Is Hillary Clinton Too Much Like George Bush?
Hillary amply illustrated my suspicions this week with her childish temper tantrum over remarks by a former Clinton donor. Like the lamp Hillary reportedly threw at Bill during a 1993 argument over his wandering eye, Hillary jealously launched barbs at Barack Obama over David Geffen's wandering wallet.
And like a woman scorned, Clinton demanded that Obama return campaign funds to her former family donor, just as she warned Bill to avert his eyes from passing scenery.
This week, Hillary Clinton looked more like a flushed, spurned woman than presidential timber.
The Bush Persona
George Bush is famously, immutably stubborn, and loathe to admit that he made a mistake. Heartfelt apologies and humility are not his forte.
He's a disciplined man, punctual, organized and on-message to the point of inflexibility, and he expects similar inflexible discipline from his staff.
While he can be charming, George Bush's temper tantrums are no secret. Wrote Doug Thompson for the liberal Capitol Hill Blue in October 2005:
"President George W. Bush’s temper tantrums are on the rise with White House insiders reporting increasing tongue-lashing of staffers, obscenity-filled outbursts and a leader driven to the edge by what he sees as party disloyalty... "
And pundit Joe Klein wrote in Time magazine back on October 11, 2003:
"Republicans turf-wrestling like infants, playing fast and loose with national-security secrets, tripping over themselves in the rebuilding of Iraq? Weren't these guys supposed to be the grownups? ... Given his famous impatience—and his very quick temper—why hasn't Bush taken control? "
And then there's the thin-skinned Bush-Rove strategy for lancing criticism of George Bush: Be quick to respond, and be aggressive. Be very aggressive, , all while defensively portraying Mr. Bush as a victim... picked-on and misunderstood, with pure motives, "high road" morals and always, the correct posture on the issue at hand.
The effect of George Bush's absolute certitude on... well, everything... combined with his iron-clad stubbornness and fiery impatience have had a direct, devastating impact on the United States: More than $500 billion wasted on a discretionary war that's taken the lives of over 3,100 U.S. soldiers, permanently maimed more than 23,000 soldiers, and has destroyed a country and killed upwards of 250,000 of its citizens.
But George Bush can't admit that the Iraq War was a mistake. Or that he made mistakes in the war. Or that the U.S. should leave Iraq. Ever.
And neither can Hillary.Too Much Like George Bush?
Stubborn. Thin-skinned. Loathe to admit mistakes. Temper tantrums. Tongue lashings. Aggressive. Defensive. Disciplined to the point of inflexibility. A feeling of martyred victimhood. Absolute certitude about the rightness of her views.
Is Hillary Clinton too much like George Bush?
Hillary Clinton's undignified victim-like snit over remarks by a disenchanted former donor gave great credibility to my suspicions that yes, perhaps she is too temperamentally like our recalcitrant President.
The U.S. can't afford to elect another of George Bush's ilk to the White House.
Recommended Reading
Hillary Clinton in 2008 Info Center at About.com Liberal Politics
Iraq War Statistics & Results as of February 11, 2007<
Comments
I’m interested in your point…but I’m not sure you’re really making it. First of all, you don’t link to the comments Hillary made most recently, so I don’t have any context for the rest of your argument, besides a fight that allegedly happened 14 years ago. Second, the comparisons you make come at the end, without much additional data. If Hillary really does run things the way Bush does I’d like to know about it, but there doesn’t seem to be enough proof to have me convinced.
i don’t know – maybe i’m too much of a hillary apologist. her calculatedness and refusal to out and out apologize for the war, etc., seem to come from a much more well-intentioned, well-informed and thought-out place than GWB’s. also, the silly out-of-line statements didn’t come directly from her, they came from a spokesman. when hillary was actually asked to comment on the issue (at the forum in NV), she said she doesn’t really want to get into smearing anyone.
i personally don’t care if hillary or anyone else apologizes for their vote. i mean, it’s nice that edwards has done that. but hillary’s lack of blatant apology so far doesn’t erase all the things she said leading up to the war, and the fact that she wasn’t totally gung-ho about it to begin with. she has a campaign to run, and realistically, if she apologizes now, she’s a flip-flopper. she’s under far more scrutiny for her decisions than just about anyone else on the roster, and in my opinion, she’s taking that scrutiny very, very seriously; and doing a great job at heading things off.
I also think Hillary Clinton has too many similarities with George W. Bush. When she voted for the war, she gacve a speech boasted about how the war was in America’s best interests and she had thought carefully about her vote. Based on the record, what makes Hillary Clinton the most qualified person in the country to be president?
I want everyone to know about this. Until today, I have been a huge Hillary Clinton supporter. Twice I sent her campaign financial donations because I wanted to do my fair part to help her all that I could. I wanted to feel good about helping to ensure that she would have the funds to run a good strong campaign. But after reading an article at another web site, I am so disappointed by her now.
In fact, I am so disappointed in Hillary that I am now going to vote for Senator Obama, and I will never send Hillary’s campaign another dime. Please don’t take my word for this. You can go to the below link to read for yourself about all the wasteful spending that she has allowed to go on with her campaign. I can now never support her going into office because I can not trust that she would do the same thing with our taxes. She says that she has a good economic plan, but if this is an example of the way that she is going to manage our economy, I absolutely cannot support her anymore.
Please go to this link and read it for yourself.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23286123/