The Bright Side
... Gail Collins: "Murmurs of the dread term 'Rockefeller Republican' are probably wafting at Paul Ryan’s holiday table. Perhaps liberals can take comfort in the fact that the other side is just as freaked out as they are." ...
... CW: I haven't republished (or prepublished) my Times comments in years, largely because I haven't made any. But these are exceptional times. Here's a comment I made late in the morning, so you won't likely be able to find it in the comments on Collins' column:
Since we're looking for silver linings, here's one: Hillary Clinton will not be president. Sure, I voted for Clinton & am still mired in a tight cocoon of existential dread over the prospect of a Trump presidency. But history suggests that Clinton would have been a lousy president. She is not inspirational. Americans like to hear their leaders deliver inspiring words delivered with something approaching conviction. The soaring speech is part of our political DNA.
Emotional orations aside, Clinton has never been able to market her products. Yes, she's had some good-to-middling policy ideas over the years, but other than sort of favoring Dubya's Iraq War, and devising a secret Republicanish healthcare plan, most don't know what those ideas are.
Add to that the GOP's promise to keep several phony impeachment investigations going for the duration of her presidency, and you've got a foolproof recipe for a stuffed turkey of a presidency, one that could set back the progressive agenda even more than Trump will do on purpose.
More good news: Americans aren't as horrible as the Electoral College results suggest. Hillary won the vote by more than 2 million & counting. We still come down on the better side, if just barely.
MEANWHILE, President Obama pardoned a couple of turkeys yesterday. I was hoping he would pardon Clinton:
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As we travel this morning to our family's Thanksgiving event I will be humming that catchy tune cited above and perhaps add "Everything's Coming Up Roses" as a bonus because I am so looking forward to a Trump presidency and his soaring speeches like the ones I enjoyed from the two Bushes and Nixon's. I will be thinking of the Supreme Court and that all by itself will give me goose pimples. I will also regale my mister with the news that Rick Perry might be picked for the Dept. of Energy and that is so special because it is the one department that he forgot when citing all the departments he would eliminate. Whoops! But the mister and I will chuckle over that as we will about billionaire Betsy who will destroy our educational system. It's all such a gas. But we soldier on singing at the top of our lungs until we get to our destination and hold our grandchildren who remind us what the bright side is really all about.
Not many comments uploaded on NYTimes re: Gail Collins, et al. Must be a light holiday contingent of moderators on duty while relaxing, enjoying pumpkin eggnog, and casually OK-ing new entries.
@CW: your interesting POV re Hillary...a position that perhaps was part of the reluctance for many of us in the beginning of the campaign cycle—that she was not our preferred candidate—Bernie seemed to speak to our interests! BUT! BUT! underneath it all we realized he was not the likely one to succeed. And, you are right...as the Repubs have been out to 'git' her ever since she proposed that healthcare plan. All these years later, they're still gunning for her. Even had she won via the Electoral College...the stalemate-ing and chauvinistic resistance would only intensify. She certainly improved her "marketable" delivery as the campaign progressed and outshone Donald in every single so-called debate. She showed us she can be good. Would that have been enough for the next four years with roadblocks already announced?
Perhaps, a four-year cryogenic freeze is what liberals need to survive what looks like the scariest time of our lives. At the very least, I'm planning on long naps!
Happy Thanksgiving to one & all!
If you need a little laugh to calm your nerves so you can pig out today, check out the comments on the MAGA ornament on Amazon. There sure are some witty people out there. Happy Thanksgiving!
https://www.amazon.com/Trump-America-Great-Collectible-Ornament/dp/B01N67D8HO/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&ref_=aw_cr_t_toys-and-games
Hillary's 2 million+ vote lead also gives me hope - we are in fact not the country that I despaired that we were on Nov 9.
Best wishes to all here at RC - I am deeply thankful for your insights and wisdom
Thanks, Lisa. Those Amazon comments were hilarious, especially the one about the internment camps. Good day to you!
Somewhat puzzled by the solace people find in the fact that HRC has a 2 million-&-growing vote lead. That lead is better described as California liberals voted. The Great American Flyover is still turkey-wattle red, and not likely to change even if Trump starves half of them to death and picks the other half pockets.
There is a line in the original Magnificent Seven movie
delivered by Eli Wallach. "If God did not want them sheared, He would not have made them sheep."
Hillary would not have been able to stop the shearing as she fought the continuing battle with the House and Senate.
Trump has promised to stop the shearing but will not know how and will soon be taken over by those in charge of the shearing.
The continued shearing will create a constituency of sheared and damaged looking for a new champion.
It will take a lot of luck to get an FDR rather than a general.