Democracy Has Prevailed.

April 21, 2008

The Company You Keep

Saw this yesterday.

There's a saying about being judged by the company you keep. It's probably a less than valuable adage but The Trib's endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton should give everyone pause.

Note the Headline:
In Pennsylvania's Democrat primary for president: Vote for Clinton
Democrat primary. They can't even name the party without spitting out the well known insult. As Hendrik Hertzberg wrote in The New Yorker some time ago:
There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. “Democrat Party” is a slur, or intended to be—a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but “Democrat Party” is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams “rat.” At a slightly higher level of sophistication, it’s an attempt to deny the enemy the positive connotations of its chosen appellation.
And then later:
And no doubt there are plenty of others who say “Democrat Party” just to needle the other side while signalling solidarity with their own—the partisan equivalent of flashing a gang sign.
And it's how The Trib editorial board began its endorsement of Senator Clinton. It should signal to everyone (even Senator Clinton's supporters) one message: We are not your friends.

Then the endorsement runs through a familiar list of pros and cons for both candidates and ends with:

She has a real record. He doesn't.

She has experience of value to a president. He doesn't.

Clearly, she's the wiser choice to represent Democrats this fall.

Well, then. That settles things. If The Trib, a newspaper that published this only 6 years ago, likes you they really really like what they see now.

Here's what they wrote in July, 2002:

Perhaps it was this cozy brokerage that resulted in one of the most disturbing incidents of all: Seven years ago, Vincent Walker Foster Jr., was living on Cambridge Place in Washington's Georgetown. An attorney, deputy counsel in the White House and childhood friend of President Clinton, who had brought him to Washington, Foster also was Hillary's best friend at the prestigious Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, where they shared, among other intimacies, the securities brokerage account, Midlife Partners.

On July 20, 1993, Vince Foster was found dead. His death officially was termed a suicide but is suspected by many to be a murder — if not a superbly planned assassination. The cover-up that followed Foster's death is one of many compelling reasons Hillary Clinton must be defeated if she ever again runs for public office.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a stereotype from the 1960s narcissistic era that decided to replace accountability and responsibility with deniability and deception. Despite this, she was elected by the people of New York to represent them in the U.S. Senate.

Note the innuendo of "shared intimacies" and mention of an assassination. It was so superbly planned that even Ken Starr thought it was a suicide. Ha - good one.

And this endorsement is one our friends on the otherside of the Obama/Clinton divide should think about. Why would they endorse her anyway? Could it be to continue the damage being done to the "Democrat Party" by the continuing nomination process? How is it possible that they now see in Senator Clinton something so appealing that they choose to endorse her six years after calling her a murderer?

18 comments:

CB Phillips said...

First, this is just more evidence that the right desperately wants to run against Hillary, wants to rehash the scandals and nonscandals of the 90s as well as create a whole host of new alleged scandals. Because I think we've seen the best that can be mined against Obama - his pastor and "bitter" (Speaking of which, did everybody else get their campaign literature from Hillary this weekend touting the "San Francisco" fundraiser with "wealthy donors" where Obama called us Pa. hicks "bitter"? Surprised it took that long, really.).

On the other hand, it's things like this that, ironically, remind me of my biggest beef with Obama. I keep hearing him refer to these fatuous "coalitions" that need to be built, bringing both sides of the aisle together for progress. Maybe that's what his campaign thinks the indies and undecideds need to hear.

But the fact is this: those folks on the other side of the aisle, both those who have been elected and those who operate the GOP propaganda machines, have not one iota of interest in changing a motherfucking thing. They do not want to address global warming, they do want to continue throwing billions at abstinence education, have no intention of doing anything meaningful to change course in Iraq, think health savings accounts are the solution to the health care crisis, and think tax cuts for the rich are the solution to every economic problem.

There is no evidence - NONE - that anybody on the other side of the aisle has any interest in altering the policies that are driving this country further into a downward spiral, and the sad little Democratic majority just sits idly by, occasionally making some noise, taking the occasional stand here and there (e.g., minimum wage), but never really does anything meaningful.

In order to get anything of consequence done, it will require smacking back the right's delusional talking points at every turn and making big changes, not just incremental little steps that, in the end, will be zeroed out by some other policy that nobody is paying attention to.

And, yet, I feel I have no choice but to support this guy, and hope against a monstrous wall of doubt that he can do something.

Anonymous said...

A Trib endorsement spells the end of the line for Sen. Clinton. This is the kiss of death--support from this far-right bastion can't possibly appeal to Democrats in any numbers. Can it?

Anonymous said...

BTW, kudos to fillippelli the cook!

Great post, flat-oout great.

CB Phillips said...

Thanks, zak. You should see what I have to say about food prices!

(not that I'm begging or anything :D)

Anonymous said...

Fillippelli the cook--

I certainly cannot speak for any Republican political operatives, but I can speak anecdotally about some registered Republicans.

Although I am not a republican, most of my family is. They do want real change from the policies of corruption and incompetence. My mother (a 70+ year-old Republican, retired and living in Texas) told me that the Republicans had messed things up horribly and even though she was concerned about the Democrats, it was time to give them a chance to fix the mess.

I believe there are many, many more who agree with my mother. 81%of our Country believe we are on the wrong track -- this number must include some Republicans.

So long as we don't demonize those who made the mistake of voting for President Bush (and trust me, most of those I know realize it was a mistake) we can get them on board for such things as real healthcare reform, educational reform and getting us out of Iraq.

You are correct that many will balk against greening our economy, but there are still Goldwater conservatives in the Republican party who believe in environmental policies that are not travesties like President Bush's so-called "Clean Air Act" (which actually allowed more pollution).

There is a coalition to be formed for real transformative change. There is only one Democratic candidate left who can achieve this, however, and his name is Senator Barack Obama.

On another note, is anyone suprised that Richard Mellon Scaiffe is oozing venom against Senator Obama? I am still suprised, however, that Senator Clinton would give this man, the Godfather of the vast right wing conspiracy aimed against our Country and her family, the time of day.

Kim

CB Phillips said...

You may be right, Kim. But until some of those types of Republicans vote for elected representatives who are willing to go another direction, it won't matter.

McCain, who has said and done little to differentiate himself from the current debacle of a president, still polls fairly well against Clinton or Obama. And that really says something to me.

As for Clinton meeting with Scaife, I would have been shocked early on in the campaign, but no longer.

Speaking of Clinton meeting with arch enemies, she's on Countdown tonight to chat with that sexist Olbmermann.

And my apologies for my earlier blog pimping. Bad form.

C.H. said...

What is with this nonsense that Barack Obama can bring "real transformative change". Really? Based on what? The man runs entirely on charm and charisma--nothing more. Should Obama win the election in November, you people will be in for a rude awakening when he proves to be no different than any other politician.

I'd say I'd be LMAO when this happens, but in the end I see nothing funny about this country being dragged down by Obama's platform of false hope and hypocrisy.

Anonymous said...

Is the rumor true that C.H., John K., and Dicky Scaife are all the same person? Dayvoe, could you check out their IP addresses and report?

C.H. said...

The IP address will take you right here to an internet cafe in San Francisco on the Embarcadero. Go ahead, try it.

C.H. said...

I have no affiliation with any of those people...and it hurts that you cannot distinguish my views from theirs.

Anonymous said...

I have no affiliation with any of those people...
...except that we all have the same views, attitude, preferences, and none of us can express ourselves ourselves clearly or consistently...

...and it hurts that you cannot distinguish my views from theirs...
...so I guess it's true that the truth hurts.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting that Schmuck feels so strongly about C.H.’s posts that he would mock the erudite San Franciscan like a child.
I thought this forum acknowleged intelegent give and take but instead has grade school sandbox idiots trying to articulate things that only expose their ignorance.
Thanks S.S.

Anonymous said...

mock the erudite San Franciscan like a child.

What? You would treat a child like a sage, and mock a wizened sage?

Anonymous said...

Fillippelli the cook--

Right now both of my parents are considering voting Democratic for Senator in November (in Texas). The Obama supporters in their area have been canvassing and calling for Mr. Noriega (?sp?) (already).

My parents are so impressed by these young adults and how much they know about the issues (they are both 70+ so they call them kids) that they are leaning.

In fact, all of the Republicans in my family are very impressed by Senator Obama's ability to energize young adults. They all wish it was a Republican doing the energizing, but they are impressed nonetheless.

CB Phillips said...

Good to hear, anon 11:44

C.H. said...

Note: When I comment, my picture will appear.

Anonymous said...

I thought this forum acknowleged intelegent give and take but instead has grade school sandbox idiots trying to articulate things that only expose their ignorance.
Thanks S.S.

How do you measure the intelligence of others? Some good old "common sense" should be called for here. The fighting is a result of a very passionate belief that "I" am so smart and so all who don't agree with me must be little kids playing in the sandbox. "you threw sand in my eyes, I'll dump a bucket on your head". Can we all start all over please?

Anonymous said...

I hope you suffocate in that bucket of sand, because your I,Q is lower than a cabbage!