You know, a "doi" with eye-roll.
(Yes, a "doi." Because this is beyond "duh," "der," and even "a-duhhh." We're in "doi" territory here.)
Cast your eyes upon the second graf of this existential cry by Marc Ash.
"While the new, and very popular, President Barack Obama appears to mean well, Hillary Clinton's admonishment that he was unprepared for what lays [sic] ahead now seems more real than at first imagined."
"More real." What, like she was kidding or something? Right. She only spent eight years as First Lady and another eight being a Senator. It's not like she knew anything. If she did, she'd have a penis.
Okay, sexism moment over.
But seriously: no kidding Barack Obama was unprepared compared to Hillary Clinton. Jesus. If that was going to be a deal-breaker for Ash, or anyone else, they should have goddamn voted for Hillary! Don't tell me they didn't listen to her and now they're having buyer's remorse. Please, don't tell me that. Don't tell me that they mentally patted the little woman on the head, lying to themselves about it all the while, and are only now having to admit that she was right and they were wrong about an issue that mattered to them.
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Back in the primaries, I literally ached in my heart to vote for Hillary. She was exactly the grim, sensible proceduralist, seasoned and well-acquainted with the worst, which I felt this country needed at this time.
But there was a deal-breaker: her support for the Iraq war, and her subsequent refusal to declare this vote a mistake. I could not get around that. I just couldn't.
I understand why she voted as she did, and I understand why she equivocated afterwards. That understanding didn't help. It hurt. Realistically speaking, it told me that she was positioning herself to appoint similar people--Geithner, etc--as Obama has appointed. Realistically speaking, it told me that we were fucked anyhow, so I might as well vote my conscience. So I did.
This does not, however, make her wrong.
Although I voted for Barack Obama in the primaries, I felt and still feel that many of us flocked to him for the wrong reasons. I said that this wasn't the time for an idealist, and I was right.
Of course, as Ash notes, it's questionable whether anyone could handle the mess we're in right now. With public discourse locked to the right, bankers holding politics in a death grip, and everything in hock to China, the American President has basically no room to maneuver.
The difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was that she knew that. Like, really knew it. From...you know...experience. (Quite bitter experience, in fact, for those who remember the Clinton years.)
Had I possessed any faith that that would have made even a margin of difference in her performance, I would have voted for her. I did not.
But: That doesn't make her wrong.
And those who apparently would have had such faith (Ash sounds like one) have now been revealed as idiots. They should sit down and ask themselves why they did not listen to her.
A democracy is only as good as its voters. For those of us who wanted a Disney prince--well, you got one. I believe in him and I support him, but with my eyes open. I support him as a President, not a fairy-tale hero. In real life, the story keeps going after the happy ending. Those of us who seem surprised by that--shouldn't be. So what's up? Now you're noticing he's not experienced. Now you're wondering why he's appointing a bunch of Bush-era establishmentchiks. Now you're thinking "Yeah, and Hillary Clinton warned us about this. Damn! Why didn't I listen?"
Yeah. Why?
