Thoughts on the Dearly Departed...

It seemed last night that the party would go on forever. So much has been made of the fact that Hillary was intending to take the fight all the way to the convention, if not the credential committee's meeting. People were pissed, especially when last night was supposed to be Obama's big night to declare victory and look towards the upcoming general. But she instead decided not to make any decisions, and the Democratic pundits on CNN were screaming for blood...except for James Carville, who spent the night trying to think of some reasonable justification for Clinton's remaining in the race. He was more quiet than I'd ever seen him.

But that appears to have changed today. Various news outlets have reported that Hillary Clinton will officially end her race on Friday and throw her support behind Obama. I'm assuming she's going to drop out, but a lot can happen in the next 36 hours. People tend to think about these things, and then they tend to change their minds. So let us hold our collective breaths, and pray for the sanity of Bill and Hillary.

But let's just assume for now that the good senator from the state of New York will throw in the towel. I would like to be the first (actually nowhere near the first) to say a few words about the dearly departed. I get the feeling that Hillary came to a realization several weeks ago. Her tone towards Obama had become pretty nasty, and there was discussion as to whether the two would ever stand a chance of reconciling. It was pretty obvious that Hillary was willing to burn down the entire town just to save it (in her mind). She would have lost anyways, and we would have had that deeply divided party that so many have been dreading over the past months.

But at some point, she decided to take the high road, and I couldn't have been happier. I have always respected Hillary Clinton. I don't really think she's a great person, and she's probably tied up in that evil machine that we all like to bitch about, but resignedly accept every four years, but she was one of the good ones. She's a progressive liberal who genuinely wants to do good for our country. But I also feel that she lost sight of that in her election. She became nasty when she realized she wouldn't be nominated, and like anyone with a sense of entitlement who doesn't get what she wants, Hillary got nasty.

It wasn't easy for her, because how do you attack the man of hope? But she tried anyways, and it didn't do anything for her. But that has changed, and there's now a good chance that we can come together as a party. I wouldn't have said so a week ago. That woman has some hard core fans, and they are unwavering in their support of Clinton. They talked about Obama as if he would be the death of the party, if not the republic. They protested when Hillary wasn't given Florida and Michigan on a platter. Those most outspoken of fans were the type to hang out outside of abortion clinics with signs more offensive to the eye than the actual killing of a child (different side of the ideological spectrum, of course). Every side has fans of such ilk. I know Obama's will come out of the woodwork, and in droves. But there was something openly hostile about Hillary's crazies. I don't know why, maybe we're at our nastiest when we're losing.

When we hear one side of the story, we get caught up in the fury. We only hear what we want, and we block out the rest. It's how genocides are started. But I digress.

Hillary turned it around, if not her fans. She started running a straight up campaign, and it didn't help her at all, but it was for the best of all of us. Anyone who has been following the race from its inception will not question her devotion, and one can't help but be impressed by her gumption. She fought hard, relentlessly, sometimes dirty. But that's politics baby and she played it as well as anyone. There just wasn't enough women. I'm finished now, and you're probably wondering why I even bothered with this entry. Well fuck you, I just felt I should say something. Why are you reading this anyways. You should have given up a few paragraphs ago. I'll try to do better next time. Goodnight.