A number of high-ranking Democrats are telling Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential primary race “for the good of the party.” What planet are they living on?
Not Planet Clinton, that’s for certain. And both Clintons are very much their own planet, orbiting around their own sun, in their own galaxy, in their own universe. And in that universe, “for the good of the party” is an utterly meaningless bromide.
Even the most obtuse Democrats (whether they admit it or not) know hell will freeze over before Hillary Clinton relinquishes her quest for the White House. It is not in her DNA to be graceful–unless you consider Rocky Balboa, to whom she likened herself, a graceful individual. I suspect the metaphor was intended to indicate that, much like Rocky, she will have to be beaten bloody and senseless by fellow Democrats before surrendering to Barack Obama.
For the good of the party? Hillary Clinton has often bragged about her influence on husband Bill when he was in the Oval Office. Phrases like “two for the price of one” and “co-president” were used to burnish her “experience” credentials. Do Democrats forget that part of that “experience,” aka her health care debacle, led to a Republican controlled Congress–for the first time in 42 years–in the 1994 election? How good was that for the party?
There is a big difference between legitimate self-interest and narcissistic self-absorption. Both Clintons crossed that line a long time ago. A coronation has turned into a street fight–and the Democratic party be damned. Mrs. Clinton is in it to the end, no matter how bitter and divisive it gets.
It’s going to be a long, hot summer.
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On an unrelated subject, Congress has taken oil executives to task once again. It’s the usual kerfuffle, long on self-righteous indignation, short on economic reality. But here’s where it gets interesting: Congress is hectoring oil companies to use some of their profits to invest in alternative energy. In other words, oil companies should bankroll their competition.
Here’s what oil company executives should say to such Congressmen: “We’ll fund alternative energy sources–just as soon as Congressmen use their own campaign money to fund a third political party to compete with Democrats and Republicans. If it’s just for us to underwrite our competition, it ought to be equally as just for you to do the same thing.”
Think that would burst a few Congressional blood vessels?
atahlert@comcast.net
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