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God, I hate
that bitch Hillary Clinton
by Michael
Goodwin, mind reader and whore
Context, as in "you've taken my words out of context," is the last refuge of a politician caught with foot in mouth. That's where Hillary Clinton is today, alternately explaining and apologizing. But with both feet in her mouth, she doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Gravity is the toughest opponent of all, even for a Clinton hellbent on a comeback.
Of course the meaning of words can be distorted if they are lifted from their surroundings. The problem for Clinton is that her reference to the assassination to Robert F. Kennedy is just as outlandish when everything she said before and after is taken into account.
There is no question she was citing the RFK murder of 40 years ago in the spirit of "anything can happen" and thus as a reason she should stay in the race against Barack Obama.
Which means she was thinking of murder as a momentum changer. Not a pretty thought in any context.
But the full context works against Clinton for a larger reason, too. The assassination remark is the latest evidence that her increasingly erratic campaign suffers from a severe case of split personality disorder.
One day it's a focused machine, gobbling up votes in numbers big enough to stave off Obama's nomination triumph. The next day the same machine spews out gaffes and B.S. as though it's been sabotaged.
Dr. Jekyll, meet Mr. Hyde.
Consider the last three months. Fresh off big popular vote wins in Ohio and Texas in March, she shot herself in the foot with a tall tale about coming under sniper fire during her trip to Bosnia as First Lady. Only when she became the subject of ridicule, with a videotape showing her smiling and accepting flowers from a child in Bosnia, did she confess to being wrong.
In April, her top strategist, Mark Penn, was caught working both sides of a key issue in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. Among Penn's private clients was the government of Colombia, which was pushing for approval of a free-trade agreement at the same time Clinton was denouncing the idea. When Clinton fired him, he was her second campaign honcho to get dumped.
May brought more of the same, even before the RFK reference. The day after disappointing results in Indiana and North Carolina, she trotted out the race card, saying "Senator Obama's support among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again." She went on to landslide wins in West Virginia and Kentucky by tapping that very demographic.
The headline-grabbing blunders stopped her from scoring big gains against Obama, even though he was wounded by the Jeremiah Wright issue, his "bitter" comments about small-town values and growing concerns about his kumbaya foreign policy overtures. The delegate deficit is a hurdle for her, but she had a potent argument about his vulnerability in the general election.
Instead of cashing in, Clinton repeatedly stepped on her own story. And with finger-wagging Bubba piping up with frequent off-message zingers, the prospect of the restoration of the Clinton presidency has been a political wash at best.
She's now so toxic she's probably doomed any hope of being named Obama's running mate. He didn't want her to start with; now he won't have to take her.
This one matters most because the notion of Obama being assassinated has been much discussed. He is the first black candidate with a real chance to be President, and, not incidentally, received the endorsement of Ted and Caroline Kennedy, making him the symbolic heir to the Camelot legend that was twice felled by assassin bullets. She couldn't have picked a worse point.
Still, myths aside, Obama is looking weak. In addition to Clinton's pounding him in key states, President Bush and Republican nominee John McCain have taken turns using Obama as a piñata. His yes-we-can crusade has been reduced to explaining why he wants to meet personally with the leader of Iran, whose militias are killing American troops in Iraq and who pledges to wipe Israel off the map.
Obama's views on the Mideast are so muddled the appeasement label is starting to stick, but Clinton is in no position to benefit. That's the impact, full and final, of her mentioning murder in a political context.
Click here to contact the mind reading whore mgoodwin@nydailynews.com
Discuss this Article
BoltsandNuts May 25, 2008 7:53:04 AM
Hillary is up to her old tricks, putting her
mouth in motion before her brain and then proclaiming "you've taken my
words out of context". Please give me a break, your explanation in today's
Daily News is feeble and then the other eighty percent of your reply is
to banter on about 90 year women, young women and men and children being
lifted onto their parents shoulders to see the almighty Hillary Clinton.
If that reply doesn't make you sick of the BS that flows from her mouth
then nothing will.
ainnj May 25, 2008 7:56:56 AM
Mr. Goodwin, seeing you the other night grinning
from ear to ear, practically giddy with glee discussing Senator Clinton's
comments made me realize just how ridiculous the so called journalists
on television and in print have become. This primary will be remembered
not for the candidates campaigning, not for the historical significance
of the first viable woman or the first viable African American running
for the highest office in the land, but for the disgusting and juvenile
descent into the gutter of practically every media outlet in this country;
the fallacy of the illusion of the fourth estate. You sir are the one that
should be ashamed, you have become the worst of what a truly democratic
society produces. God help us all.
Nocarpetbaggers May 25, 2008 8:18:37 AM
Keeping ones foot in their mouth tends to stomp
out ones brain. The She-Weasel dreams of Obama pulling a Foster. God help
the stoic Secret Service Agents who have to protect us from her!
cmartin28 May 25, 2008 8:59:35 AM
OMG! This woman is a truly hateful creature.
I can't believe she would bring about such a horrifying picture to explain
why she should stay in the race...the only words that come to mind are
COLD, HATE-FILLED CREATURE...
Sigmund Freud May 25, 2008 9:02:51 AM
I thank Mr. Goodwin for the balance lacking in
Hillary's words elsewhere in this paper today. The super delegates still
on the fence are soon going to look as crazy as her. She needs to be medicated
or treated back to reality. Does she not have a family looking out for
her? I guess not.
Marrigan May 25, 2008 9:48:25 AM
Not to worry, Hillary. We assume that you'll
still have a cell phone, television, computer and still be ready to answer
a 3 a.m. call, We know how to get in touch with you. Take a vacation or
just put out a hammock in the backyard and relax. If something dire happens,
we'll call. We realize that you have a big campaign debt, and that you
would like nothing better than to have people continue to contribute so
that you can be that unique individual who doesn't have to underwrite their
own professional goals, but please find a different way than remaining
a candidate.
ericmiami May 25, 2008 9:50:01 AM
An intervention would be appropriate at this
point for Hillary. This bitter old white guy is voting for Obama.
realneil May 25, 2008 9:50:20 AM
I agree that Obama would forever have to look
over his shoulder if he took Hillary on as a vice president. Voting for
that ticket would be tantamount to voting for her accession to the presidency.
It would only be a matter of time and opportunity. If she ends up on his
ticket, I will have to return to the Republican side as much as I hate
their recent crappy leadership. I feel that there's no end to how badly
she would ***** things up. I really would like to see a lady get the job,
but she's no lady,.........
phatman167 May 25, 2008 10:26:40 AM
Mr Goodwin fails to mention that all of the candidates
have uttered incoherent statements at times, including the Bushes, he chooses
what he wants to write about while ignoring the rest and that is censorship.
wake up people we do live in America.
Magginkat May 25, 2008 10:29:03 AM
It should be against the law for someone as hate
filled & who produces such vile, to call himself a journalist. Your
hate mongering is disgusting beyond words. But then I know you are not
worried because your following in this column for the most part echo the
slime that you produce. It will be a great day in the U.S. when this country
finally awakens to what you despicable cretins have done to twist &
mangle the news into something that is totally unrecognizable. Maybe I
will live long enough to see that stupid smirk wiped off your ugly mug.
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