Last night was a triumph for the electorate and represents an important change in the American experience. I hope that Obama is one of those rare politicians whose words match his actions. The jury is still out on that.
Tom Brokaw thinks that the greatest generation were the people who fought and lived through WW II. I think that is a MSM sound bite that does not reflect reality. Those who fight and die for our country are victims of our leaders' bad decisions. The "greatest generation" leaders got us into WW II and have put America into a post war turmoil that they created.
The Wall Street crowd supported German rearmament before the war and created a conflict with the USSR after the war to line their pockets. Unfortunately, the post war baby boomers have been so propagandized with Cold War skewed history that they have led us into the mess we are in today. It is the Obama generation that has a chance to move ahead unencumbered by the distorted militaristic values of the early baby boomers. Which brings me to my point about Hillary, false choices, and friendship.
Anita and I are friends of the Clintons. Unfortunately, we are not in their inner circle of advisors. I have personally disagreed with her political choices when she ran for the Senate and some of her votes while in the Senate, especially the Iraq war resolution. I wrote a piece a few weeks ago, The Real Hillary: A Problem Of Perception Versus Reality that received almost all negative comments. I was accused of being a traitor to the true liberal cause. What I was really doing in essence was writing a letter to a friend who I knew was making wrong and false choices.
Friendship invariably creates conflict in that the love of someone making bad decisions puts one in a difficult position. I believe that a good friend will pat you on the back when you succeed. But, a real friend will speak the truth to you and risk ending the relationship. Friends do not stand idly by and watch someone make self-destructive decisions. And I have tried to do that in my relationship with the Clintons. Hillary has spoken at charitable fund raisers for child advocate causes that we support. She took time out in her busy schedule to do that in 2004 while campaigning for John Kerry. That event raised 4 times the amount ever raised by that organization. I don't forget things like that.
When Hillary ran for the NY Senate I told her that her support of the death penalty was not necessary in NY and that she should change her position on that. Bill's position on the death penalty was also a false choice and to this day the DLC thinks that was a good choice. The DLC is an organization that advocates choices that are politically expedient. They have done so much damage to the Democrats because they advocate supporting issues for political benefit rather than conviction. Hillary has been a person of conviction that has been poisoned by the momentary success of the Bill Clinton presidency. She may very well be a believer in that cause to her detriment.
The DLC and their ilk have given Hillary some false choices to her detriment. Those of us in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party would like her to come home to her true values that propelled her into political success. At the risk of losing her friendship, it is important for her to know this if she expects any chance of winning. And I still consider myself her friend.
novamradio.com
Sheldon Drobny was the co-founder of Nova M radio and Air America Radio. He has supported many philanthropic causes and is currently involved in purchasing radio stations for liberal talk radio with his new company, Nova M Radio, Inc. Mr. Drobny specializes in business and tax matters and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court as a non-attorney. Less than 200 non-attorneys have been admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court since its inception in 1942. Mr. Drobny received a Bachelor of Science Degree in accounting from Roosevelt University in Chicago and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an honorary fraternity recognizing acadamic achievement in colleges of business administration.
Hillary and a nausiatingly large number of her associates in our government always seem to go with a well calculated route. Calculated to insure a continuing place at the slop trough, that is. I would prefer to go wtih a candidate who's platform lines up with what they really believe.
by
Roger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 359 comments)
on Friday, January 4, 2008 at 12:12:07 PM
Hi Sheldon. I agree with you that the thread you referred to got more personal than it should have. I hope you understand that the posts I made in that thread were directed at some of the things you said in your post and not at you personally. I think the efforts you've made with Air America and Nova M have been great contributions to the progressive cause.
I just reread one of the comments I made in that post: "Hillary foolishly built her campaign around invincibility; the image will be gone in a nano-second once that illusion is shattered." It's interesting to reflect on those words today. Her campaign may be a long way from over but the aura of invicibility she so heavily relied on is clearly gone. Put simply, she got her ass kicked in Iowa. Worse, the great Clinton triangulation strategy yielded some interesting insights. Clinton's precious center, including many independents and even a few Republicans, did indeed show up to vote in the Democratic caucuses last night. The painful reality for Hillary, however, was that despite all her preaching about centrism (and even about how Obama is too liberal (she can't be serious!)), those independents ran away from her like the plague. Exactly what general election does she plan to win with Democratic women over the age of 65? Not a real broad constituency there.
In this post, you stated: "But, a real friend will speak the truth to you and risk ending the relationship. Friends do not stand idly by and watch someone make self-destructive decisions." In my view, the real danger here is not so much that Hillary will make SELF-destructive decisions; it's more that she will make SELFISH choices to benefit herself at the expense of the nation and the progressive cause. To me, that's a much more serious issue.
In response to your post, I've tried to imagine how I would conduct myself if I were trying to balance personal loyalties and friendship with my political values. While I might try to"soften my presentation", I have to believe that I would first and foremost advocate my own personal values which hopefully would be selflessly aligned with the nation's best interest. The closer to power we are, the greater our obligation to speak truth to it.
I can't imagine ever having a friendship with the Clintons. They both seem like people who would do whatever it takes to win. Winning for its own sake seems like a very hollow victory and does incredible damage to movement politics. If you are in a position of influence with the Clintons, however remote, perhaps you can shake some sense into the two of them. I doubt they would be receptive to the message. I can only hope that their power years are in the past and that they will quietly recede into some sort of Carter-like retirement where perhaps they can renew their tarnished relationship with the American people.
Your comments on the DLC were dead on the money. It's hard to see how the Clintons are not the very embodiment of the DLC's soulless win-at-any-cost politics. I don't respect the DLC; I don't respect the Clintons. I don't think Hillary can be "fixed." I think she is who she is.
by
welshTerrier2 (7 articles, 3 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 105 comments)
on Friday, January 4, 2008 at 10:06:59 PM
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