A year ago, I could not have imagined I'd be writing these words. While I respected—and still respect—Hillary Clinton for her service as a Senator and as First Lady, I knew she would be terrible on torture, terrible on Gitmo, terrible on CIA black sites and terrible on warrantless wiretapping. I knew she would carry on Bush's war policies as if he were still in office.
What I could never have believed was that Barack Obama would be just as bad. And if Hillary were President today, I'm certain we would have a good health care bill speeding to her desk, and she would be eating Joe Lieberman's balls with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. On television. Smiling.
Instead, we have Lieberman eating the President's.
I'm sorry, Hillary supporters. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry that I thought she would be a moral failure as President. I'm sorry that I compared her to a man Barack Obama was only pretending to be. I'm sorry that I pitied your lack of idealism when you called Barack Obama a rhetorical hot air balloon. You were right to pity my lack of realism. And you were right that he's not up to the job.
When I was in high school, there was a very pretty girl in my class who wanted desperately to be one of the popular kids. But her desperation ensured she never had a chance.
Whenever a teacher asked her to hand out papers, she would rifle through them, then hand them back—first to all the popular boys, then the popular girls. In order of popularity. Then the rest of us got our papers. That wasn't even close to being as pathetic as the President's fawning attempts to get the Republicans to go along with him.
Mr. President:
The Teabaggers will always hate you, no matter what you do. They would rather see the country burn to the ground than cede a single inch of ground on anything. They are entirely disconnected from reality, living wholly in their fetid imaginations. They cannot be reasoned with. They will believe whatever Rupert Murdoch tells them, and you're never going to get him, either.
Your weakness only makes them stronger.
The Independents—the ones you won last November?—they don't know about policy. They don't care. They want to be on the side of a winner. Why did they vote for Bush, the greatest policy disaster the country has ever seen? Because he kicked ass. He ignored the rules, did whatever he wanted, and rolled over anyone who got in his way.
It was only when he was beaten down and weakened by disaster after disaster that they turned on him, handing you the Presidency.
I know you think it's all about discontent over the economy, but you're wrong. If you are to have any hope of salvaging your Presidency, you need to win this. And you can't win just by signing a bill. You have to beat the people who tried to beat you: Teabaggers, Republicans, Connecticut for Lieberman and Conservadem alike. You have to sign a bill they hate. That means reconciliation. And you have to meet with the Senate Democrats and establish a bedrock principle—anybody who filibusters Democratic legislation is out of the caucus. No campaign funds, no gavel. You need to make Harry Reid believe that if he doesn't establish this principle you will personally see to it that he doesn't make it to the General Election. And you need to let him know you'll fight like hell for him if he does.
You need to do whatever it takes to get them in line, or Lieberman will be wagging you right up until you get your ass kicked in 2012.
If you do this—if you kick ass and take names—the Independents will see you as a winner. They will trust you to protect them, and they will believe you on the policy. If you keep letting a little pissant from Connecticut slap you around and take your lunch money, they won't believe you if you tell them the sky is blue.
And while you're at it... you'd do well to replace Rahm Emanuel. I know you wanted a kick-ass enforcer, and that instinct is right on the money. But he only knows how to slap Democrats around, and liberal Democrats at that. That is NOT what you need right now.
The country will follow you anywhere if you are sure of where you're going and you don't let anything stand in your way. But you have to lead. You tried to let Congress own the health care bill so you wouldn't get sullied by it. You only ended up looking passive and weak.
It's now or never, Mr. President. You need to lead.
And if you don't, I hope Hillary Clinton resigns next year and runs against you in 2012. I will vote for her then.