Orlando Gibbons, the 16th century madrigal composer wrote a few lines about a swan song that came to mind during the Hillary Clinton non-concession speech last night. At least they came to my mind which contains a grab-bag of useless quotations and half-remembered facts.
"The silver Swan, who living had no Note,
when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
"Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
"More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise."
It's the "more fools than wise" line that seems to apply to the Clinton Swan Song. She seemed to be saying "with my departure from the race the world is left to geese and fools like Obama.' Not a word about John McCain and his threat to this embattled nation. Well, nobody ever expected better of the Clintons. Wait a minute. Somebody did. Me.
I was a Hillary supporter early on. I recall being deeply offended by Obama during one debate when Obama replied to a question about Hillary's likeability, "You're likeable enough, Hillary." Indeed, I wrote about that here on the Huffington Post, taking Obama to task for it. Now I see that Obama was "spot on" as our British brethren say. Hillary's refusal to concede with grace last night, her need to transform her defeat into an impossible victory was presented as a rallying cry to her supporters, and I have never seen her quite so self serving and unlikeable. "I did it all for universal health care" was the banner she waved. Ah, that it was true. Never before was her sense of outraged entitlement so clearly exposed. It was her "Don't Cry for me Argentina" moment; the trouble was it was the ungainly goose, not the glorious swan that appeared at that moment. Now I had better stop because my beloved wife, a true swan, and a Clinton supporter who has finally edged over to Obama, will be breathing down my shoulder saying, "Leave the poor woman alone." So I will.