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| Iranians, Republicans. |
"I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made."
--Franklin Delano Roosevelt
When Anderson Cooper asked the candidates which enemies they were proudest to have made, he clearly caught the five off guard. Lincoln Chafee had the misfortune to have to answer first and he stumbled but gamely proposed the coal industry.
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| The Coal Industry |
Martin O'Malley had a moment to collect his thoughts, while Chafee stammered, and he came up with a decisive simply three letter answer, "The NRA." It was part of O'Malley's strong performance, characterized by clarity and decisiveness.
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| The NRA |
Bernie Sanders said he'd made enemies of the oligarchs on Wall Street and he was probably correct and he was echoing Roosevelt who had made the same enemies and was considered a traitor to his class. Earlier, Sanders had claimed he was the only one on the stage who was not a billionaire and nobody challenged that, which got me thinking.
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| Wall Street Tycoons |
Jim Webb trotted out his lame red neck answer that he was proud to have made an enemy of the Viet Cong who had lobbed a grenade at him but that Cong was no longer around, thus claiming the mantle of tough guy pick up truck Joe Six pack frat boy.
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| A dead Viet Cong. |
Hillary answered, the NRA, the Iranians, the pharmaceutical industry, the health insurers but ultimately, "the Republicans."
Haven't seen the Fox bimbo/hyena reaction yet, but you know they are going to gleefully invoke the umbrage taken by the enemies of Richard Nixon who inveighed against a President compiling a list of worthy American citizens who he considered "enemies." No American President should consider his loyal opposition as "enemies." Other Americans, enemies. How outrageous.
Yet Roosevelt relished the notion. "I welcome their hatred," Roosevelt said of the tycoons who reviled him. He did not mince words. He was a warrior and he knew he was in a battle.
Until now Democrats, Hillary included, have been too timid to admit politics is a blood sport. Now she's come alive and she seems to enjoy the battle. I hope she does not back down when this gets thrown at her in the upcoming Republican hearings.
"Ms. Clinton, do you consider the Republican members of this committee enemies, to be lumped into the same category as Iranians? Do you consider insurance company executives as loathsome as Iranians?"
Here's my fantasy for her answer:
"I was asked whose enmity I had no regrets about, and the very existence of this farce of a committee hearing, this witch hunt, should be ample evidence that I have been treated as an enemy. Your own Republican majority leader has admitted these proceedings have nothing to do with seeking the truth but everything to do with deflating my own poll numbers. That is not the behavior of a loyal opposition. That is the behavior of a group which has vilified me, which has treated me as an enemy. I am only acknowledging a self evident fact. And yes, I welcome your hatred. You are my best advertising for what is wrong with your pathetic party which has lost its soul to the Tea Party."
Oh, would you not love to see that? And, after last night, seeing the fire in her eye, I would not put it past Hillary.
You go lady.
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteAgreed, you go lady...What Hillary could really benefit from is you as a speechwriter-the words above are exactly what she should be saying to the Republicans at their next bi-monthly witch hunt. First it was Cecile Richards and Planned Parenthood, now it's Hillary's turn to be vilified by a committee that has no interest in the truth, but exists solely to do damage to her campaign. Of course you are right she will be skewered for calling Republican's enemies, but any fair minded person would acknowledge she did not mean every Republican in the country, but instead the Republican party and it's henchmen..The Benghazi Embassy deaths and her emails(or lack there of) are now just pawns in the Republican crusade to block her way to the White House, so she needs to continue to call them as she sees them..Hillary is by far the most qualified candidate to occupy the Oval Office from both sides of the aisle and she proved in 2008 she is the toughest competitor-she's only begun to fight..
Maud
Ms. Maud,
ReplyDeleteI'll be happy to write some speeches, if you'll manage her campaign.
Actually, she may already have people for those positions.
She has won me over.
I love Bernie Sanders, but his style of pedagogy is more suited to big rallies than debates or town hall meetings. He's into delightful bombast. But as James Webb said, with a smile, "I don't think we are going to have a revolution in this country."
Of course, we already have, when you look at where the parties are now as opposed to 50 years ago.
Go back 80 years ago, however and we've come full circle. Republicans really believe the new is only a threat, new people (immigrants) new ideas or new investments (like child care or college for all or health care for all.)
The difference is the conservatives of old (eg Herbert Hoover, Andrew Mellon) where simply ossified and withered; today's Right Wing Heros are fulminating, rabid haters--Limbaugh, Cruz and Trump.
Mad Dog