Doug Ross @ Journal

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

I went to a hockey game and a Dem Primary broke out

Democrats Gone Wild! Hillary Hunted! It's an Obamination!

Powerline observes that the Obama vs. Clinton grudge match has begun to boil over. David Geffen -- who once raised $18 million for Bill Clinton -- pillaged Hillary's campaign in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Kahn:

* Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice? Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in. Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it’s troubling.

* God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton?

* She is overproduced and overscripted. "It’s not a very big thing to say, ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t..."

The CarpetBagger Report notes that Geffen went on to say that the Clintons “lie” with “such ease, it’s troubling.”

Hillary's SWAT team wasted no time returning fire against Obama's vast, left-wing conspiracy.

...If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign and return his money...

Obama's hit-squad launched an immediate counterattack:

...It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom. It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because he’s black...

Hitting 'em with the race card this early in the campaign? It's beginning to remind me of a Don "The Rock" Muraco-Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka grudge-match, though technically Hillary's calves are a bit stronger than Muraco's. Sorry, couldn't resist.

With surprising alacrity, Hillary responded with a flying drop-kick off the top rope:

How can Senator Obama denounce the politics of slash & burn yesterday while his own campaign is espousing the politics of trash today?

For all of the ruckus over Obama's ear-size complex, it's Hillary that seems to be overly-sensitized to criticism.

Criticism of Hillary isn't limited to David Geffen.

A -er- progressive commenter on this fine, subscription-only site (note: I call it DougSelect, with your subscription generously provided through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation) provided an exhaustive list of 50 reasons to not vote for Hillary. My favorites?

# 2. Incredible ability to turn $1,000 into $100,000 overnight.
# 3. She's no Slick Willie, that's for damn sure.
# 4. Coining of the phrase "vast right-wing conspiracy."
# 5. HillaryCare.
# 6. "Let's chat. Let's have a dialogue."
# 7. Carpetbagging from Illinois to Arkansas, then to New York.
# 8. "We are the president."
# 9. "We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society."
# 10. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
# 21. A Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton presidential succession would look SO lame, not to mention monarchical, in history books.
# 22. "I have gone from a Barry Goldwater Republican to a New Democrat, but I think my underlying values have remained pretty constant."
# 23. Her annoying and pointless crusade against video games.
# 24. Introduction of a "compromise" bill as an alternative to the Flag Desecration Amendment that would nevertheless have criminalized flag burning.
# 25. If we ever have another Clinton running the country it had sure as hell better be George.
# 26. Wearing Yankees hats at Yankee games and Mets hats at Met games.
# 28. Kissing Suha Arafat following a speech in which the late PLO leader's wife falsely accused Israel of using "poison gas" on Palestinians.
# 30. Quick: Name an important piece of legislation Hillary has introduced, sponsored or otherwise ushered toward passage.
# 31. When not reading from a prepared script, she says "Uh" at least every third word.
# 32. Even the use of her maiden name has been the subject of elaborate political calculation on her and Bill's part.
# 33. Fawning support from the Democratic Leadership Committee and her nitwit coterie of neoliberal gasbags like Lanny Davis and Tom Friedman.
# 34. The melange "Billary" paved the way for later couples' media monikers like "Bennifer" and "Vaughniston" (also, to be fair, "Filliam H. Muffman," but more credit is due to Stephen Colbert for that).
# 35. Chris Matthews: "[Bush] made it pretty clear from day one we were going to war. How come she still pretends that she didn't know he was going to war? It's like she didn't know anything about Bill and his behavior. How many times is she going to be confused by men?" It bears repeating.
# 36. Who actually bought It Takes a Village and gave it a serious, thoughtful read?
# 37. Inability to answer a question with "Yes" or "No" even when the questioner takes pains to make absolutely clear that "Yes" or "No" are the only two acceptable answers.
# 40. "I do not think it is a smart policy ... to set a date certain [for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq]." - June 15, 2006
# 41. "If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will." - February 5, 2007
# 42. "I wonder if it's possible to be a Republican and a Christian at the same time."
# 43. Her campaign logo reads simply, "Hillary." Like she was friggin' Elvis or something.
# 44. She has served as a lawyer, First Lady and U.S. Senator, but where is the evidence that she would be a competent executive? Has she ever been endowed with authority and not subsequently bungled it?
# 48. "Look what the Iraq Study Group came up with. You know, that was a totally nonpartisan group of, you know, 10 wise Americans, you know, some of them Republican, some of them Democrats from different, you know, experiences." You know?