You know, it should be a no-brainer. Any Democrat with a pulse should be able to mop up the floor with Donald Trump. But if there is any politician capable of blowing this, it's Hillary Clinton.
At some point in our recent history, the two parties absorbed opposite lessons. The Republicans learned to play to their base. keep 'em all wound up and scared, whether it's the fear of dirty hippies with their sex and drugs,
I don't know what that stuff is, but I bet it's smokable!
or fear of Commies in our midst,
or this terrifying scene,
you keep your base scared to death and tell them that you're coming to save them if only they vote those darn liberals out of the way.
Democrats somehow learned the opposite lesson. Ignore your base. Hell, actively distance yourself from your base. Deny them thrice before the cock crows twice and "triangulate" by staking out a position just a bit to the left of wherever the GOP is at the moment and try to capture that elusive "moderate voter."
Look, a soccer mom!
And no one has internalized this lesson more than Hillary Clinton. At a time when she needs to try to appease Bernie supporters and show the progressive wing of the party that she shares at least some of their values and concerns, she extends to them, not an open hand, but a middle finger in the form of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Fairly or not (fairly, I think), Wasserman Schultz is seen as public enemy #1 by a lot of Berners, who are furious that she (allegedly) colluded with HRC to defeat Senator Sanders. Schultz became such a distraction that she was forced to step down as head of the DNC. And was IMMEDIATELY hired by Hillary Rodham Clinton. She might as well have said to Bernie's supporters "oh, you hate Debbie? You see her as the personification of corruption? Then I'm with her! Fuck all y'all!"
She has clearly staked out the position that she neither needs nor wants the votes of real progressives because she's confident that enough Republican voters will desert their party because of Trump and vote for her that she can win without us.
Then, as if to drive home the point, she invites Democrat/ Republican/whatever he is now weasel Mike Bloomberg to speak on her behalf at the convention, trying to lure more centrist conservatives to her campaign.
Is this going to work? It might. Only because Donald Trump is the most loathsome and frightening nominee of a major party we've ever seen. And it god damn well better work, because she god damn well needs to win this thing.
Which means that we need to vote for her. Because she is the lesser of two evils. And no one wants to vote for the lesser of two evils, but when your only legitimate choices are greater evil and lesser evil, you have a moral obligation to choose the lesser. And just a common sense interest in having the lesser evil.
If you are given the choice of a punch in the stomach or a knife in the heart, you choose the punch in the stomach. And no, you're not going to enjoy the punch in the stomach, and no, you didn't deserve a punch in the stomach, but the alternative was so much worse that you'd be a fool not to choose the stomach punch.
Thank you, sir may I have another?
Okay, here's a better analogy. Suppose you are convicted of a crime which you did not commit. And the judge offers you a choice of prison time or community service. And you say "well, I don't deserve any punishment, having been falsely convicted, and I won't dignify this miscarriage of justice by choosing either undeserved penalty. I'll just let you decide, Judge!" You'd have to be an idiot to do that, right?
Tell us again about how you stood up to that lousy judge! Then we're both gonna fuck you.
So, yes, you do have to vote for Hillary. At least if you live in a swing state. And not because she "deserves" your vote or should be "rewarded" for various misdeeds by receiving your vote. It's not about her. It's about you. And me. It's about us and whether or not wee have to spend the next four years being governed by a childish buffoon with fascist leanings. We're going to have to put up with Hillary for at least four years to avoid that fate. And if we have any sense, we'll have four years of grassroots organizing to find a primary challenger for 2020. But for now, we have to get behind Hillary, because she's pursuing a really dumb strategy. And if there's one politician capable of losing to Trump, it's Hillary Rodham Clinton.
RAMEN, bro! electing the rump is unthinkable.
ReplyDeleteI like her, but, man, so many others don't, and they dislike her so much they aren't even thinking about what a [t]Rump presidency would look like.
ReplyDeleteThat's right -- sometimes you just do what you gotta do. People have to be political realists.
ReplyDeletePolitics is politics. I have not seen any reason not to vote for Secy Clinton. She's done an immense amount of good work around the world and in Senate. She's been through several different forms of hell and maintained her cool when most other people would have run off a cliff screaming. The Rethugs have tried over and over to pin something bad on her but have failed every time.
ReplyDeleteRe the witch from Florida. I've seen nothing to indicate that Hillary was involved in any attempt to smack down Bernie via the DNC. She's not responsible for the DWS does or did. Although I'm not sure the DNC was out of line trying to derail Bernie...Bernie is not or was not a Democrat until very recently.
And this isn't race between a lesser and greater evil but between a great good and a great evil. This isn't a game. I would have invited Bloomberg to speak, also. We need all the help we can get. The Berners need to get over their narcissistic crying and get on board. You'd think they thought Bernie had a chance to win something. He did not, ever, have that chance.
As Kris Kristopherson said "If it sounds country, it's country". If Dems supported Bernie then he is a Democrat. Bernie is a statesman; Hillary is a politician.
ReplyDeleteBoth Dems and Repubs can be counted on the try to fix the voting. Repubs have the upper hand as they control the voting machines. Why stuff ballot boxes when it is so convenient to do it electronically. I hear Putin is interested in buying them, too.
Well said, Lowell. I like Clinton too. As for diehard Berners
ReplyDeletewho expect us to beg and wheedle and plead for their votes--who
do they think they are, adorable children who deserve bribes and coddling to eat their vegetables? Jesus, what would it take
to make these people grow up? And why do they call themselves
progressives? Progressives, the real kind, realize the election
is about the well-being of 320 million.
Professor, in regard to Wasserman Schultz, she was made an HONORARY
Chairperson. In other words, she has no more power than Clint Eastwood's
empty chair of fond memory. They're turning the cow out to pasture.
Ha! The empty chair! My point was just that it looks bad. HRC. For all her virtues, is a terrible campaigner, completely tone-deaf.
ReplyDelete