Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Vetted: What is Hillary Actually Good At Doing?

Vetted: What is Hillary Actually Good At Doing?

This response was to an article in CommentaryMag.com called 'Competitive Victimization', about the female vs. race card being played in the contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton...

RE: Competitive Victimization
January 14th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Excellent article.

Unfortunately, it is true that race trumps gender and that’s why, if the democratic nomination goes to an inexperienced, unvetted, unscrutinized Black male, I will switch parties and vote Republican for the first time in my life and so, I suspect, will a lot of my ‘well-educated’ women counterparts.

Personally, I am deeply offended by Obama’s use of the ‘race’ card. That ploy may have worked in the 1970’s, the 1980’s the 1990’s, but this is the 21st century. Non-black citizens are SICK to death of hearing that racism is responsible for everything from the disproportionate number of black males in state and federal prisons, to allowing black rappers to use sexually and racially offensive language off-limits to their white counterparts in any branch of the media and now, this! The ultimate insult; justifying the bestowal of a free pass to a candidate for the presidency of the United State.

And let’s not forget the inconvenient and overlooked fact that every man in this country got the right to vote a half century before the same right was extended to any woman of any race.

H. Leeds


Of course I would be just as offended by giving a 'free pass' to an 'inexperienced, unvetted, unscrutinized' white female--simply because she WAS female, too. Being ubiquitous is not the same as being experienced. Being shooed-in is not the same as being vetted. Being in the spotlight is not the same as being scrutinized.

I don't think Obama is unfairly using the race card. Actually, it's to his credit that he's not used it much at all. Just because Hillary SAYS he's used it--and then has offered her response--doesn't mean that it has actually been a weapon, only that she has managed to inoculate herself against such a charge in advance; it's political jujitsu.

What is Hillary actually good at doing? What have we seen her accomplish? Make your own list.

Here's mine:

1) She can manage a large group of people, set the tone, create or demand the atmosphere she wants. She can define a topic, mint a Vast Rightwing Conspiracy, coin the meme, set the lede. She can change climates, alter the subject, redirect and distract--make HER news BE the news. She has constructed a polical patter wherein people think she is addressing what is important to them, when she is really all about capturing what is important to her.

2) She can cow people, frighten them, manipulate them, intimidate them--make them unwilling to act as they would in front of her. She can make her agenda more important than anyone else's. She is not afraid, and even seems to enjoy, making people pay the price for thinking otherwise. There's an unsettling noblesse oblige about even her most generous acts; one can't quite remove any of them from the realm of underground--and sometimes the most shameless--manipulation. People are scared to cross her; people are afraid to tell her 'no'.

3) She can impart the idea that she is better than the average person--even better than the person she is talking to while she is talking to them--and thus, is entitled to do, or receive, or be, something that the 'ordinary American' is not. She can make people think she has thought about things more than they have--and that thinking makes her entitled to go on thinking about them, and make decisions about them--even if they affect huge numbers of people who may not agree with her and don't want it.

4) She has managed to use being female for the positives she's wanted--seeming 'maternal' by having Chelsea, playing the 'good wife' by 'standing by her man', excoriating his accusers, writing smarmy 'It Takes A Villiage' books, tearing up, playing 'you-can't-hit-the-girl', etc.--without ever being beset or burdened with a woman's true feelings, or humanity, or love. (Who can name one person she has ever acted like she's loved?) There's a positive dearth of emotions in her. She is judgmental and harsh--and those judgements have an entirely self-focused frame of reference.

She 'loves' those who can help her get what she wants--and she will ignore or destroy those who do not. She does things to get what SHE wants. She plays the victim just well enough to elicit sympathy, but not so much as to make herself seem powerless. This is one of her most successful attributes, allowing her to never be placed into the 'little woman' or 'dumb blonde' camp.

5) She has constructed a veneer under which people feel they 'know' her--or knows what she 'really' thinks. Thus, her landscape of lies, evasions, untruths, exaggerations, misrepresentations is all-too-readily pushed aside and ignored by her constituents. I don't know how they rationalize her many, many missteps--but they do.

The only working feedback loop she has is 'Is my behavior--right or wrong--getting me what I want?" If it is, she continues and ramps it up, if it is not, she either changes tactics, blames someone else, or attacks. Morals, ethics, what's-best-for-others is successfully weeded out of her thought processes. She is never called on to account for any of the things she has done wrong. The only consequences she has ever suffered is bad press or diminished votes. The bad press she blames on their bad character, the diminished votes she blames on ours (or her opponents). NOT a good system whereby to check one's own behavior, take the measure of oneself, and possibly do better.

6) On the plus side, she is capable of hard work (to get what she wants), she is organized, she is determined, and--as long as she is ascendant--she is optimistic.

I am not sure if these things recommend her well for the presidency. All of her cleverness, her ability to connect with people, her capacity for hard work, her ability to set the pace for things--determine an agenda and see it through--are being focused down the very narrow well of getting her what she wants--the rest of us be damned.

Being female doesn't help her. Indeed, I think she'd have been much happier being a man and heading for things straight on, without any fluffy concerns about 'village' children, or being likeable, or 'supporting the sisterhood'. In Hillary, I see no true ability to unite people, work with others--or implement an agenda with which she does not agree even if, or especially, if it is the best solution to a problem. Hillary wants what will fulfill her goals first; I don't like to think about what happens to those who don't share them.

In a world that still sees Nancy Pelosi nannily head-scarfed, Condoleeza Rice being careful whose hand she shakes, and some delegates using the servant's entrance to a world summit, middle east tensions can easily reduce Hillary's agenda to that of 'just another lowly woman'.

With all her obsessive self-focus, I see the day when, if Hillary is elected, the mullahs and A'Jad's and Saudi princes of the world turn to the Vice President and expect to conduct the real business with him. And, no, that isn't all Hillary's fault. However, the same greedy lunge for power, and the self-centered pursuit of her own ideals, can too-readily make her blind to reality--and to too many other things.

Hillary IS 'inexperienced, unvetted, and unscrutinized' as a leader. The things she does well have more potential to do well only for her. In order to best represent America, and keep us safe in today's world, we need more than just a selfish figurehead. The tiara on Queen Hillary's head may do a lot for her; what's it going to do for us?

VerityINK

23 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, one answer to that last question pops to my mind immediately -- she will scare me to death if she's elected, that's what she'll do for me.

She just KNOWS how we should all live -- if we just vote her into the White House, she'll be glad to relieve us of the burden of having to live our own lives.

But, to be honest, I can't see Obama having much more in the way of experience. True, he may not have to worry about being shunned by Middle East thugs because he's a woman but that's not much in the way of improvement. Edwards is even worse -- the only things he knows how to do real well are chase ambulances and comb his hair.

I tend to think there are two enormous egos behind most of this -- Bill and Hillary. The lesser half of this infamous union did nothing but disgrace the office and give a pass to terrorists to kill citizens he took an oath to protect. The better half will not only do just as poorly but with perhaps greater damage to the soul of the nation.

Justice is sometimes slow but it does come. We can only hope it comes before November, 2008.

7:44 AM  
Blogger Hawke said...

Continued from Commentary Magazine; my response to your response will follow, later.

Larry,

FYI:

All men over age 21 were granted the right to vote on 1/8/1867.

The 19th Amendment granting that right to women wasn’t passed until 8/26/1920.

My point, as a poster commented so eloquently near the top of this thread, is that Race always trumps gender.

This is an historic election in which the first woman has a chance to become president. Instead of celebrating it, OHB and his camp are busy trying to tarnish HRC by slinging racial mud at her.

Apparently, however, since this article was posted, both sides have called a temporary truce.

That’s fine with me. As long as the nominating process examines ISSUES instead of hurling personal insults, I will be happy to fall in line and judge the candidates on their qualifications.

If, instead, the race declines into the same-old, tired-old Tawana Brawleesque-Sharpton BS, I’m jumping back in and will go tit for tat against people trying to smear HRC’s record on civil rights.

Ironically, I’m an Independent. I don’t know who I’m going to vote for but I will not stand by and say nothing when the first viable women candidate is trashed and bashed and hung out to dry by the Obama’s, their surrogates and MSM in general.

Have a good day

7:50 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

HAWKE--No problem to remove multi-posts, Hawke; Blogger sometimes glitches. It's just nice to see you here!

7:58 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Yes, Prairieson, I've outlined my objections. It's as if Hillary is running for the United States Of Hillary--she's just okay with it being called 'America'...

I see no overarching plan of hers that will improve OUR lives--only hers.

And HAWKE--I take the position of NOBODY running because they are female or black, or white, or hispanic, or asian, or gay, or muslim, or Catholic or anything. I want people to run on what they plan to do for us, how they're going to keep us safe, FIRST. Then, if they happen to be black or female or Mormon or whatever, that's fine. But I want to see their POSITION. Running on attributes that they have virtually no control over tells me nothing--and it qualifies them for nothing.

8:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good article, Donal! Yes, you have hit the nail on the head describing Hillary. This is her to a "T"

I guess her being a woman makes it even worse; we are all used to a man being that driven and egotistical - but who would have ever guess a woman would be so naked about it?

8:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

DONAL this is VERY good and needs to make the rounds. I'm shooting you an e-mail.

Morgan

8:20 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Thank you, Morgan! Take it where ya wanna!

8:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more with your response, especially as a black woman who has seen how the Clinton's have helped and hurt my community.

#2 and #4 really strike a nerve because at first I could never understand why so many black leaders never gave Obama a chance. Then I came to understand how the Clintons have used their leadership and patronage to influence the black political hierarchy. The fear is that if they don't support Hillary and she wins, they'll fall out of favor with the Clintons and lose valuable political resources. But if Obama wins, then rank and file civil rights and democratic party black leaders lose political leverage as they have little to no stake in Obama.

9:45 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Thank you, ANON. Yes, the negative way Hillary wields power made a particular impression on me her first go around--I'm not anxious to have them back. I think she more than anyone is responsible for the negative tone that is so pervasive in politics lately.

10:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All right DONAL, it's up at my blog JINGOIST'S Corner and has been submitted to the FireSociety for frontpage treatment. I'll let you know when it's up there.
People need to see this DONAL, well done!

Morgan

10:17 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Thank you, Morgan, I'm terribly honored you'd pay it any mind. Funny the things I sit around and think about at 4 a.m.! I read that gal's response and tried to think about just what COULD Hillary do well? What HAD she ever PROVEN she could do? The list of things that immediately came to mind was not a flattering one--or one terribly accomplished.

I realized the thing about Hillary was that, if she was confronted by evil, she wouldn't bat an eye--she'd only cooly consider whether that evil was going to help her get what she wanted, or hinder her. That's all.

10:26 AM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Thanks--my articles have gotten a little longer than Fair Use!

10:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what a world you live in! Very sad indeed.

But still funny to read your poor self-pity. What will you do when we have Madame President? Will your collective heads explode?

hahahhaah

11:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey wackjob anon, we freedom-loving conservatives don't have "collective heads", that's left to you emoters.

No, we'll sulk and acuse for exactly ONE day. After that we'll work even harder and hide as much as possible from the greedy witch of Washington. Actual tax receipts will drop precipitously IN SPITE of the guaranteed tax increase. THAT'S "social justice"!

Morgan

1:14 PM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

More nonsense from an ANONYMOUS coward. Got dictionary? Learn the definition of the words 'self-pity'.

I wrote a piece about Hillary's attributes--not anything about how she might have affected me or mine. Many of the things I mentioned are decent skills that most pols need in order to succeed. It is only the overwhelming aggregate of them--and little else she has done well--that makes her so ...small.

I notice that you were unable to counter any of them or offer better. Indeed, though this column has been up on several sites, I've not seen a more positive list of her abilities--esp. from your own.

No, you cheap cowards want to do the drive-by insults with the vapid smugness that permeates your crowd--as if you've really said something profound! LOL!

Well, I hate to disappoint you but, no, you'll see no 'exploding heads' here if Hillary gets elected (indeed, you and yours will pay a far higher price for that, in the long run). We conservatives/Republicans are far more logical and mature than that.

We know the politics runs in a cycle--and that it may just be your 'turn'. We also know that the Clintons govern in a much more laissez faire style and are thus more prone to err on the side of not doing enough (as with Bin Laden, the WTC, the Khobar Towers, and Rwanda) than on the side of doing too much. And, in the end, we're willing to bide our time, wait for the next cycle and know that, unless President Hllary is very very careful, she will scotch female presidents, and/or Democrat presidents for a very long time to come--and we can wait that long.

You see, ANON., unlike you spoonfed babies of the Left, we rightwingers make a good life for ourselves no matter who is in charge in Washington. Thus, it won't ruin our day, or our lives, to have one of you back in the White House. I'm in charge of my own life--no matter what Hillary Honey wants to do--and we lived through 8 years of Bill; we can easily do it again.

Meanwhile, it'll be YOUR chickens that'll be coming home to roost. Your so enfeebled by your own sense of victimhood and entitlement that you'd better be figuring out what you'll do about THAT!

1:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ooooooooooh good beatdown!

Morgan

8:03 PM  
Blogger FairWitness said...

VerityInk, this is the best column you've ever penned and you've written some damn good pieces in the past. This one needs publishing! Absolutely excellent. Thank you for so succinctly articulating the Hillary Clinton we Conservatives are so disgusted by. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

9:04 PM  
Blogger FairWitness said...

One more thing, I agree with your assessment, completely and totally. You should be a shrink. You've Hillary down to the last character flaw. Bravo!

9:06 PM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

Well, thank you so much, Pat--it means so much to me that you'd think so!

When I look back and remember the Clinton years from the White House, these are the things that stood out the most.

9:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Boss, your critique of the Hildebeast, as Boortz calls her, were far too kind.

She is really a wretched, socialist, vicious, power hungry, domineering, manipulative, incredibly arrogant, delusional witch of the worse kind, so cares for no one - NO ONE - other than herself. We are merely her stepping stones.

She is the ultimate con artist.

9:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting how there isnt a single verifiable fact in your rant of hatred.

6:30 PM  
Blogger FairWitness said...

Protest Warrior, have you been a coma for the last 15 to 20 years? How is it that you don't know that EVERYTHING enumerated in this article is absolute, 100% truth about Hildebeast???? In total denial! Pathetic!

6:37 PM  
Blogger VerityINK said...

LES/PROTEST WARRIOR--You have just made #5 very true. LOL!

6:56 PM  

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