Excerpt: Last night I had a strange conversation with my wife. Like many people, we were talking about why Hillary was staying in the race for the Democratic nomination. As all of North America knows, it's mathematically impossible for her to overtake Obama in pledged delegates. The only way she can win is to get the rules changed to somehow seat Florida and Michigan as they are, then somehow convince the super delegates she should be the nominee. That's virtually impossible. So why does she stay in? What does she want? We speculated about her motives.
I blurted out what I had been thinking recently, but been afraid to articulate. Maybe she is staying in, I surmised, just in case something happens to Obama and she can step into the nomination. My wife was shocked and told me not to say that. I agreed that I shouldn't have and decided that, even though I had considered it, I would not post that idea to my blog. It was too negative. And scary. It was unthinkable.
Then, today, unbelievably, Hillary said it. She actually said it. As well documented by Desperado, Hillary, in an editorial board interview, said almost word for word what I had guessed were her motives the night before. She actually compared this race to 1968 saying that the reason she was staying in was that in June of that year RFK was assassinated after winning the California primary. What??? Could she really have meant it? Is she that cold and calculating that she is actually staying in the this race long after she has lost it just in case some nut case does the unspeakable? Or was she just being horribly reckless in her rhetoric? Holy moly. I can't believe I'm even writing about this. But she actually raised the spectre of assassination. In a political context in a race with an African-American candidate who has received numerous death threats and is closely guarded by the Secret Service.
When she said it, I couldn't believe it. I was shocked. Then I got mad. Really mad. Who the hell does this woman think she is? Is winning so important so as to even raise the possibility of assassination? Especially in the same week that RFK's little brother, the last surviving Kennedy brother, Ted, was diagnosed with a brain tumor that will likely be fatal? What??? I'm still mad. Then tonight, Keith Olbermann made a special comment about Hillary's statement. Here it is in its entirety, in two parts. It's speaks perfectly to how I feel about this grossly irresponsible and destructive statement by Hillary: Click on for part one and two ~
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/05/24.html
Freelance Online columnist and recognized therapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )
