Daily Kos

Hillary Clinton, Nomination Clinched, Moves Right

by Necons Will Ban Me

Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:45:45 PM PDT

A couple of interesting ideas knocking around in Justin Raimondo's new Hillary Clinton, War Goddess article.

First, Raimondo posits that Hillary now has the distinction of being the first politician from either party (or the first from the lone 'War Party' if you prefer) calling for permanent military bases in Iraq.  

More after the fold.

Hillary:

I do not believe that we should allow this to be an open-ended commitment without limits or end, nor do I believe that we can or should pull out of Iraq immediately. If last December's elections lead to a successful Iraqi government, that should allow us to start drawing down our troops during this year while leaving behind a smaller contingent in safe areas with greater intelligence and quick-strike capabilities. This will help us stabilize that new Iraqi government. It will send a message to Iran that they do not have a free hand in Iraq despite their considerable influence and personal and religious connections there. It will also send a message to Israel and our other allies, like Jordan, that we will continue to do what we can to provide the stability necessary to prevent the terrorists from getting any further foothold than they currently have.

Raimondo calls her reference to "safe areas" a coded reference to military bases.  Seems a pretty good guess.

Second, Raimondo posits that the reason Hillary isn't catering to the base of the Democratic party (that'd be you, long suffering Kossack) is that she has the nomination clinched even before primary season and is thus already moving right.  In fact, she spends every waking hour of every day doing everything to run away from us, past the neocons and into a strident, militant extremism that would make even Emperor Bush blush.

There is also lots more Isreael-stroking, warmongering huffy-puffery from Hillary in the article if you can stand to read it.

So let's assume, for giggles, that Raimondo is right on these three points: Hillary is leading the charge for permanent bases in Iraq, war on Iran, and that she is acting like the kookiest right wing kook because the left is powerfless to stop the old-guard DLC from rolling over the netroots in the primaries and foisting the War Goddess on us.

What now?

I'd like some prognostications.  Testify!

Poll

Our "Democratic" War Goddess

48%76 votes
4%7 votes
6%10 votes
30%48 votes
1%3 votes
5%8 votes
2%4 votes

| 156 votes | Vote | Results

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Iran, Israel, warmongering, military bases, DLC, primaries (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

Permalink | 74 comments

  •  I'm going to bet that Democrats (none / 0)

    pick their own candidates from here on out.

    (0+ / 0-), (0+ / 0-), it's off to kos I go...

    by doorguy on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:45:49 PM PDT

  •  What? (none / 0)

    Being the front runner 2 years in advance of the Democratic primary isn't all that useful.

    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." - George W Bush

    by jfern on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:46:35 PM PDT

  •  has she (none / 1)

    announced yet? Did I miss it? I guess Condi will be her opposition and she will win in a landslide?

    Why waste time with this stuff. 2006 election is coming up in a few months and that is what is important right now.

    I'm too disgusted right now to think of a sig.

    by Ga6thDem on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:47:12 PM PDT

  •  murtha wants troops redeployed (none / 0)

    to "safe areas."

    just an fyi.

    I want Lamont to win, but I won't cry when he doesn't.

    by BiminiCat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:49:03 PM PDT

  •  My prediction (none / 1)

    Hillary Rodham Clinton will run, and her strategy will be to raise enough cash to scare other contenders out of the race.

    She won't scare everyone off, and she'll face a bitter primary battle.

    Nevertheless, she'll win the nomination.

    She'll roll the dice by trying to run to the right of her Republican opponent (probably a governor with no foreign-policy experience) on national-security issues.

    The strategy won't work. She'll lose by double digits, with third parties on the left and right getting 10 percent of the votes.

    On the day after the election, the Democrats enter the post-Clinton era. The real work of rebuilding the party begins in earnest.

    John McCain's Straight Talk Express runs on fossil fuels.

    by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:52:35 PM PDT

  •  Does any... (4.00 / 2)

    of this really surprise anyone? After all, coming (as it does) from a former "Goldwater Girl" (by her own admission) certainly doesn't surprise me.

    Hillary has built-in camouflage. She adopted a "liberal" pattern when she was Bill's political helpmate. Now that she is on her own (and the whole country has taken a right turn) she feels free to resume her Goldwaterian coloration.

    I believe that there are very few true liberals and progressives out there who are fooled by this devious chameleon. I'd like to see the Democratic Party purged of Hillary, Joementum and the rest of their ilk so that the rest of us can truly move forward instead of being dragged down by the heavy anchor they are.

    "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    by jayatRI on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 03:56:03 PM PDT

  •  "Appease Brooklyn"??? (4.00 / 3)

    WTF is that supposed to mean???

    by davybaby on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:00:39 PM PDT

    •  Whaddy Expect From Someone... (4.00 / 4)

      ...who defends Pat Buchanan's good friend Justin Raimondo.

      The revolution will not be televised, but we'll analyze it to death at The Next Hurrah.

      by DHinMI on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:18:05 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  sounds like code for... (3.33 / 3)

      "Blame the Jews."

      With friends like this, liberals need no enemies. Reject this asshole's anti-Semitic code words; there are plenty of non-bigoted reasons to oppose Hillary and fight for a real progressive nominee--or at least one who might win.

      Ambition, Impatience and Sloth: Politics, culture and more

      by dajafi on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:43:32 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  To be fair... (none / 0)

        ...Raimondo is not now, nor has he ever been, a "friend" to liberals.  That Raimondo is opposed to the Iraq war is not by virtue of his support for liberal ideas, but because he is an acolyte of Pat Buchanan who shares his isolationist views.

        The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it. ~ H.L. Mencken

        by Jay Elias on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:50:54 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  he exposed the lies of the war better (none / 1)

          than any other blog.  Nobody including non isolationists wants to fight a war based on lies. I am thankful for it, even though I disagree with his political philosophy.  He doesn't fit neatly with Buchannan either.  He is gay and a libertarian.

          Rosalind Kurita for US Senate Unofficial Blog Just say no to Harold Ford!

          by Moonchild on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:54:13 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  Well... (none / 0)

            ...I don't know that to be true.  Lots of blogs have exposed the varied lies of the administration.  And whether or not he "fits neatly" with Buchanan, he is still an acolyte.

            But he's still no friend to liberals.  And despite his claims of being a libertarian, he ran as a Republican for Congress.  Of course, I fully support being friends with libertarians, whenever possible.  But, and I can say this with quite a bit of confidence, Justin Raimondo has no desire to be my friend.

            The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it. ~ H.L. Mencken

            by Jay Elias on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:58:08 PM PDT

            [ Parent ]

            •  His blog is one stop shopping (none / 1)

              because it includes anti iraq war opeds left right and center.  On this war he was definately a friend of truth and I will be forever grateful for this.  That isn't to say I would vote for him, anymore than I would vote for Buchannan.

              Rosalind Kurita for US Senate Unofficial Blog Just say no to Harold Ford!

              by Moonchild on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:02:31 PM PDT

              [ Parent ]

              •  I'm aware of what he... (none / 0)

                ...and antiwar.org do.  And I understand why many people respect that.

                My only point before was that he is not a friend to liberals, which he is not.  But I also have long felt that many of us who are opposed to the war have erred greatly in embracing any anti-war person or organization, when many who share are anti-war views also hold truly abhorrent views.  And as grateful as I am that it is not only liberals and left-libertarians who see through the lies, I refuse utterly to lend legitimacy to people such as Raimondo, or to groups such as ANSWER.  That is my perogative, and I'm not trying to dissuade you from your appreciation.  But one day soon, the war in Iraq will be over, and I think many liberals will deeply regret having empowered some of these anti-war voices.

                The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it. ~ H.L. Mencken

                by Jay Elias on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:07:53 PM PDT

                [ Parent ]

  •  I went with the ficus plant thingy. (none / 0)

    She is already talking up the need to keep Israel safe.

    On account of Israel has done so much for the United States ... like they threw in their lot with us in the War for Independence ... George Washington himself said he could never have defeated the redcoats without Israel's aid ... and then again during WWI and WWII .. and Korea and Vietnam ... etc.

    "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" - Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

    by redfish on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:12:19 PM PDT

  •  A pox on Hillary (4.00 / 2)

    she is Karl Rove's dream candidate.

    The Republicans want her to run, not the dems.
    I have even heard some of them defending her.

    Just like the Supreme Court, the Republicans only
    care about a fight. If they relish fighting so much
    then they can join the army!

    Overthrow the Government ~Vote~

    by missliberties on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:13:12 PM PDT

  •  I agree wtih Mr. Raimondo on all three (none / 1)

    counts.

    The netroots has been pivotal in reforming the way that money is raised for Democratic candidates, and has even had an influence at various moments on real world politics (think of Atrios's persistence against Trent Lott), but the netroots (who is made up of mostly white, anti-war liberals) is too small to make or break presidential candidates (Howard Dean you'll recall didn't get the nomination), and Senator Clinton doesn't need them  one way or the other (especially during the primaries).

    As we saw in 2004, much of the Democratic base is pragmatic (although there was to be sure no obvious choice for pragmatists among the candidates), and doesn't vote on the basis of foreign policy (as in against the war in Iraq).

    Like it or not, unless Iraq degenerates into a full scale civil war (and maybe even if it does; Americans have tended to elect hawks to end failing wars) Senator Clinton's posturing on Iran only helps her in the 2008 GE.

    It's just a donut.

    by thebluenomad on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:16:06 PM PDT

  •  She's miscalculated if she thinks (none / 1)

    the primaries are all sewn up. The last thing a candidate wants to be at this point is the frontrunner, for one thing. The rest of the candidates will dogpile on the front person.

    The other thing is that she's just as big a pander monkey as Bill, but without his artistry. She's been too damned obvious about what she's doing.

    Some dark horse is going to come out and knock her out of contention, and she's not even going to see it coming.

    "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

    by Kerrycrat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:27:01 PM PDT

    •  i bet she doesn't think that (none / 0)

      ..

      I want Lamont to win, but I won't cry when he doesn't.

      by BiminiCat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:32:33 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  But then, if she thinks she's got to work (none / 0)

        for the primary votes, then why head for the center? I've always been under the impression that the more liberal among us rule in the primaries, as usually the more committed voters come out, as opposed to someone on the cusp, or the swing voters.

        "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

        by Kerrycrat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:50:36 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  why is it (none / 0)

          after she attacked the president on body armor.

          attacked repugs on MLK day.

          if anything she's turning back towards the left.

          but i don't buy that kind of logic anyway.  she's not heading for the center, right or left.

          she's just being who she is.

          take it or leave it.

          if everyone leaves it during a primary, i bet she gets behind the dem who does win.

          I want Lamont to win, but I won't cry when he doesn't.

          by BiminiCat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:54:10 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  What the left wants more than anything (none / 0)

            is a flag burning amendment to call our own.

            Mother Nature bats last.

            by pigpaste on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:09:54 PM PDT

            [ Parent ]

            •  And then there's the violence in video games (none / 0)

              to think of.

              Nevermind the violence in the Middle East. It's pixelated blood that we really have to worry about.

              "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

              by Kerrycrat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:20:20 PM PDT

              [ Parent ]

          •  Not to worry (none / 0)

            I feel about her now the way I felt about John Kerry before he got the nod.

            If she does indeed get the nomination, she will get the "Kerry Treatment" ie, I will read the books and articles and such, and get myself ready to campaign for her, as being against the Republican instead of for our own candidate never did work.

            And you can see how well the Kerry Treatment worked. ;)

            But I suspect it will take her nomination to get me to go there.

            Not to worry, I'll likely be where I need to be when the time comes. But until then, I'm a Kerrycrat (gee, no shit, Erica)

            "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

            by Kerrycrat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:23:56 PM PDT

            [ Parent ]

  •  Even though I'm not a supporter of Hillary's, or (none / 0)

    of anyone quite yet, everytime I see a bash Hillary thread I have to almost defend her. A yellow dog Democrat gut reaction. However, I am happy to see that I'm losing that urge fast.  I have no idea what she is up to.  I've always liked Bill Clinton.  He was an idealpresident to me, but Hillary is getting worse than half the republicans I can name in her attempts to be conservative.  

    I think that she is banking on the average person, not us, not noticing all her movements and jerking around that she is doing to put herself in place for 2008.  I mean, if you were an average person, not us, would you be paying attention?  To them she is the same old Hillary she ever was, and if they were for here in the past, they are for her now, because to them she is the same old Hillary.  She doesn't care about us, because as has been pointed out, we are small and she has money.  So, she is working on the third link, the republican fanatics who she thinks might be swayed.  Beats me how.  

    The old regulars she already has and won't lose because they aren't paying attention.

    Us she doesn't care about.

    She is playing to the conservatives now, cause she has all she wants and all who would ever vote for her in the bag on the left.

    Her mistake is that she is losing people like me really fast. Does she think she has me? Does that matter?  I don't know, but I'm ready to barf if she gets any more to the right.  

    Big Dog.  Do something quick.

    by hopscotch1997 on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:37:22 PM PDT

    •  Yeah But You Have to Imagine the Dinner (none / 1)

      Conversations:

      Bill:  Pass the butter.
      Hillary: Bill!
      Bill:  Right, right, shucks.  You know a little bird told me this Iran war?  It's in the bag.  We're going in.  Big bombing campaign.  Hush hush on the tactical nukes.  Israel takes the lumps diplomatically.
      Hillary:  Yeah, makes sense.  What do I do?
      Bill:  Well look you gotta get out in front of this.  Call for it!  If it happens and goes well it's all good.  If it turns to shit - a good bet - you can use the Kerry Defense.
      Hillary: Kerry Defense"?
      Bill: Y'know, "I supported it, but they screwed it up!"
      Hillary:  Right, right!  Hey easy on the cream cheese!
      Bill: Shucks.

      "Their children's children shall say they have lied" - Yeats

      by Necons Will Ban Me on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:45:23 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Fire Mark Penn (none / 0)

      Her pollster, who Gore fired in 2000 and then went to work for the DLC and Lieberman's pres campaign, and now he polls for Simon Rosenberg's NDN and Hillary.  Awful, awful pollster, and along with Dick Morris and Mandy Grunwald, surely the, ahem, "brains" behind some of her stupid proposals.

      But beyond that, she just ain't Bill.  She has one one-hundreth his instincts.

      The revolution will not be televised, but we'll analyze it to death at The Next Hurrah.

      by DHinMI on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:46:37 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  I saw Bigala and the Ragin Cagin on (none / 1)

        CNN over the weekend.  They couldn't sing her praises enough.  I would bet we will have a replica of the war room if she runs with Carville running the campaign.  Regardless of what is said here about them, Kerry's campaign seemed to improve quite a bit at the end when they unofficially got involved.  To me, anyway.

        by hopscotch1997 on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:03:59 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  •  no it was getting even (none / 0)

    asshole.

    Rosalind Kurita for US Senate Unofficial Blog Just say no to Harold Ford!

    by Moonchild on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:44:32 PM PDT

  •  ever heard of karma? (none / 0)

    ?

    Rosalind Kurita for US Senate Unofficial Blog Just say no to Harold Ford!

    by Moonchild on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 04:46:18 PM PDT

  •  Concerning Raimondo (none / 0)

    I don't follow him regularly but have found him to be uncannily accurate in most of his predictions and reporting. He is a liberitian, hence his personal views.

    As for Hillary, I was one of her biggest supporters.
    Now I question if her swing to pro war is a ploy for the money men and AIPAC support, a move for right wing voters, or her new true ideaology.

    However my thinking is right now that I will not vote for her despite her domestic policies.
    I won't vote for anyone whose top priority isn't #1.. Corruption  in politics..and #2 Straightening out US foreign policy.

    Period. Because if these two things aren't attended to right now, meaning immediately, there will be no domestic policies to worry about because there will be no US goverment to implement them.

    Hypocrisy in anything may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it....

    by Cal45 on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:08:03 PM PDT

  •  "Clinched"? (none / 1)

    From my favorite movie, The Princess Bride:

    "I do not think that word means what you think it means."

    She hasn't even remotely locked it up. She's fueled by name recognition.

    In fact, many (including myself) believe that it is, uh, inconceivable that she will get the nomination.

    John McCain: Getting Terrorists off America's Lawn since 1880

    by pat208 on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:31:07 PM PDT

  •  We need her to stay where she is.. (none / 0)

    If hillary runs that is not good for us..Hope she doesnt..She is not the right person for the job..She needs to stay where she is..

    by bayside on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 05:54:12 PM PDT

  •  I (none / 0)

    just want someone I can actually believe in.

    Foolish, huh?

    Pog

    " Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. " George Orwell

    by pogo possum on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 06:19:20 PM PDT

  •  Another reason DKos needs the option of... (none / 0)

    multiple-answered poills:

    We're gonna kick her ass AND, with respect, FUCK motherfucking warmongering DLC motherfucking Hillary goddamned Clinton.

    -9.63, -7.03 Rage, rage against the Lying of the Right

    by Maryscott OConnor on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 08:09:41 PM PDT

Permalink | 74 comments