Hillary jumps the shark

Though most people seem to think she did that some time ago. This is getting close to the point where I will not be able to vote Democratic (read: against the Republicans) in the Fall if she wins the nomination.

If she has reached the point of implying she'd rather support McCain than Obama, it is time to get rid of her.

The Dual Presidency

Gary Wills, a noted historian and commentator on things American,* has his own take on the Clinton/Clinton campaign in today's New York Times. He's against 'em, and for an interesting reason: the country doesn't need two presidents. What is most fascinating about this opinion is that it is based on an analysis of what the original framers of the Constitution wanted and the failure of the Bush/Cheney dual presidency.

Here's Wills' conclusion:

We have seen in this campaign how former President Clinton rushes to the defense of presidential candidate Clinton. Will that pattern of protection be continued into the new presidency, with not only his defending her but also her defending whatever he might do in his energetic way while she’s in office? It seems likely. And at a time when we should be trying to return to the single-executive system the Constitution prescribes, it does not seem to be a good idea to put another co-president in the White House.

I am slowly, very slowly, coming to agree with him. I suppose I must to stay true to my 'Spirit of Ball's Bluff' campaign. No political restorations. No incumbents. Throw the bums out.

Stay tuned for November.


*his latest book is Head and Heart: American Christianities."

Hanson is on a roll!

Today in National Review Online Victor Hanson writes a remarkable column about Hillary Clinton. What's remarkable about it? While managing to show his distaste for the Clinton machine he still manages to write a clear-eyed reasonable assessment of her 'crying' moment. He starts out by pointing out how silly most of the rhetoric about it was. One of several good points:

The slur against her was that she was an iron-lady automaton, without emotion; so she needed that tearful introspection; it was not like a quirky, psycho-dramatic Pat Schroeder crying 20 years ago, and thereby confirming what we suspected — that as a fragile personality, she was subject to wild mood swings and undue passions. Hillary’s quarter tear wasn’t the weepy Cowardly Lion serially breaking down, but an appreciated sad drop or two coming from the heartless Tin Man.

His final point is one that ought to have bi-partisan support, especially for those who want to sign up for my "Spirit of Ball's Bluff' campaign.

The campaign talking heads and opinion makers this season have been lousy, about the worst in memory — especially the “she’s won, she’s lost, she’s won...” feeding frenzy, and then writing the silly “end of the Clinton era” essays — all based on a few thousand Iowans, some bad polls in New Hampshire, and catch-up to what some other wrong pundit wrote an hour earlier. And remember, these are “experts” who pontificated each week on the real Iraq war.

Amen to that, brother.