Hillary on the Right
July 15, 2005
More than 1,750 U.S. soldiers have died so far in Iraq, needless victims of Bush’s maniacal war.
So what is the leading Democrat proposing instead?
Withdrawal of the troops, and an end to the occupation, and a sober reassessment of U.S. foreign policy?
Nope.
There was Hillary Clinton instead calling for 80,000 more troops for the Army so that the United States can be fully equipped to patrol the far corners of the empire at a moment’s notice.
Hillary, the darling of the Democrats for 2008 (pssst, I don’t think she can win!), has been steadily repositioning herself on the far rightward reaches of the Democratic Party when it comes to the Pentagon.
She’s always been for the Iraq War, and she still is.
And in case you needed any other clue about where she stands, she was accompanied by Joe Lieberman at her press conference calling for more troops.
“She has emerged as a staunch ally of the armed services and a strong proponent of a forceful American military presence abroad,” as a recent profile in The New York Times noted.
But we do not need Hillary Clinton to run the empire.
We need to stop being an empire.
And for those who invest in Hillary as some sort of savior, you’re making a bad bet.
I prefer the immortal words of Milton Mayer, who for decades wrote for The Progressive: “I won’t be disillusioned because I was never illusioned.”
Readers Respond
From: "paul mischo"Date: July 17, 2005 11:00:28 PM CDTTo: Subject: "Saviour" Hillary
A big hurrah and attaboy to Matt Rothchild . Why? For speaking the truth. What truth? That HRC is "a bad bet". As i read his words @ Common Dreams on 7-17-05, i recalled the words of Hillarys husband (Mr. Over-Active Glands) to the White House staff shortly after moving there that, " I hope you all realize that we are Eisenhower republicans". From there, they (the Clintons) proceeded to assist the G.O.P. legislate into law, or roll over for, virtually the entire republican agenda. And what did this nation and the world at large get for the Clintons eight years in the White House? Quite literally, "Dont Ask, Dont Tell ! ", the "Family Medical Leave Act". The former is problematic at best and the latter, while of real benefit to workers, is a paltry accomplishment when compared to the failures.
Examples? The apparent indifferance at the Rwanda slaughter. The cowardice at Bosnia. The criminality at Kosovo. The fraud at Dayton.
The pardon of Marc Rich rather than Leonard Peltier. Thats the short list. As for Lieberman, it speaks volumes of Al Gore, all of it bad, that Gore picked him for VP in 2000. The Clintons and the DLC are bad news for New Deal / Great Society democrats. Their ascent was made possible only through the third party candidacy of Ross Perot. Let the democratic party be done with them and the "secret society" dive meisters like John Kerry. No more corporate bred and fed party hacks.
What is required is a party standard bearer that is FOR "the people" and OF "the people". FOR education. FOR national health care. FOR living wage employment for all adult citizens that require such. AND an end to war as we know and suffer it.
paul mischo