Hillary Clinton Returns!

Hillary Clinton has finally emerged into the world again.   She had an interesting interview the other day,  where she spoke openly about the 2016 election,  and discussed the issues and problems that caused the donald to steal the Oval Office away from her.   She acknowledged the fact that she made mistakes in the campaign,  which hurt her chances,   but,  she also pointed out that the Comey announcement a week before the election that the FBI was re-opening the email investigation,  and the  massive push on social media of negative stories (many of which were unfounded lies)  probably hurt her more than anything.    I will say that I do agree with her on these points.   I would add to them the fact that the Main Stream Media forgot that it was supposed to be objective and spent entirely too much time focused on the trump train wreck.  While  HRC was out  talking with people in small town halls that had a lot of respectful dialogue,  and working to create the best,  most inclusive platform she could,  the cameras were focused on an empty stage in a packed auditorium,  while everyone waited for the donald to show up and spread his inflammatory messages around like shit in  an animal hoarder’s house. I am sure that,  had the media spent more time reporting on the quiet,  respectful discussions that Hillary (or Bernie) were having,   things might have come out differently.   However, alas,  as they say in the Newspaper Industry – “If it bleeds,  it leads”.   Blood and gore ALWAYS get the front page…as they sell the newspapers or, today,  get clicks into the website.

The really sad thing about her loss of the race is that she likely would have been a GREAT President.   When she was  in Congress,  she was well liked,  and dealt with both sides to move things forwards.  She was KNOWN for the fact that she would show up at hearings and such with an armload of data, all of which she had studied and knew inside and out.   She was, indeed,  a Policy Wonk (in the best possible way).   She came into the race with decades of  experience and knowledge of the ins and outs of dealing with and negotiating with,  people on the domestic and international scene.   She is known as a tough negotiator too,  which allowed her to push compromise where the two sides were at logger-heads.   Her work as Secretary of State had deepened her pool of understanding of the world situation. This,  by the by, is one reason why Putin worked so hard to the the donald elected.   He was terribly worried that she would take the Presidency,  and he knew he could not out-negotiate her!

     For me,  the real problem that kept her out of the Oval Office is that the American public are hypocrites,   not allowing their candidates to have mistakes or changes in stance,  and yet ignoring the huge list of their own screw-ups.    Add to that the misogyny of the voting public,  the meddling in the election by outside forces,  and the (possibly Unconstitutional) laws the states have passed forcing the Electoral College to a “Winner take all” rule…and it is little surprise  the  Republicans  were able to take the office…in spite of the results of the vote by ACTUAL CITIZENS!   Remember that the donald  only took the swing states by 75,000 votes or so – out of 63 MILLION cast,  so,  I suspect that if the Electors had not been “bound” by the “Winner take all” rule,   HRC would have gotten the majority of votes needed to take the Presidency.

     As for the Bernie supporters who still cling to the idea that if HE had been the candidate,  he would have won…I hope that gives you some comfort at night.  I disagree that he would have been an easy victory.   The Republicans had a HUGE file of dirt on him that goes back to his college days,  and would have used it with the same,  overblown rhetoric  that was used against HRC.   He would have been torn to shreds  by the tsunami of agenda-driven spin and lies from Russia.  Yes,  it is true that there are some Emails indicating that Wasserman-Schultz preferred HRC over Bernie.   Yet there STILL is no evidence that any of the suggested strategies were implemented.   In my own case,  I saw about as many HRC ads from PACs as I did Bernie ads.  It may be that many in the Democratic party looked upon Bernie with a questionable attitude because he has NEVER been a  Democrat.   He is and always will be an Independent,  Democratic Socialist.   Frankly,  that is a good thing,  and in  a way,  I wish that there were more like him in the Congress.   However,  his hooking his wagon to the Democratic Party was an attempt to hook into the pool of Democratic Voters  and so take the office.   That did not work as well as he would have liked…since several MILLION voters in the Primary voted for HRC over him.   I was not one of those.  I DID vote for Bernie in the Primary  for a variety of reasons.   For me,  it almost came down to a coin toss, though.   I looked at the two of them and was amazed that our Party had put forth TWO excellent and very qualified candidates.   That is why I DID vote for HRC in the General Election.

I agree that the Democratic Party needs to buckle down and start working together to be a force such as the Republicans.    People of good will can disagree over issues…but,  when push comes to shove,   we as progressives,  need to be able to compromise,  and to get behind ONE Candidate.   We must NOT be so self-centered that we pout about our favorite Candidate  not being chosen,  and either refuse to vote,  or write in his name,  or vote for a third party option that is worse than the Republican alternative.   Bite the bullet…work to change the Party…but without powerful representation,   we, and our goals as Citizens,  are irrelevant to the Republicans.   Look at what Mitch McConnell said after the donald’s victory.   He said “Winners get to make the rules.  Losers get to go home”.  That,  folks, is the draconian attitude of most Republicans.  They will dismiss our Liberal opinions and do their best to ride rough-shod over anything “Liberal” in the governmental and legal structure of the country.   Look at what they are doing now!   They are working as hard as they can to wipe out not only the legacy that President Obama left,  but, to roll back our society to where it was in the 1800s.   The Republicans of today seem to believe that the Television shows “Leave it to Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show”  are not situation comedies,  but, rather are documentaries of a lost way of life!   We,  as a group,  cannot wait for the Republicans to destroy themselves.  They are  perfectly happy to burn down the house with ALL of us locked in the living room.   We must look ahead…be sure to VOTE in the coming elections;  and look to the younger generation of Democrats to rise up and move us forward again.

God Help Us All

Bee Man Dave.