I've never written a diary here, though I've commented on occasion. I just read Hunter's front pager, The Rules of Clintonball, and it got me thinking a little more than usual. I've long felt that Hillary's campaign has reflected a certain Bushy quality that I care for not at all, and I'm becoming more convinced by the minute. I'll try to keep this short-ish, I can get a little wordy.
First, it was a question of which states matter. Pretty easy to sort them, really, just put all the states that went for Obama in the "not so much" column. Thankfully, I'm a Pennsylvanian, so I guess now my state matters. I'm wishing it didn't.
Then, we had the all the other metrics that were employed to show how she was winning, and how she had momentum, etc., even when she was getting pummeled. These old goalposts have been moved so many times that I'm sure they're suffering from metal fatigue, or bearing failure, or whatever it is that goalposts suffer from. I expect that we'll see a new set of goalposts shortly, perhaps some self-propelled ones that move themselves. Who will pay for these goalposts, I know not, though I expect it will be the voters.
Then there's the attitude. You know the one- we've known it for years.
"Not my fault, I'm the victim here".
"I know we agreed to the rules, but now that we're losing, we demand new rules".
"I never said that. Oh, you have tape of me saying that? Well, I didn't mean it. Oh, I voted for it? Well, now I'm against it".
"We accused the Obama campaign of a heinous act, but it was actually our campaign that did it".
Three in the morning. Be afraid.
I can go on. I am reminded of nothing so much as children. The distorted truth, conditional reality, revisionist history, and outright petulance are that of a fuming child. I'd compare it to arguing with a nine-year-old, but I think I have too much respect for nine-year-olds.
This is very similar to the sort of "Well, yes, we've been wrong about everything so far, but you should trust us- we're right this time" that has been driving me crazy for seven years. The rule breaking. Changing the rules when they don't suit you (outside of the well established legal framework we have for doing so). The making stuff up. The outright lies.
It's just Bushy. She's Bush in a pantsuit. She's Bush with a healthcare plan. Does anyone think, that after the way she's campaigned, that her presidency would be substantially different? I forsee signing statements, and continued abuse of power. I forsee bending the facts to fit the outcome, and cherrypicking the intelligence. I forsee more of the same.
And now, the final straws. This nuclear umbrella, this massive retaliation. What the fuck is a Democrat doing using the phrase "massive retaliation"? Paging Curtis Lemay! Add to this the decidedly offensive whiff of entitlement- that somehow she and Bill were owed the White House for another term or two- that she deserved to be president. Let the kicking and screaming commence. Or continue.
That's not a campaign, that's a tantrum.