iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron

Posted: March 30, 2008 02:57 PM

Hooked on Hillary


I would like to put myself among the growing chorus of people demanding that Hillary Clinton withdraw from the election. I don't really think it's fair to ask her to withdraw, and I certainly don't believe she's going to; she'll hang in there till the last dog dies, or till she runs out of money, whichever comes first. I'm not asking her to withdraw because I prefer Obama, and I don't think she should withdraw "for the sake of party unity," or whatever current bromide is being flung at her to get her to pull out. I think she should withdraw because I'm losing my mind.

Don't get me wrong, this primary election has been swell. Like Michelle Obama, I feel proud of my country for the first time in a long time. I loved Dennis Kucinich, and I had a big sneaker for Chris Dodd. But now that we're down to two contenders, it's turned into an unending last episode of Survivor. They're eating rats and they're frying bugs, and they're frying rats and they're eating bugs; no one is ever going to get off the island and I can't take it any more.

I am particularly sensitive to this because I'm a woman of a certain age, and this means that part of the pie that passes for my brain contains a large slice called Hillary. I've been thinking about her in a fairly pathological way ever since 1992 and dreaming about her as well. She is me, and then again she's not. I used to love her and I no longer do, but unlike what usually happens when love dies, I still think about her far too much. When she tells a big lie, like her recent Bosnia episode, I can lose hours trying to figure out why. I mean, why? Was it one of those things that she'd said so often that she'd come to believe it? Was it a story that had worked in the past so she thought she'd gotten away with it? Did she honestly think that no one would rat her out? Does she not understand that if you're famous, there's almost nothing you do that someone doesn't have a picture of? I have no idea what the answer is to any of this because I'm not a liar and she is. (By the way, I don't think she was always a liar, the way some kids are born liars and never get over it. I think she was once a truthful person and her lying skills were forged in the early years of her marriage, forged in the crucible of Bill's infidelities and in her role as point person in dealing with them. This is what happens when you marry a narcissist: he spills the milk, you clean it up and your love grows. And then you end up a liar, just like him.)

But the point is that it doesn't matter why Hillary lied; what matters is that I'm hooked on Hillary and on the Rorschach process that defines my relationship with her: she does something, I spend far too much time thinking about it, I superimpose my life and my choices onto hers, I decide how I feel about what she's done, I bore friends witless with my theories, and then, instead of moving on, I'm confronted with yet another episode of her behavior and am forced to devote more hours to developing new theories about her behavior. I don't have time for this.

I understand that asking Hillary to withdraw from the race has more to do with me than it does with her, but that's my point.

I would like to put myself among the growing chorus of people demanding that Hillary Clinton withdraw from the election. I don't really think it's fair to ask her to withdraw, and I certainly don't b...
I would like to put myself among the growing chorus of people demanding that Hillary Clinton withdraw from the election. I don't really think it's fair to ask her to withdraw, and I certainly don't b...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 3,063
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3 4 5  Next ›  Last »  (26 total)
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
kmdippenger
Montgomery County, PA
11:18 AM on 04/06/2008
Nora, I was relieved to read this blog. I'm also a woman of a certain age but decided quite a while ago that Hillary did not represent me. I feel like she addresses the American people as children and in so doing shows that we'd have more years of arrogance and a government anything but transparent.
Why any woman would want condescension when our first woman president should lift the dialogue among both women and men is beyond me.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
11:03 AM on 04/06/2008
Unlike you I never loved hillary but as for the rest of your post, I couldn't agree more. I too spend a lot of time thinking about her and my thoughts are getting more and more negative as my distrust for her grows.
11:00 AM on 04/06/2008
LOL. Well written post! I've gone from detesting Hillz's Huckabee-like position to actually enjoying her. The longer she stays in the race the more material you get. She is hillarious and completely delusional, she's a guilty pleasure (but substitute guilt with loathing), you know its not right but you can't stop watching!!
06:59 AM on 04/06/2008
Hooked on hookers? Not my cup of tea.
04:09 PM on 04/04/2008
I live in Michigan and I have to say that every single politician in this state is flat out retarded. No one knows how to run anything correctly. Our state government is full of overly corrupt officials, far worse than the Eliot Spitzers and Larry Craigs that everyone is making such a fuss about. Our economy along with Florida's are the worst in the nation, and it's no wonder why. I wish the national news would quit whining about the Michigan vote - honestly, if you were more informed about us you probably wouldn't want it, based on the people we've elected to our state and local government so far. We've elected snakes like Jennifer Granholm and Kwami Kilpatrick TWICE into office - people who know exactly how to charm the media while playing everyone for fools and getting nothing done, taking credit for things they did not do, and taking money that is not theirs.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cyndeewi
Here to save the day
11:46 AM on 04/05/2008
You must have not read been to the places that you put down VJcmajd, because it all bears out that Obama is he best choice. I would debunk all of it and make you look like a fool but I will leave you with just this one for now. Read and weep because you vote will be the only one for your Lying Hilly.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120726769569388303.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
StephenJK
All your consciousness are belong to us
02:34 AM on 04/06/2008
Well, it wouldn't really be VJ that you make look like a fool. Seeing as how he simply provided links. I would like to see an effort on your part to debunk, especially, the first two Factcheck.org entries.

And exactly what is your link attempting to prove? That Mark Penn works for someone who has been contracted by the Columbian government? That he is a person who negotiates with high level diplomats? I'm just not sure what your point is. If you had one at all.
03:48 PM on 04/03/2008
"Like Michelle Obama, I feel proud of my country for the first time in a long time. I loved Dennis Kucinich".

Didn't need to read much more than that before hitting the back button
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
10:04 AM on 04/06/2008
If you'd hit the back button, you wouldn't have posted, Fool!

BTW, ProWarDem, how do you feel about your gal's latest whopper? She now decided she was "against the war before Obama"... In other words, she was against it before she voted for it.
03:06 PM on 04/03/2008
Maybe Michigan and Florida residents should be more careful who they put in office to run their state. They have no one to blame but their own leaders that allowed this to happen? They were told what would happen and chose to go forward with changing the dates anyway. Bill and Hillary did not voice any objections until it was obvious they weren't entitled to the nomination.
03:54 PM on 04/05/2008
And Hillary signed on the dotted line, agreeing to the rules, BEFORE she was losing. NOW, she says, "IT ISN'T FAIR!" Because she cannot take responsibility for her own failures, she ALWAYS has to blame it on something or someone else! That's how she operates! We ALL know that!!!
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
StephenJK
All your consciousness are belong to us
02:36 AM on 04/06/2008
Heh, Hillary and Bill Clinton aren't the only ones crying fairplay. Just ask Florida and Michigan voters. I'm sure you'll hear the same "sob story" from them. They were hoodwinked. They were bamboozled.
11:33 AM on 04/03/2008
HILL AND BILL THINKS THE PUBLIC CAN BE FOOLED MY I AM THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB AND NO ONE CAN DO THE JOB BETTER THAN HILL. WHAT BULL S.
03:56 PM on 04/05/2008
That's because in the 90's, people were taken in by their "SPIN!" NO MORE!!! We are a sadder, but wiser lot these days, and we will no longer enable this "poor excuse" for a power couple!
10:28 AM on 04/03/2008
well said

we oughta be voting for the best human for the job - the one who displays integrity even when it isn't popular. she's not the one, folks.
12:24 AM on 04/03/2008
What a vicious diatribe!

There are other explanations for the Bosnia statement besides lying, and being a writer you may even have come across the phenomenon of false memory.
But heaven forbid that you would even consider a non-lying explanation, because rule number one for elite Hillary Haters is to assume the very worst scenario possible wherever Hillary is concerned. And by all means, indulge to your heart's delight in all the ridiculous psychobabble you can fit on a page.

It's really too bad that Hillary remaining in the race causes you such discomfort, but I feel as much, if not more discomfort at the thought of having the media, and the party big shots pushing her out before the end of the process.

And while you're having such a blast labeling Hillary a liar, why not take a little time-out and carefully examine your idol Obama's lies in this campaign. They are many.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
msirt
01:46 AM on 04/03/2008
So, what's your non-lying explanation, then?
08:49 AM on 04/03/2008
Yes, please enlighten us. Is it simply delusional? Outright hubris? So overcome by entitlement that nothing else matters?

Didn't Chelsea say "Hey Mom, you know I was there too and I don't remember it that way.

Please. If Obama exhibited this behavior you people would be all over it and suggest that he check himself into an asylum. It's a testiment to the Clintons' voraciousness that they are still able to float the Rev. Wright issue an largelly get a pass on this.
09:07 PM on 04/02/2008
The truth has no place here, now the clintonesta's will attack you.
08:22 PM on 04/02/2008
There is no reason do doubt Clinton's pledge to keep fighting right up to the convention. However, the justifiably famous Clinton tenacity may lead her to a political death of a thousand cuts as the uncommitted superdelegates trickle, then avalanche toward Obama. It's truly painful to watch, even for this Obama supporter.
07:00 PM on 04/02/2008
I suppose Fox News will say that they Mis. Spoke when they announced that Al Gore was Supporting Barack Obama.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
feyangel
06:45 PM on 04/02/2008
I totally agree. I have been a feminist since my early twenties-- and a woman in the White House as President has long been my Female Dream. In the beginning of this campaign I had Hillary and Obama stickers on my car-- she was a woman, but/and I had read his book and knew Sanity and a New Thought and Great Ideas and Great Heart when I read it. Somewhere along the line, I peeled Hillary's sticker off my car window. I realized that WINNING for her had become more important than Honesty and Integrity-- and, HELL, we already have THAT in the White House. Hillary, to me, does not represent FEMINIST PRINCIPLES as much as Obama does. It is feminist principles that count-- compassion, peace, caring for all, equality, etc., etc. that lead the way to the future-- NOT whether our leader has a vagina or a penis!
09:01 PM on 04/02/2008
great post.

& I have a penis
11:30 PM on 04/02/2008
Hear, hear. Well said.