Spatula Forum

Dear Hillary, this is reality calling

Really, I am a fan of Bill Clinton, and thought he was a tremendous president even if his Falstaffian appetites constantly undermined him. Like LBJ, he's all id and ego, but that horrific lust for power was generally trained in directions I admire. But honestly, this entire campaign has left me generally disenchanted with the Clintons, and the final straw was Hillary's utterly tacky, egocentric "non-concession" speech.

The primaries are over. She has lost. Wouldn't it have been something, then, if she had recognized the historic triumph of Barack Obama as nominee, of a man who 50 years ago wouldn't have even been allowed to vote in many places? A man who 150 years ago would have been a slave? Couldn't she just for that one moment absorb that her own loss is a bummer, that her winning would've been a pretty huge milestone itself, but good lord, what has been achieved in this primary season is pretty darn cool? Tonight was the moment to reconcile, not tomorrow or Friday or next week.

How graceless. How petty. How disappointing. And that petty politicking is why I voted for Obama instead. She's determined to drag this out past the point of unseemly and to the point of self-parody, and that's a shame. Obama's utopian rhetoric may be hot air and it may not change the world, and I'm sure he'll disappoint and stumble some if elected, but it's a darn sight better than ugly self-interest and denial. Tonight was Hillary Clinton's moment to rise, and she sank.

Edited to add: Surfing the always nifty Newseum front pages website this morning and saw this one -- fantastic.