suffering in America and the world. Well, McCain will certainly put poor and middle-class Americans at the top of his list ASAP. After all, hasn't he always? Yeah, right.

[blaqntelligence]

AWESOME!!!
This is the best I've read yet.

[seatea1967]

Just fantastic. Needed to be said.

I love that you pointed out the self-deception that's necessary to have the point of view this woman embraces. People should honest with themselves about their motivations and proceed appropriately. Too many of the problems in this world are a result of people failing to do so.