Can't Shake The Devil's Hand And Say You're Only Kidding

One hell of a catch by Josh Marshall:

The right-wing billionaire sitting next to Hillary is Richard Mellon Scaife.  During the 1990s, he poured millions of dollars into promoting insane anti-Clinton smears, including the rumor that Hillary had Vince Foster murdered as part of a Whitewater cover-up.  In the picture, Hillary is granting an interview to him and the rest of his newspaper's editorial board -- an interview in which she claimed that Obama's response to the Jeremiah Wright controversy showed that he's soft on hate speech. 

I wasn't even a teenager when Bill Clinton took office, but it's with his election that I became intensely interested in politics.  When the local paper put up a two-page spread on his cabinet, I put it up on my bedroom wall as a poster.  I identified with Bill and Hillary and hated their most vicious foes.  That's the kind of thing that creates bonds between you and a politician -- bonds that Hillary Clinton's campaign is drawing on today.  Even though I supported Edwards and now Obama, I had some affection for the idea of running Hillary down her enemies' throats.  They deserve no less.  Edwards and Obama offer the possibility of greater political gains, but I liked the idea of strengthening the old bonds and winning the same old fight against the same old enemies behind the same old champion. 

I look at this picture and I can feel those bonds dissolving.  It's not a rational thing -- the formation and dissolution of bonds between you and a politician rarely is.  I can perfectly well understand the political calculus that has her at that table, and I'll still vote for her (by which I mean, against John McCain) if by some dark miracle she gets the nomination.  But when I look at this picture, it just feels like something is ending. 

Comments

[r]

Great point. Hillary's "I"ll fight for you " schtick just disappears with things like this photo and Bill being sent to appear on Rush Limbaugh.

To me, Scaife and Limbaugh ARE bad guys, and they are among the many pernicious forces in the US that need fighting.

If Hillary's idea of "fighting" is to sit down and play patsy with these people so she can incapacitate another democrat while she's praising John McCain, it's pretty apparent who she's really fighting for.

And its name isn't "The American People." It's named "Clinton."

[Trevor J]

C'mon! Where's the love for unity and healing and getting over the past?

[Ron]

She's just getting a head start on being McCain's veep.

[low-tech cyclist]

Trevor, I expect you're just being facetious, but I keep seeing that sort of question pop up for real.

I'm not originally an Obama supporter; I switched not too long after Edwards suspended his campaign. And we Edwards folks were quite aware that the only way to get the bad guys to compromise was to decisively defeat them.

One of my big reservations about Obama was that he'd be the least likely of the major candidates to take on the bad actors who had no compromise in their nature. Hillary seemed much more likely to get down in the trenches and beat the Scaifes and Limbaughs of the world until they cried uncle.

So for me, this is the end. This is the point where Pelosi and Reid and Howard Dean and Ted Kennedy need to set up a videoconference with her to tell her it's time to quit the race, and give her a choice of dropping out graciously, or being pushed.

[Trevor J]

You're correct, ltc. Clinton just snapped in half the last remaining arrow in her quiver.

[Nolan]

Hell yeah, Neil! This is total BS! This is a perfect example of how Hillary will sell ANYONE down the river in order to get the nomination. What is now being called the Tonya Harding Option. Scorch and burn, as long as she wins.

WRT this picture, I think Atrios said it best ( http://atrios.blogspot.com/2008_03_23_archive.html#9136073196158922435 ):

Remember back in junior high, when you had that friend that the bullies picked on all the time? And you defended that friend, who really never did all that much for you, which led to you getting your ass kicked a few times yourself? And then you got to high school and your friend joined up with the bullies? It's kind of like that.

[litbrit]

Remember back in junior high, when you had that friend that the bullies picked on all the time? And you defended that friend, who really never did all that much for you, which led to you getting your ass kicked a few times yourself? And then you got to high school and your friend joined up with the bullies? It's kind of like that.

As someone who was always the new kid on the block with the foreign accent, and who was thus always being bullied, picked on and made fun of by the tough kids and simply ignored by the popular kids; and who eventually had a friend or two stick up for her only to find out they just wanted help writing their research papers and really belonged to the Dark Side after all--I'm afraid I completely share this sentiment, Nolan. And Neil. Thank you for identifying the source of my queasiness when I learned of this Clinton/Mellon-Scaife get-together yesterday.

[J.W. Hamner]

How does one declare that bygones are bygones with someone who published that you were a murderer? I don't personally care who the Clinton's want to buddy up to but I seriously have trouble comprehending it... and what is talking to Scaife's newspaper supposed to accomplish anyway? Are there a lot of undecided Dems that read that rag? I would tend to think not.

[Toast]

I just finished exploding about this. (Note: I like your title better. Great reference.)

I don't think Hillary has any idea of the shitstorm this is going to stir up. She just spat in the face of every Democrat -- "centrist", moderate or liberal -- who defended her and her family against this vile scumbag and his minions for all those years. Although I'm an Obama supporter, I've been trying to defend or excuse Hillary's increasingly odious campaign tactics on the grounds that it's campaign season and, at her core, she must still be a decent human being. Not any more. "This is where the party ends."

[Mr Furious]

Can't Shake The Devil's Hand And Say You're Only Kidding

Of course not. She'll say she was "sleep-deprived.'

[low-tech cyclist]

Yup. Sleep-deprived on at least four separate occasions in December, February, and March.

Sounds like she needs to catch up on her sleep really badly. Hey, I've got an idea...

[litbrit]

As K.O. pointed out, sleep deprived is not a good thing to be at 3am when that famous phone call comes in.

[Semidi]

Hey, Obama is the one (falsely) claiming that HE is better suited-to working with Repugnincans -- but here's Clinton sitting next to one who was responsible for so much of the grief she's dealt with for twenty years. Just another example of Clinton's actions beating Sir Talks-A-Lot's rhetoric.

Hell, Obama can't even deal with members of his OWN party without snubbing them, as he did with Clinton at the SOTU address and Edwards recently: http://urltea.com/31p8.

He's an arrogant, conniving bastard who has done incalculable damage to the party with his ruthless lust for power. He has divided the Democratic Party -- just like his pseudo role model Reagan did in 1980. I'm going to hate seeing him in the White House, even if it is only as Clinton's vice president.