In all the posts I have made in GD: P during this primary season I have been doing my level best to give Clinton a fair shake. I have made no secret that I have believed the race to be over for some time now and that she has no excuse for continuing to campaign in the manner she has but I have been steadfast in my refusal to go personally negative or insulting, and I have repeatedly called out Obama people who have done so and taken them to task for it... and caught my share of snark and hostility for doing it.
I have stated repeatedly that I believed Clinton would make a fine president, and capably administer the government of the United States should she be elected. Certainly light years better than what we've seen the last eight years. That whatever the acrimony this unnecessarily drawn out campaign was generating at the end of the day what we had was two Democratic candidates dedicated to democratic principles.
And then yesterday Hillary changed my mind for me. In spades.
In 2004, after the most disastrous presidential term in memory, George W Bush was RE-elected. Why? Anyone here paying attention? Anyone give a shit how that happened? HOW we got stuck with the
another four damn years under these idiots? I was, and the bottom line is this: The Republicans convinced a lot of American voters that petty, stupid, unimportant issues and evaluating criteria were what should determine their vote.
"What, the economy is tanking? You don't say... hey, did you hear Kerry called our troops stupid? Quick, call your friends and family and express your outrage!"
"The Iraq war is a disaster, thousands of American soldiers are dead and it's draining our national resources dry for no positive effect? Well... did you hear Kerry changed his mind about some things last week? Doesn't that sound indecisive... buy I wouldn't want that guy in charge of such a serious situation when the terrorists
jump out of your closet to kill your children!!!""The constitution is being infringed, civil liberties are being eroded, and we're becoming the country that tortures our prisoners? Hmmm... listen to these guys who screech about how they think Kerry got a purple heart when he wasn't injured seriously enough. Isn't that
disturbing? We have to stop this guy from being president!"
And now it's four years later.
Four years in which the economy has reached the tipping point from decline to outright recession, and we have a candidate who is making the economy a central issue in the minds of voters again, and in the process making sure that everyone understands that the economic issues in this country will only be properly addressed when the priority stops being maximizing profits for a select few percent of the best off of all Americans and then dclaring that some of that cash they're throwing at the wealthiest people will drip down to those below like scraps falling from an overflowing table so hey,
everyone will benefit!
Four years in which the Iraq war has gone from worse to catastrophe, and we have a candidate who spoke out against the war before it even started and called the outcome
to a tee. These words were spoken on October 2, 2002 by Illinois State Senator Barrack Obama in a public address in Chicago.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
...
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
Sound familiar? Now gee, what has been going on the last 5 years that might inspire a sense of familiarity when reading those words....
9 days later, Hillary Clinton voted to give President Bush the authorization to go to war with Iraq. That's right, Obama called this before the Congress and Senate ever gave Bush the authorization to proceed, and spoke out very publicly to make the case, and was ignored.
Four years in which the constitution has been tred into the dirt. We have a candidate who is a civil rights lawyer and constitutional law
scholar of all damn things. We have the opportunity to take someone whose understanding of the underlying principles and basic rights and privledges enshrined in that document is so comprehensive he is asked to teach it at the university level and put them
In The Oval Office after Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo, and domestic wire tapping, and rendition...
And yesterday, I logged in to DU, and I found this man under attack. And what was the attack?
"Hey... did you hear Obama looks down on Pennsylvanians? Called them "bitter"? Boy, we have to make sure that guy doesn't get into the White House. He's a liberal elitist."
And it was coming from a Democrat.
Not only that, it was coming from a Democrat who knows better. Who I damn well
guarantee knows what the hell a "wedge issue" is, how they are incessantly exploited by Republican political strategists, and how badly that hurts the nation year after year after year... and knows that what Obama was really talking about was the exact opposite of talking down to Pennsylvanians, that he was advocating
for them. Who knows Obama's personal history, and that he does anything but look down on Pennsylvanians or anyone else and just didn't care because saying the opposite made a good attack line.
And to top it off, it was coming from that Democrat for no better reason than to score a few points in a race she has almost no hope of winning. For that... for
that, she offered legitimacy to the employment of these kinds of tactics against Democratic candidates if they ever again try to address these issues that so desperately NEED addressing. She
endorsed the Republican line of attack against Democratic candidate after Democratic candidate as being legitimate, something which could haunt the entire party for years to come.
So I'm all done defending Hillary against attacks. She doesn't deserve it anymore. And she isn't coming back from this in my book, not ever, not unless she reverses course right damn now and makes this right. What I saw done yesterday was inexcusable. This was not "gloves off" hardball politics, this was a betrayal of basic principles for personal advantage. So I retract all earlier statements that Clinton would make an acceptable president, I don't want to see anyone with those ethics anywhere near the White House.
(To be clear...I will continue to call people out for childish attacks on Clinton
supporters, because that is stupid and counterproductive.)
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