If Hillary was a marshmallow: Part II

Just when you thought it was about to be nothing but a mere memory - Bill brings it back! This is a tag-on to a recent post of mine about Hillary's fictitious embellishment about her "landing amidst sniper fire" in Bosnia and why I felt the media served her nothing short of a slap on the wrist. The real problem, in my mind, is how she handled it. Yes, telling lies or embellishing untruths is wrong and screwy - and the media came down on her for it. But how she handled it is what I'm so disgusted about and what I'm concerned with. It was her wide open opportunity to show some real, honest leadership and apologize for stretching the truth about something that never happened; owning up to a mistake - being a real, fucking human being and taking responsibility for it. The American people are smarter than she treats them. This is exactly what is so off-putting about her. This is why she needs huge crews of strategists and advisors to figure out a way to somehow soften her image and show her "human" side. This is why she had to conveniently shed tears the day before the New Hampshire primaries - ultimately getting New Hampshire women to come out of the woodwork to vote for her out of pity. One would be stupid to believe that was a coincidence. It was calculated. But that's just the point - and this is what gives me hope about Americans - they catch on. Usually....

In this instance, however, H-bomb's excuse was one of the lamest, calculated explanations you could serve to the public. The clinical term "misspoke" is a slick one and sadly, I felt like the Americans who followed it bought the cheap excuse with a mere shrug - prompting me to write the first installment of this now two-part saga. But then Bill came along and shot off his yap as he does oh-so well to Hil's distress - countering the accusations of lies dealt to his wife with... what else - more lies!! - not to mention a healthy dose of down-playing and misguidance. 

Please read the article by the AP.

My favorite quote comes from Hil to Bill: "You don't remember this, you weren't there. Let me handle it." What is this?! The Godfather? Ha! It's as if they're tag-teaming who's going to calculate and handle damage control over their campaign atrocities. Yikes... 

And to be quite honest, how could anyone look at this and not fear the foreshadowing of such an embarrassment of an administration. I can just imagine Hillary handling presidential pressure from the media on the White House lawn and seeing Bill get off his ass from the couch, wiping the potato chip crumbs of his sweat pants, and embarrassingly defending her every mistake... 

Bill has been the blessing and the curse - the ointment and the burn. He never seems to know when to shut up. Though without him, she wouldn't have had as high of a profile as she needed to enter the national stage; with him there as defender and commentator, he's proven to be quite the hinderance. 

Who else is tired of not just the lies, but the calculating cover ups and cheap, lame explanations? Who's over the pathetic image struggle this woman is having? One day she's crying, the next day she's holding up boxing gloves. She seems to never know who she wants to portray. It's sad. And as an actor, it's thrilling to imagine the complexities of image control that must plague her everyday. Yes, it must be hard to be a woman in her position. I'm sure she feels the need to project the fighter image, but what the world needs now is a uniter not a fighter.

So, Hillary...

a.) Stop lying.

b.) Stop embellishing.

c.) Shut your husband up and run your own campaign.

d.) Fess up to your mistakes like a responsible adult.

e.) Don't expect the public will buy your cheap excuses. 

f.) Relax and be a human being. Other human beings tend to like that.

g.) Be a uniting presidential figure and not an angry, fighting senatorial figure.

And yes, I am an Obama supporter, but a large reason why I'm such a passionate supporter is due to the fact that she serves as such a contrast to him. Although he may not be perfect, he's at the very least, the first to admit it and the first to confront it - and I find that admirable. For instance: In the aftermath of the Wright controversy, he decided to not merely downplay it and politically attempt to write it off (this would be the politically safe things to do). He instead decided to examine it on a broader scale and ultimately challenge Americans to look at each other and our culture differently. He took his embarrassment and found the opportunity to not only accept the responsibility of the fact that he was a member of this church, but also examine why Wright acts and speaks the way he does; without necessarily defending what he said and not demonizing him as well. That, to me, is a valuable gift to have as a leader: the ability to understand those he/she/we disagree with, no matter how strongly, and address it without justification per se, but without writing him/her/them off as evil as well (i.e. Bush's "Axis of Evil"). I look at Hillary's campaign (the train wreck that it is) and I thank God there's another option. Obama '08!