Not Until the Fat Lady Sings
As an ardent Obama supporter, I am calling on the Senator from New York to stay in the race for as long as she can stand it. Longer even. I think the calls for her withdrawal are deeply troubling, and even hysterical. Anti-democratic even. This is how an election works. And even though this particular one seems to be poorly designed at best, we are in the midst of the process. Voting: A right, may I remind Mr. Leahy, et al -- for which people have fought hard and died.
Let me be clear: I believe that the Clinton campaign has been simply tragic. It is an object lesson in failed promise and panicked, unstable, virulent war-game tactics. It has been marked by shallowness of the first order, and by the relentlessly divisive behavior of a cynical staff. She is fatally compromised in her stature as a credible voice, even perhaps in the senate, and her husband, an ex-president of the United States, is in danger of squandering what is left of his tattered reputation. The utter absence of statesmanship from the Clintons actually is painful to watch. There are lies about being under fire, there are semi-secret conduits to Matt Drudge, there are methods worthy of the Nixon playbook, in terms of sheer cynical zero-sum brinksmanship. There is an endless contempt for Obama's brilliant oratory, his ability to speak to adults like adults, which makes the Clintons suddenly seem like Bushesque boors, frankly. The sneering at his ability to connect reeks of school yard pique. It need not have been this way. There were early signs of a different kind of race, and they evaporated a long time ago. One day, we may live to see such a race. I doubt it.
However, I utterly disagree with those who cynically are calling for her to go quietly into the good night. I think that would be deadly for the fragile unity of the party, a party that should be on the brink of reclaiming control of the White House, and all that goes with it. A huge percentage of Clinton believers would be turned off. I think any Democrat alive knows what it is like to feel disenfranchised after the chaos of the last few elections.
And as any reader of the Huffington Post knows, she has fervent and patriotic supporters. (They will be writing angry letters even before they finish reading these words.) Supporters who still see more of what's good and great about her, who see her brilliance, her stamina, her staggering capacity for survival, as purely admirable, and even vital to whomever is going to be our next chief executive. I do not disagree with the need for a powerhouse in the Oval Office, I just think we need the purging energy of Barack Obama more. Senator Clinton has people who believe in her just as passionately as I believe in Senator Obama. Those supporters deserve to see their nominee fight for as long as she can, as long as she needs to. Well past the point of reasonable hope. That is America. It's in our sports, it's in our business, it's in our blood. And frankly, there is something admirable about the indefatigable Clinton appetite for power. I find it morally vacuous, not to mention shallow as hell when Bill remarks that if you can't take the hits, you shouldn't run. Really, Bill? Did you love your ongoing and disgusting hazing at the hands of right wing zealots so much that you think those tactics are a reasonable litmus test for the presidency, rather than say, oh, profound and inspirational moral force and an utterly unifying presence? Just asking. And as stomach turning as is the new college campus mini-trend of questioning of the Clinton's daughter about Ms. Lewinsky, well, so long as the Clintons are willing to put her out there to play that particular game of tennis, well then, who are we to stop 'em? Go. Go. Go. Go to town.
Maybe there's something purging about it for them. More than anything else, for purely selfish reasons, I do not, for one, think this race should end until William Jefferson Clinton is asked, and exhaustively and comprehensively answers each and every last question pertaining to the unconscionable pardoning of the crooked financier Marc Rich. Because, he too will be in the White House again, powerful, cynical, and hungry. Who knows what favors would be traded in exchange for God only knows what?
No, Hillary should remain in the race. As Frank Rich pointed out last Sunday, she knowingly fabricated the details of her landing in Bosnia, and she did so repeatedly, shamelessly, even after she was entirely revealed as a fabulator worthy of the hoariest backlot Hollywood schlockmeister. So -- Let it go on and on and on and on. The truth, as it did in the case of her trip to the "war zone", will come out. It always does. the last aria has not been sung, and the Valkyrie has yet to exhaust her lungs. And as the race continues to the bitterest end, I hope that Senator Clinton's many supporters are entirely satisfied that she did this to herself. That she exhausted her every chance.
It could have been different. As I have said before, character is fate, and that is what we are witnessing, as her campaign falters. Let it go on until all hope is exhausted. Those of us who look at the Clintons and see the full dimensions of the failure of their promise to America will also feel some sense of loss when she withdraws. She shied away from greatness, so as to hold on to power. Character is fate.
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This is utter hyperbole and filled with such hate and bias. Obama withheld his relationship with Farrakhan affiliated Wright,. His overrated speech was made under duress and was completely manipulative. Obama lied about the fact that he has ties to the big oil companies within in his fundraising circle. Batzy is correct. Hillary should not quit. The political conventions were made to decide the nominee. They are not a coronation ceremony which is what they've become in the last 20 years. It's absurd.
He has not one positive word to say about her and Bill and once again I bet he voted for them twice and reaped the benefits of their administration. Yet another Obamatron Hypocrite. It's disgusting and it is articles like this that divide the DEM party. The candidates follow the populous lead at this point. Not the other way around. Get a grip Batzy
Not only can she not win, but...
HRC MUST be held accountable for her Iraq Vote. Her SPEECH on the matter was unequivocal: she not only voted for war, she was the only Democrat to ENDORSE the administration's views on the connection between al Qaeda and Saddam, without which there is no connection to the war on terror. She also ignored all evidence to the contrary and ENDORSED the administration's certainty regarding WMD's and the imminent threat they claimed it posed.
ALL who supported the War and especially those who legitimized the administration's false arguments MUST be held accountable; especially those who attempt to shirk responsibility for the vote by claiming it was something else; especially those who find themselves incapable of apologizing. HRC is culpable on every level. Holding her accountable is not chilidish. It is the height of responsibility. Obama and many others were quite clear about the fraudulence of the justifications and the catastrophe that would ensue. HRC ignored all this for personal political cover. She put our country and the world at risk for personal ambution. That's NOT leadership, and it's NOT excusable.
i have said that from the beginning. This primary... and if needed.. this coming general election is an accounting for the biggest mistake this country has ever made... "The Iraq War". She voted for it. She gave a speech saying it was the most difficult thing she ever had to do. Now? Now she says she "didn't think it was a vote for the war". Always "too cute by half", this one time... after voting to kill 4000 of our serviceman and women... (we all know it was POLITICAL)
john a.
a vet (four yrs-early 70's)
"MUST be held accountable": what do you mean by that? A frying squad? Imprisionment? She has admitted that she indeed voted for the war and that she did so because of the way she say the facts given her. Are we going to draw in the entire Bush administration for punishment
On Iran and the question of designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a
terrorist organization, the junior senator from Illinois was not quite so
clever at avoiding taking a position. He first co-sponsored the
"Counter-P
identifying the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. He
subsequently claimed to oppose the Kyl-Lieberman sense of the Senate
resolution proposing the same thing. Obama's accountability problem here is
that he didn't show up for the vote on that resolution -- a vote that would
have put him on record. Then he declined to sign on to a letter put forward
by Senator Clinton making explicit that the resolution could not be used as
authority to take military action. All we have is Obama's rhetoric
juxtaposed with his co-sponsorship of a piece of legislation that proposed
what he says he opposed.
Also note: Obama was not a Senator at the time of the War Resolution. His vote did not count. Its easy to go against the system when you have no responsibility and are not part of it. Subsequently, Obama supported the war when he became an ACTUAL Senator. Also, there was no way inspectors would be allowed INSIDE Iraq without voting for the War Resolution. The bottom line is BUSHCORP was going to do and did whatever they wanted regardless of the War Resolution. Hillary is not perfect but neither is Obama. Politicians never are so stop all the Hillary hate . As of March 27, McCain is ahead of Obama and Hillary by 4-8 points. This is a Gallup Poll which included over 4000 participants. So stop all the hate, the idolization of a flawed man and politician and focus your energies on unifying the DEM party before its too late.
Nazgul,
Well,then,hold Obama accountable as well for continuing the illegal war/occupation through voting YES for its continued funding!
And hold McCain accountable for seeking to extend this international crime for 100 years!
There are other candidates running for President that the mainstream media (except rare appearances on NBC's Meet the Press and CNN's Late Edition) have been ignoring or otherwise marginalizing.
I hope Nader holds on to his 5% (or better) Zogby Poll approval rating, and mops up the floor with BOTH mainstream nominees at the debates!! If McKinney and a Libertarian Nominee fare as well in polling, the debates could actually be worth watching again. : D
Stay tuned, gentle voters!
Obama made that speech under duress? Looked cool as a cucumber to me...just the way a president should do it. In that speech "made under duress",he explained quite thoroughly why he maintains a relationship with Rev.Wright
His speech was "manupulative"? Oh,man , that Obama is GOOD! He's got us all fooled...b
Passenger57, I know you're Obama's supporter, hence highly educated. I'm only a Hillary supporter therefore, logically, not so educated. But let me explain this to you: The speech was made under duress, because he was at the point of losing his biggest dream and aspiration, white America was about to jump off the band wagon -- there was fire under his feet. Don't be to literal with the meaning of words. This beautiful English Language is very versatile--don't get bugged down by the nuances. The speech was manipulative because while there was a question about Obama's 20 year relation with a man who spewed hate and condemnation for every set of people, except blacks, Obama manipulated this into an issue of race. It was our race problem that caused us to see the hate and vitriol in Pastor's words. Obama who told us, not so long before, that words mattered. When it came time for Obama to explain to us why he stayed in the church, he turned it into a shame-on-y
Today, HRC compared herself to Rocky Balboa - a fictional character who LOST the big fight.
Get it? Even she knows her own future - fight a bloody match to the end, then lose.
Almost as bad as the neocrazies who think "24" is a documentar
Don't refer to movies which you obviously didn't watch.
Great editorial, and thanks, though, as I'm sure you can see from the screeds posted in "reply" that Hillary's supporters are NEVER going to see that there's anything wrong with her.
I loved it, though!
I disagree Tonksmom. She is just like any other candidate, full of ego and ambition. But so what? She is well more qualified than Sen Obama as he is proving that his oratory speeches is all he has as his own missteps are just senseless and half witted. He will loose to McCain, not because of the democratic primary or Hillary Clinton, but simply because he is just not ready.
I actually disagree with this.
He has come from relative obscurity to beat the "inevitable" candidate - she had name brand recognition and a huge war chest, and years of political clout and favors to call in.
But...he organized better. He ran a better campaign. He brings in more money, spends it wisely and pays his bills on time. I don't know about you, but I would prefer a president who is able to organize, get things done, and budget money well. It is only a bonus that he gives good speech.
It is the pants suit who was shortsighted, frittered away millions in Iowa, failed to plan and organize, had to loan herself 5mil and is having problems meeting bills.
I don't have to look hard ot see which candidate is ready. I need only look at which candidate has handled their campaign better.
Mr. Baitz, Barach Obama should thank God that you are for him. God know what you could conjure up to say about him!! Thank you!!!
I agree. Let Clinton beat the donkey until August. As she forges her path of destruction Obama's numbers keep rising and hers keep sinking.
I also agree that she's done it to herself. The vote for the Patriot Act. The vote to enable Junior and his war in Iraq. The vote to enable Junior's planned war in Iran. The current campaign. All undertaken in the quest for power.
It's an ugly and sad state of affairs, tragic eve, but don't drop out, Clinton. You are a major Obama asset.
And as any reader of the Huffington Post knows, she has fervent and patriotic supporters. (They will be writing angry letters even before they finish reading these words.) I READ EVERY ONE OF YOUR ANGRY WORDS. SPEAKING OF CHARACTER, WHAT POINT WERE YOU TRYING TO MAKE WITH YOUR LAST PARAGRAPH?
I didn't recognize anger in Baitz's words. I read the final paragraph as - Clinton's true character is what is defeating her. She could have acted honorably and conducted her campaign better, but she chose not to. I started out as a Clinton backer, but changed, in large part, not because of anything Obama did or said, but because of her behavior in the campaign.
The Clintons have been rude, arrogant, diabolic and if she does win I see another 8 years of court cases, and many problems within the White House. The country does not have time for their baggage. If only she would have acted Presidential instead of assuming the country owes this to her. and not bad mouthed all who she felt was in her way. Talk about passive agressive, the entire world is to blame for her mistakes within this campaign. I suppose it is the medias fault she didn't pay her bills in Ohio. So much for caring about the little business person. And this is not about giving women a hard time, this is just about not respecting the Clintons. I'm all for a woman in the White House, just not this one.
I think all this hostility is being taken far too seriously. As James Carville has remarked, politics is a full contact sport. And what ever you might think of the rough and tumble game that is played in the United States, its a real political competition like no other, anywhere else in the world. Take Russia, for instance, were Putin won't brook any kind of political opposition what-so-ever. Or China, where there isn't even a choice. Or at the other extreme, like Canada where the politicians are positively sweet to each other. At least in the United States, after the no-holds knockdown brawl that is American Politics you know that the winner, more often than not deserves his or her victory. My advice is don't be so sensitive. See a therapist.
Liars really, really need a therapist. Specially if there are bullets in Bosnia involved.
this is not a "game"
They can't do that! They closed down the department that would have allowed for a special prosectutor after Bush went into office. It will be hard to start one up again seeing that the democrats this time will be in the majority. The court cases you are talking about were under the republican majority. That can't happen now . I must admit I am confused about the rest of your post because I really don't know what you mean by your remarks, they aren't any clear statements of facts just innuendos.
Let's get the count:
1) stay in
2) drop out
stick it in the subject line and let's count them up.
On the "FAT LADY SINGING"
Check this out: The article on HP today entitled: "OBAMA GETS VERY FLIRTATIOUS AT THE CAMPAIGN STOP."
Writer begins: "It may be April Fools Day, but Sen. Barack Obama was acting like it was Valentine's Day." NOW, I can't help but wonder what THE Clinton haters, Obama's wife AND the voters of this country think about this...?
"Obama called a woman "sweetie," (in the workplace) and thanked her in Spanish,
(many women in the workplace TODAY experience this address DEMEANING. Why not just show her the dignity and respect of asking for her name and thanking her in that way? And what endearing term does he use to address men in the workplace? AND YOU CALL THIS IS CHANGE!?
"You're gorgeous," he told Cerveris after glancing at one of her old ballet photos. "You still are," he countered, asking the crowd, "Isn't she beautiful?"then answering his own question: "Absolutel
He punctuated his joke with a full twirl. "I don't miss a recital," he said.
"Obama arrived in the SUV with a little wave wearing a baseball hat as if he'd been working out."
(Key word "AS IF" in that sentence and in this campaign)
Maybe he needed a day off with the "girls?" today!!! UGH!
That was from the Washington Times.
I speak Spanish. I wish he would talk to me in Spanish. I don't think there is a danger of him chasing interns in the White House. Now you can relax.
"There is an endless contempt for Obama's brilliant oratory...
Sorry man that you missed Obama during the Texas debate on TV. He was stuttering and repeating like a true Cicero...
I am amazed that there are so many gullabel people in this world. Lord, help us but we can be sold a pack of lies and we do not even realize it. Do people not realize that most of the articles about Hillary and Bill trashing Obama are all fiction? They are twisted to make them look bad and boy do the people buy it. I've read an article on Media counts and they had to comment because they said they were at several Bill Clinton speechs and what they read were distortions galore. Why do you and others who do not like the Clinton's make things look bad when in reality they were not ment that way but were totally taken out of context. I am losing faith in the press. Just because you have a favorite does not give you the license to streach the truth to your liking. This is wrong no matter who does it. I now am wondering if you will have the courage to post this comment. I should live so long!
Thank you!
Poor suffering Clintons! Why don't they point out this huge injustice themselves? The mean ol' media is fine and dandy to use for their own ends, but they shouldn't say anything against Hillary?
Maybe the press twist the written word, but VIDEOS speak volumes. Think Bosnia.
Hillary should stay in the race only as long as she can pay for it. The long line of small business people waiting to get paid by her is shocking and disgraceful. She really oughtta be confronted on this publicly (listening Obama campaign?) and taken to task.
The truth always come out I agree. Wright had emerged from the depth. Rezko trial will be more clear. Obama accepted Black Panther support will come out. Obama campaigned for Odinga will eventually come out. The fact that Obama is a pathologic liar will come out. He lied again and again about his relationship with Wright. His story keeps changing. I still couldn't put my finger on his morale position on abortion. His comment on last stage abortion made me sick in my stomach.
If Hillary would eventually lost the nomination, I will still be grateful that she stayed in the race and trying to make her case as a better candidate for Democrat.
If in the end it will take a Republican to expose Obama, then be it. At this point I believe Obama represent the more danger to the country than McCain.
joeysky,
Obama a pathological liar, LMAO!
Every trope you've asserted is already "out." The Clinton campaign has seen to that. And that's the point of this article.
Well, joeysky...
You didn´t read the last Baits-line, did you?
I can tell you this: McCain will not pull any thruth out of Obama, but more lies will probably be fabricated, but not by Barack...
I don't think Obama is more dangerous than McCain at all. McCain is absolutely bonkers now but you wouldn't know that for all the Hillary-in
Guy is absolutely out of touch with this very minute, yet Hillary gets pilloried and dragged over the coals for an incident over a decade ago. And people say the media is actually biased against ... wait for it ... Obama because of Rev. Wright. Huh?! What are THEY smoking?
Obama is tolerable. McCain is not.
Last time I checked Black Panthers are still Americans, just like you and Rush Limburger!!!
I was very fond of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and have been so disappointed to find out how ruthless they really are. It's certainly been an eye-opener. Hillary is sooo dishonest. As an example -
There was an interesting article in The Berkeley Daily Planet on March 25/08 about a speech she gave in India in 2005 promoting free trade and outsourcing. She made it apparent where she stood on outsourcing, and has been in the forefront in defending it. She faced flak for defending Indian software giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for opening a center in Buffalo. TCS provided hundreds of special visas for foreign employees to work in New York for substandard, non-union wages.
It seems the media have had some form of amnesia on the subject. Pundits forget that Bill Clinton, with Hillary at his side, made huge campaign promises to labor in 1992. Within months of their victory, the Clintons rammed two Republican
If a video clip of Clinton's outsourcing remarks in India were played on TV before the upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania and Indiana she might have a bit of trouble on her hands.
And she might not be running as long as she'd like to. The Berkeley Daily Planet article is at:
http://www
All of this pre-hatch chicken-counting is beside the point. Sen. Clinton's candidacy is very much alive. Furthermore she has an excellent chance of winning the nomination on a third (or possibly fourth) ballot.
Why would she abandon the contest? Certainly not over something as insubstantial as the Bosnia calumny.
Thank you. It is shocking to me (new to Pittsburgh) how so many people here are ignorant of the damage that the Clintons, between the two of them, have done to places like Pittsburgh.
NOBODY ever mentions the lost jobs and the disemployed with no health insurance for themselves or their families, or being forced to compete in a fiercely-c
The Clinton duo screwed the American worker 3 times....f
HC's supporters are so deeply into paranoia and denial that they won't pay any attention to truth or facts. Why do I worry about the working class. If they don't care, if they want to volunteer to be screwed again, why is it my problem? Maybe because my dad was a welder and I would have had a very different childhood if the Clintons had had anything to say about it.
Don't believe all the crap you read or hear.
tell me... why don't you believe that? its all there... it all happened. its all in documents and there is (once again) video. why don't you believe it?
actually, i think what the real question in my mind is... do you "only believe it if the Clintons say it"?
Don't believe all the crap I read or hear richardgordon?
I didn't know NAFTA and GATT were just some fictional story I read somewhere. Where have you been living? I know facts are difficult for some people, but this is ridiculous.
Her speech in India & TSC - these are well-documented "facts" - just google it.
And while you're at it look up the fact the Clinton Administration also passed the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, repealing the Glass-Steagal Act of 1933 which was the New Deal legislation which made home ownership possible and safe.
As Paul Rockwell says in his article, Hillary Clinton has a lot of gall to take credit where blame is due for her White House experience.
You say she lied about Bosnia. Republicans said Kerry lied about Viet Nam. You should ask fellow Obama supporter Kerry what it feels like to be swift boated. Here are some excerpts from a column I read today.
Straight Shooting From Tuzla
By LISSA MUSCATINE and MELANNE VERVEER
Published: April 1, 2008
AS staff members who traveled with the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to Bosnia in March 1996, we have followed with more than passing interest the extensive news coverage of her landing in Tuzla. .
During a week of nonstop coverage, few journalists went beyond the irresistible video footage to ask .... how Mrs. Clinton might have erred in the details about the landing in Tuzla. ......
We flew in a C-17 cargo plane .... precisely because it was capable of steep descents and ascents into and out of areas of conflict. We were issued flak jackets ...and were told the tarmac ceremony might be canceled .... due to sniper fire from the surrounding hillsides. ....
In a recent e-mail message to a British blogger, Ejup Ganic, who was the acting president of Bosnia during Mrs. Clinton’s visit, wrote: “I remember that visit quite well. ...., we still believed that some positions on the hills were occupied by radical Serbs, so I was worried about the overall safety.” The planned welcoming ceremony was shortened, he said, but it still lasted a bit longer than expected because a nongovernment group brought along a little girl to sing to the
Yes - Hillary Clinton lied about Bosnia.
She did not say that there was a potential for sniper fire, she did not say that there had been reports of sniper fire. Here is the exact quote:
“I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”
Now exactly what part of that lie is exonerated by the piece you are quoting?
Its called puffery. Its a fine American tradition. Every, business, advertising agency and salesman uses this technique to sell their product. Of course, when they get caught in the act, as Hillary did, it is embarrassing.
If they were really that worried about sniper fire and security, why the HECK was Chelsea standing beside her while those photos were being taken with her and the kids? Seriously, if SHE felt that, despite concerns about security, she had to stay out and represent, good on her, but what kind of mother doesn't send her CHILD to a more secure location, if it's not safe?
I seriously don't buy it.
Did these two women say that there actually WAS any sniper fire? If so, I didn't notice. If it were all that dangerous, why did HC bring along her young daughter and why was an 8 year old allowed to be on the tarmac?
The only thing that is more annoying than HC's penchant for tall tales is the tendency of her gullible supporters to be willing to twist their brain cells into pretzels trying to cook up some plausible explanation for what we have already seen on tape and ,more important ,or what we have NOT seen or heard, namely SHOTS BEING FIRED.
It should be pointed out that Tuzla airport, even during the fighting, was not within range of any "radical Serbs". It is precisely for that reason that the US forces have chosen this area for their military base/airport. So ... Mrs.Clinto
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!!!!
Being told what might happen is not the same as what actually happened. SHE LIED, LIED, LIED!!! Plain and simple.
There are other ways to relate her feelings about her trip. Some might even be believable.
YOU MIGHT SAY THAT HILARY HAD NO REASON TO LIE AND YOU WOULD BE RIGHT. OTHER LIES WON'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT SHE LIED.
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