Please Hillary Fall on Your Sword

I stole this from one of the Springsteen newsgroups/message boards I post to:


http://www.newwest.net/city/article/hillary_please_fall_on_your_sword...


Hillary: Please Fall on Your Sword

By Jill Kuraitis, 2-24-08


Cheese, Hillary.


For crying out loud, GET OUT ALREADY!


C'mon, Hil: we have a real chance to win the presidency. If you fight
to the finish, you'll divide the Democratic party at a time when a
rare unity is upon us.


It's clearly the will of the party - more states, more delegates -
that Obama is our nominee. He's ignited a new generation, and they
won't donate or volunteer if you're the nominee. To them, you're old-
timey.


If you're the nominee, we'll lose. Can't you feel it?


Clearly not. And the fact that you can't feel it - or refuse to
believe it - is one of the reasons you're not our pick. You've lost
touch with the Democratic zeitgeist, especially in the West.


For ONCE, would you please show that a Clinton can act with the good
of the party in mind, instead of the good of the Clinton in mind?


As a former fan, I can't believe I just said that. A lot of us spent
political capital denying you two were selfish, but now it's too
obvious, and destructive, to ignore.


Don't get us wrong, Senator; you're qualified to be commander-in-
chief. Your intelligence is not in question. You've got some great
ideas and plans to improve the lives of Americans.


And screw the political fashion police; the pantsuits are fine.


But we don't owe you the job, which you seem to believe. That has
mightily ticked off Bill's old fans. Until you reined him in last
week, he wasn't doing you any good, you know. His sense of
entitlement - for which he was already famous - is worse than yours.


He was just starting to be an excellent Former President, and now he's
blown it. And here we thought he'd recovered from his old patterns.
Our sense of betrayal by him, all too familiar, is back. And it rubs
off on you.


Think about it: what political family in recent memory has infuriated
us with their offensive sense of entitlement? So much so that they
probably stole two elections?


That kind of power is wrong, and your campaign looks a lot like the
Democrat's version.


The stories of your team's thug-like tactics to gain advantage have
alarmed us. When you speak, there's just a tiny hint of I-know-better-
than-you. We don't like your vote for the Iraq war, and we especially
don't like your refusal to admit you were wrong.


Oh, and Hillary? That Wal-Mart Board of Directors thing? The
corporate-tool accusations start there. You don't seem interested in
or willing to confront corporate power which keeps working people
poor. Ending the culture of corporations running the country is one
of Obama's central themes, and we like it.


Listen, Hil. We don't care about yours or Obama's clothes or hair. We
truly do realize you've done a lot of good in your political life.
We're sorry for the pain that unfortunately-loveable cad Bill has
caused you. We think it stinks that Americans tend to vote on
personality and their emotional reactions to candidates, instead of
voting on the issues. And we're sorry that this next reality hurts,
too.


But it must be said: too many people have a visceral dislike for you,
many of them Democrats. It's not all about your ideas, beliefs, or
stance on the issues. You just seem - well, cold. Calculating.
Grasping. Not to mention old-guard, inside-baseball politics.


We hear you're really not like that, but the Hillary we see rubs a lot
of us the wrong way.


Without crossover Republican votes, we can't win. Some Democrats will
cross the other way to vote for McCain, but darling: Republicans
won't cross to vote for you.


We're dying for victory. We shouldn't have to tell you about the ruin
Bush has left, the civil liberties he's undone, the international
reputation he's squandered, the troops who have died and been maimed,
the billions he's wasted, the judges he's stacked, the environmental
crises he's ignored.


Senator, it's true: Obama's our guy. We know he's not perfect or
perhaps as ready as you to function from day one. But say what you
like about him - we see political courage, leadership, inspiration
and, yes: hope. Our Democratic young people are back in the political
game, which is something too important to ignore. They were just
schoolkids when Bill was president; Bush is the president of their
recent awareness, and they see nothing but disasters from him.


They're ready to seize the reins, and they don't see you on the
horse.


When Obama says, "For real change to happen, I need your help. Will
you?" they hear, "Ask not what your country can do for you......"


He has good ideas. He's a leader and an honorable man. We like him.
Above all, he's electable.


That's what matters now, Hillary. You must give up your dreams for all
our dreams. You must show that a Clinton can act with the good of the
party in mind, instead of the good of the Clinton in mind.


That, not the presidency, is how you're called to serve.


And Hillary: really, thanks for everything.

 

Oh, well, hell, if the Springsteen fan-boards say so, it must be true.
I swear to god, if the Obama people really are this upset that she hasn't dropped out before Ohio and Texas vote, then they;re really not ready for the GOP shitstorm this fall.

 

If mathematically you're still in it, and you won California, New York and Massachusetts (as well as Florida, which doesn't really count, I guess) . . .you have the right to see it through. Even if it's obviously a long shot.

How would Obama and his acolytes react to a similar call if the standings were reversed?

 

I hope they'd fight, tooth and nail down to the last minute.
Meanwhile, on MTP today, is Doris Kearns Goodwin really the right person to be discussing whether Obama copped lines from Deval Patrick.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23319215/
Who vets this mess?

 

If the standings were reversed, Obama would have been driven out of the race by now, but I take your point.

She has ever right to see this through to March 4th. He could stumble. I wish she'd try and take some portion of the high road, but I know that's not realistic.

When she loses Texas -- and she's losing in Texas -- she'd best concede on the fifth.

 

No, she is not.

However, I've always had a huge crush on the woman since I read "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream"

Back on topic, David Olive's column in the Star today thinks Hilary should drop out--for the good of the party.

http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/306400

Democrats have never nominated a candidate who lost 11 consecutive contests, as Clinton has since Feb. 5. Turning back the Obama tide is a mathematical improbability, given the Democratic practice of apportioning delegates by popular vote. To even narrow Obama's lead in pledged delegates, Clinton has to win the next two delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio on March 4 by wide margins.

 

I agree completely. Most people would consider me an "Obama person." In many ways, I view this as an accurate way to vet someone I probably want to vote for. While I've been a little dissapointed in Hillary going as negative as she has, I also think she's making Obama a potentially stronger president, not just a strong candidate.
The shit he's going through now is a drop in the bucket to what's going to happen in November, or any time he might be in office.

 

I say this as a Democrat who voted for Kerry and fully intends to vote for Obama:

When I read shit like "they probably stole two elections," I pretty much tune out and dismiss everything the writer has to say.

 

I think it's fairly obvious that, whether tainted or not, more Floridians intended to vote for Gore than Bush. However, I remember reading this piece by RFK Jr. roughly a year ago, and it at least made me think:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

 

I've changed my mind . I want Hillary to stay in till the end and see the hilarity that ensue. The rift will set the Republicans up through 2016.

 

Tremendous column. Why isn't this person writing for Newsweek, NYT or Post?

 

I stopped reading after "Cheese Hillary."