It's So Over
By David Michael Green
Created May 9 2008 - 9:48am
It's over. Maybe Hillary doesn't know it yet. Almost assuredly Bill
doesn't.
But it's over.
And, no, I don't just mean the Democratic presidential nomination process.
I
mean the whole shootin' match. Obama is the nominee and Obama is the
forty-fourth president of the United States. You heard it here first.
Sure, it's possible for this thing to derail, not least because of an
October Surprise abroad engineered by Dick Cheney to keep himself out of
jail. But, short of that, fughedaboudit! And even that most despicable of
classic political ploys may not work anymore. If anything, the Reverend
Wright episode has demonstrated that the historically immature American
electorate night just be angry and desperate enough not to be distracted
this time by the latest Willie Horton ad or gay marriage spectacle. There
are powerful signs that the old black magic doesn't work anymore.
I watched some in the media talking about Clinton in the past tense
Tuesday
night, and interpreting her speech in Indiana as a valedictory. Do they
really actually pay these bloviators to blunder all over my television
screen? Heck, I'd get it right for a quarter of what these would-be
pundits
charge!
Let's see here. She twice asked people to go to her website and contribute
money. She made her astoni****ngly duplicitous case, dripping with
hypocrisy,
for 'not disenfranchising the people of Florida and Michigan'. She beat
the
drum of her new issue - the summer gas tax repeal - no less than three
times. She began with that idiotic line - complete with that idiotic
pasted-on clown-face smile of hers - quoting Obama about calling Indiana
the
tie-breaker (which state she then proceeded to nearly lose). She's out
there
this week campaigning and fundraising.
And, my favorite of all, her campaign apparently invented yet another
criterion for choosing the party's nominee, one that all the rest of us
are
supposed to take seriously, just like the others. Remember when we began,
and it was all about getting the necessary 2,025 delegates? But when that
started to look like it might not happen, every other week we got a new
metric, depending which particular stock happened to be rising or falling
at
the time. Talk about your moving goal posts! Hillary should get the
nomination because she was winning swing states. Nope, make that big
states.
Nope, make that non-caucus states. (Because caucus states are, er... Well,
just because.) Anyhow, make that states that will have the most Electoral
College votes after November. Nope, make that the popular vote. Nope, that
doesn't work either.
Are you ready for this one? Last night her people were saying that the
nomination should now require more than 2,025 delegates to secure. Why?
Well, because..., because... Because that's the only possible way for her
to
win, Silly! And, after all, what other criteria could possibly matter?
Dang,
if Al Gore had had the legal team of Clinton and Clinton arguing his case
in
2000, the Supreme Court would have given him the presidency just to make
them go away. Oh, and about a million Iraqis would be alive today that now
aren't.
Even after getting whacked upside the haid by the big stick called North
Carolina, I don't see her going anywhere. In West Virginia the day after
the
primaries, she opined that it was "still early" - even though 50 out of
the
56 nominating contests are now in the bag. I talked with someone the same
day who expressed admiration for her tenacity. I would actually share that
opinion, especially as I frequently vent about spineless Democrats, except
for one small detail. The problem, as I pointed out, is that she's
tenacious
as a pit bull, but only when it comes to... her. Does anyone seriously
think
this about her unshakable commitment to getting you a better healthcare
plan
than Obama's? Or her full-blown dedication to pulling out of Iraq on about
the same timetable he would use? Or her steadfast loyalty to the three
triple-indent sub-items of her 21-point education plan that are different
from his? Let's get serious here. She is indefatigable about only one
thing,
and that is advancing her own personal interests.
People are finally - finally - getting hip to the Clintons. Finally
understanding that everything - and I mean everything - is about them. If
that means wrecking the Democratic Party (again), so be it. If that means
voting for a Mesopotamian holocaust on the basis of transparent lies in
order to gain the presidency, so be it. If that means playing the race
card
like any good Republican candidate would, so be it. And if that means
taking
down Obama in order to at least improve her chances for 2012, well... You
know the drill. If you're capable of sacrificing a million people to get
the
presidency, you can probably still face yourself in the mirror if you take
down one junior senator from Illinois.
But it ain't flyin' anymore. People are just really sick and tired with
the
old school and the damage it has wrought. It's way, way overdue, but I
must
say I like the way this election is shaping up rather a lot. The
regressive
burn-out retreads are imploding in debt and failure. The Clintons have
destroyed their (utterly false) reputations for integrity, let alone
competence, and dumped over $11 million of their own money into the
bankrupt
cor****ation called Hillary 2008. That is an outcome that could not be more
well deserved. McCain and his biblical blight of a political party is
next,
and I have little doubt of their fate.
Meanwhile, though, I doubt seriously that Billary is through yet. In a
continual act of supreme selfishness for which nobody outside the GOP can
top them, they will keep on fighting, using whatever desperate techniques
they can find, tearing down their party and their party's nominee. But it
probably won't work, and the act is fast wearing thin. Much more likely is
that they will instead destroy any hope they might ever have of taking
another shot at the White House, while he leads the party to victory.
Jesus
Christ, somebody pinch me, wouldya? Last time I had a dream this good, it
required a clean-up crew.
The only real question remaining on the Democratic side is who will the VP
choice be. Poor Obama. On the one hand, he kinda has to ask Clinton. Her
sup****ters are gonna be pretty insulted if he doesn't. On the other, he'd
be
pretty crazy to do so. Can anyone see Hillary, let alone Bill, taking a
back
seat to President Obama? Keeping their mouths shut and staying out of
mischief for eight years? And let's not forget that Hillary Clinton is
still
Hillary Clinton. Her negatives overwhelm her positives throughout the
country, more so even than they did before this campaign. She certainly
won't add votes to the ticket. All she does is keep some of them from
defecting.
Meanwhile, though, her calculation would be just as difficult. All she
wants
is to be president. So, does she run with him, hope they lose, then try
again in 2012? Does she run with him, then try to run as the heir apparent
in 2016, when she's 68 years old? Or does she sit it out while he wins,
and
then run against him in 2012, even if he has a successful first term?
There are two ways this question could be made moot, either of which would
be pretty beneficial to Obama. The first looks likely. She just never lets
go. She just keeps trying every scam, every angle, every destructive ploy
to
snatch the nomination in Denver. By that time, she would have so alienated
the rest of the party that Obama could safely ignore her without having to
pay a great price. The other possibility would be for him to offer her the
VP slot and her turn it down, in which case he could choose someone else
without paying a penalty.
But who? A woman would be an obvious choice. Missouri senator Claire
McCaskill seems like she's bucking for the job, regularly flacking for
Obama
on television every chance she gets. Barbara Boxer would obviously be a
better choice from the perspective of lefties, but not from the
perspective
of winning the race. Anyhow, a female candidate would broaden his appeal
in
some sectors, and would instantly - dare I say it - emasculate Hillary
Clinton's entire raison d'etre as a notable in American politics. Once you
take the Mrs. out of Mrs. Clinton, she's just another politician, and not
a
very appealing one either. Jumping another woman over her head and closer
to
the White House - especially a much more likable one - would completely
marginalize Hillary, rendering her forever irrelevant in presidential
politics. But the most im****tant question is electability, and I doubt
this
strategy would help Obama much there. A young black man and a not so well
known woman is probably more change than a lot of voters can handle all at
once.
What Obama needs - especially going up against a Republican, especially in
wartime, and especially a John McCain - is some serious national security
gravitas. In this respect, I might be tempted to draft Admiral William
Fallon for a running mate. Maybe the guy has bad politics, and maybe he
would be a bad politician - though he's spent a lot of time at a much
related task, doing diplomacy in the Pacific and the Middle East. I don't
know.
What I do know is that he opposed the surge. That he wanted to draw down
forces in Iraq and redeploy to Afghanistan. That he supposedly (Fallon
apparently denies it) called General Petraeus an "ass kissing little
chicken****" for carrying the administration's water by selling its Iraq
policy at home. And that he just got fired from his job as top American
military commander in the Central Command (Middle East), probably because
he
overtly opposed a US attack on Iran, and could be counted on to do so
again
on D-Day.
Who else could instantly give Obama national security bona fides while
simultaneously eviscerating McCain's advantage in that domain? Who else
could speak with credibility against an October attack on Iran, and save
the
Democratic bid for the White House in 2008, if BushCo tries such a ploy?
Americans hate Bush and they hate his war and they don't want a third one.
All they need to make the leap is some Colin Powell-like dude to give them
permission to think for themselves. Since we know Powell won't be
providing
that particular service in this lifetime, perhaps Fallon could. McCain
would
look pretty silly arguing for more stupidity in Iraq against a guy who was
the actual commander of the theater. And McCain's own raison d'etre - the
politician who was once a war hero - would also be slashed in significance
up against another cat who also flew naval combat sorties in Vietnam and
elsewhere. Obama could do lots worse than Fallon.
This election has been a harrowing ride in so many respects, and it's not
even half over yet. But for quite some time now it has been hinting at the
promise of a great cosmic reconciling. Americans are showing a degree of
perceptual astuteness which has been on holiday at Disney World for a good
decade or so. Those who have been doing nasty things to this country and
the
world now seem to be getting back a dose of their own polluted karma.
Weenies are being labeled as such, after too long having gotten a free
ride
masquerading as feel-your-pain emotion sponges, or compassionate
conservatives.
And, the guy who has run the most progressive campaign, the smartest and
the
least pandering of all, is actually winning.
To be a progressive in America is to condemn yourself to a lifetime of
disappointment, watching your country lurch from political stupidity to
imbecilic tragedy, watching every decent candidate you've ever sup****ted
getting hammered and humiliated, and you along with them, by proxy.
Dare I say it? This year feels different.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues.
I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an op****tunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are
at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
|
