Category Archives: Clinton
Jim Comey Had A Very Bad Nixonian Russian Firing Day
Let’s recap:
Comey went public with Hillary’s email server crimes.
And Republicans loved it.
But he said she lacked intent and couldn’t be prosecuted.
And Democrats loved it.
But then he said someone sent classified documents to pervert Carlos Danger’s laptop.
And Republicans loved it.
But then he said, “Never mind.”
And Hillary blamed him for losing the election.
And Comey became mildly nauseous.
Then Trump fired him.
That somehow outraged Democrats. They called it the Tuesday Night Massacre. Like the Saturday Night Massacre of Watergate lore.
They said Trump is Nixonian. Nixon, through Henry Kissinger, had Detente with Russia. Democrats say Trump had collusion with Russia.
And then Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak showed up at the White House.
And then Henry Kissinger showed up at the White House…
Shattered Clinton Campaign
Jonathan Allen and Amy Barnes have written a new book about the Hillary Clinton campaign. It’s called Shattered . Haven’t read it but I’ve read about it.
Clinton Campaign
Clinton campaign officials gave the authors inside access in exchange for agreeing not to publish until after the election. Which the officials expected to win. It turns out the campaign officials were frustrated with the candidate. She couldn’t decide why she wanted to be president.
I looked up a list of 84 campaign slogans she tried on for size. I picked the ones I could fit on hats.
Resist The Vote
What the people carrying “Resist” signs really don’t like are the Deplorables who voted for Trump.
An October Huffington Post headline read “Trump’s Refusal to Accept Election Results has Americans fuming.” And Hillary called Trump a “threat to Democracy” for refusing to say in advance he’d accept the results of the election.
Resist
But Trump won and now the shoe’s on the other foot. A Reason headline about protesters at Berkley says, “Thugs indulge their Weimar Dreams and Become the Totalitarians They Claim to Hate.”
Trump’s Brief Inaugural Speech
Two things I liked about Trump’s inaugural speech. He only used the word “I” three times. And it was short – 16 minutes.
John Kass in the Chicago Tribune wrote, “This wasn’t a smooth-talking politician inviting us to climb aboard his fancy word ship for a voyage beyond the stars. He did not call upon the angels. Instead, he spoke in dark tones to the forgotten man.”
It was that beginning that was astonishing, his declaration of war on the establishment, especially as they all sat there with him, with former Presidents Carter and Bush and Clinton and Obama looking on, outgoing first lady Michelle Obama frowning, Hillary Clinton icy and distant.
Bush bobbed his head and smiled as if in pain. Bill Clinton’s eyes were two frozen blue grapes, locked in a thousand-yard stare. But what he was looking at inside his own head, I wouldn’t ever want to know.
Inaugural Speech
Kass, among others, called the speech Jacksonian. But large parts of it could have been given by Bernie Sanders, “Why go to war when we can use that money building freeways at home?”
As they stood together on the capitol steps, I was struck by Barack Obama’s elegance. Maybe it was the crease in his pants, but it stood in contrast to Trump’s, um, Trumpian appearance.
BBC (click image for link)
But Obama was no match for Melania.
Should be an interesting four years.
Democrat Better Messaging
The Democrats need more than better messaging. Politico sums up their predicament in a piece called “Democrats in the Wilderness“:
They were counting on a Clinton win to paper over a deeper rot they’ve been worrying about—and to buy them some time to start coming up with answers. In other words, it wasn’t just Donald Trump. Or the Russians. Or James Comey. Or all the problems with how Clinton and her aides ran the campaign. Win or lose, Democrats were facing an existential crisis in the years ahead—the result of years of complacency, ignoring the withering of the grass roots and the state parties, sitting by as Republicans racked up local win after local win.
