Quick, entertaining update, and a question
First, I want to point you all to an excellent JibJab song about the farce we call the news these days. Their stuff is so great. Also, here’s a quick illustration of Bush’s approval ratings (edit: note that the bottom of the graph is at 20%, which is a bit deceiving). Also, Senator Joseph Biden has an excellent speech about Iraq and the lack of an exit strategy. These last two were found through StumbleUpon, which I mentioned recently.
Finally, I have a question that shouldn’t be too hard to answer: a lot of people seem to be passionately against Hillary Clinton. They don’t want her to be president, they don’t even want her to be a senator. I got to see a video feed of when she was interviewed at Google, and she seemed like a pretty normal politician (she sidestepped many of the questions, but no more than any other politician I’ve seen). Other than that and the fact that she’s married to Bill Clinton (about whom I know a little), I know nothing about her. Why are so many people opposed to her? Is it just because her husband had an affair? Is it because she has some crazy beliefs that I’m unaware of? What’s going on?
She voted for the Iraq war resolution (the bill that gave the president broad authority to wage war with congressional pre-approval). Then she continued to defend this position…until roughly the time that public sentiment was firmly against the war. Only then did she start to argue against the war.
I think people perceive in her a bottomless powerlust that has led her to say whatever is necessary to get votes and support.
Of course I would vote for Hillary for president if she was the Democratic candidate. But why should she be the left’s candidate when we could have someone with more integrity, and perhaps someone that fewer people already hate, for good reason or no? She would have a really hard time getting anything done when so many people on both sides of the aisle have already been soured by her taste.
[P]eople perceive in her a bottomless powerlust [and…] have already been soured by her taste.
That was surprisingly poetic for how informative it was. Thanks!
The problem with the whole “she voted for it” thing is that at the time, given the false info being fed to Congress, it was quite reasonable that she (and Kerry) voted for it. Also, while it’s clear that the war is a Bad Idea (TM), it is not entirely clear that the pullout that the left wants is a Good Idea (TM) either, and on that point, I think it’s right for her to waffle because there isn’t really a good choice either way (and frankly, I will deduct points from any politician–like Bush, McCain or the most dovish of Democrats–for advocating either a strong pro- or anti-war stance because that is an indication of a political stance and not one rooted in the overwhelmingly complex and ambiguous reality).
My gut instincts say that she’s disliked because the left has become increasingly radicalized (no thanks to Bush) and that she’s too centrist for their tastes. More disturbing for libertarians like me is the growing rejection of Clinton-era respect for free markets and a scary push towards populism (once again, no thanks to Bush’s idiotic politics pushing the discourse towards extremism on both sides). So from my POV, I think that’s the biggest thing working against her–the radicalization of the left (and although “leftier” candidates will do well in the primaries, they’ll flounder in the general).
Another factor is that she’s The Establishment (TM). But I think that this is only a secondary issue.
(BTW, just as in 2004, I’m rooting for Clark, and I’m still blaming the 2004 loss on the Democrats idiotically picking Kerry over Clark).
Hey, thanks for the link!
Nice post!