Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

This blog will pay for itself.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Come on, man.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

I was promised a recession.

Bark louder, little dog.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Excellent Read: “It Is Hillary Clinton’s Destiny to Defeat Donald Trump”

Excellent Read: “It Is Hillary Clinton’s Destiny to Defeat Donald Trump”

by | 62 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Tom Junod, in Esquire — “The modern, extremist right was pretty much invented in opposition to her (and her husband). Now it’s up to her (alone) to stop it”:

… Of course, she sounded paranoid back when she first said it—participants in apocalyptic battles always sound paranoid when they first say they’re participants in apocalyptic battles. They sound especially paranoid when they answer a question in apocalyptic terms when the question was really about, well, blowjobs. This was a long time ago. This was back in 1998. Bill Clinton was the president of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton was the First Lady. He’d offended people by being a resourceful rascal. She’d offended people by saying something about cookies. They’d both offended people by trying and failing to bring about universal health care and by trying (and sort of failing) to allow gays to serve openly in the military. They’d been under investigation for years for something they’d supposedly done in Arkansas when, really, everyone knew the investigation was about sex—and secrets. He’d been accused of rape in the nascent right-wing press; she’d been accused of murder; and now they were finally caught. He had a secret, indeed—he’d had sex with a young woman in the White House and he’d testified, under oath, that he hadn’t. He had sinned all right; he had sinned against her, his wife, so that now even she couldn’t defend him. But she did. And she defended him by inveighing against them—against the “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

She sounded a little crazy. She sounded guilty of, at the very least, bad faith. Except that what she was saying turned out to be true—there really was an obscurely wealthy man, Richard Mellon Scaife, bankrolling the attacks against her and her husband; there really was a right-wing media spawned by structural changes overtaking the news business, and it had found, in the Clintons, the template for every story that was to follow. Her only error was a matter of language. She used the word vast to describe what she faced. It wasn’t vast, yet—

It is now. Nearly 30 years later, Richard Mellon Scaife has evolved into the Koch brothers, the then-fledgling right-wing media now claims the biggest and most powerful cable-news network among its ranks, and the money unleashed by the Citizens United decision has conjured a ring of super PACs organized specifically against her candidacy. The vast right-wing conspiracy is still here, and yet—and here’s the thing—so is she. The vast right-wing conspiracy has outlasted everybody but her. From the start, the attacks on her have had a tendency to resolve themselves in the most mundane terms—the Whitewater investigation turned out to be about a husband lying about infidelity; the Benghazi investigation turned out to be about, of all things, Sidney Blumenthal. But that doesn’t mean that both sides haven’t known the stakes all along. She’s always chosen to fight on metaphysical ground; she’s always defended herself cosmically because she’s been attacked cosmically, and so she’s lived to fight another day. But now that day is here. She helped create the modern right wing; the modern right wing helped create her; and now there is no place for them to go except at each other. The 2016 election is nothing less than the climactic event of the last three decades of American politics, and—it’s an amazing and scary thing to be able to write these words without irony—the future of the Free World lies in the balance…

***********
It wasn’t supposed to be her. It was supposed to be him. It was supposed to be Barack Obama—he was supposed to defeat the partisan forces in which she was ensnared by transcending them altogether. She is not a transcendent figure. She does not pretend to be. She does not even want to be. When she ran against him for the Democratic nomination in 2008, her supporters believed that he was naive; his, that she was cynical. Her supporters turned out to be right. “Obama came to Washington saying there’s no red America, there’s no blue America,” says one of Hillary Clinton’s close friends. “That was just wrong. There’s a battle going on over who the country works for. It’s going to be a pitched battle, because people don’t give up power easily. They’re not going to roll over. You have to win the argument, and Hillary knows that.”

She has always known that, and now she has a chance to prove it. The election of 2008 was supposed to be epochal; it was not. The election of 2012 was supposed to be decisive; it was not. The president who was supposed to heal us only showed us the depth of our wounds; the country that congratulated itself for electing a black man to its highest office now stands riven by its most ancient and primal resentments and hatreds; the right wing that seemed outflanked by history in 2008 and demographics in 2012 has doubled down on unrepentant extremism. And the only person who can stop its ascendancy—who can, in the words of a close advisor, “break its back”—turns out to be the person the right wing was designed to destroy.

They know it, too: the Republican candidates. Even before Donald Trump unsettled the race and unhinged the rhetoric, they measured how far they could go by how far they could go in their hostility toward Hillary Clinton. In one debate after another, they tried to prove their toughness to Republican voters by saying tough things about a woman they knew Republican voters feared and despised. Chris Christie accused her of supporting “the systemic murder of children” and vowed to “prosecute” her should he be given the opportunity to debate her. Carly Fiorina called herself “Hillary Clinton’s worst nightmare.” Marco Rubio, nearly trembling with his own sense of righteousness, flatly called her “a liar.” And Trump bragged that his contributions to the Clinton Foundation empowered him to compel her attendance at his wedding, the implication being that he and he alone was strong enough to make Hillary kneel. She was their historical enemy, and so she was the foundation for what their campaigns would become. A presidential race in which all candidates understood that there was nothing too extreme they could say about Hillary Clinton evolved into a race in which they realized that there was nothing too extreme they could say about anything or anybody at all…

Much more, including video, at the link.

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Splitting Image

    “Trump took out a field that couldn’t criticize him on issues because they fundamentally agreed with him.” —Hillary on the GOP primary

    Clinton is correct, obviously. But the problem is that this means it will be a lot easier to unite the Republicans around Trump than many people were hoping. On the other hand, the best thing Clinton has going for her is that the fire horn is likely to turn off a lot of people who never noticed the dog whistles.

  3. 3.

    jl

    Will be a good superhero / arch-villain movie made about this someday. Wonkette probably has copyright on HRC’s costume and will make a bundle.
    Baud! 2016! will be the invisible sprite, for the human interest angle.

  4. 4.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Tom Junod, in Esquire — “The modern, extremist right was pretty much invented in opposition to her (and her husband). Now it’s up to her (alone) to stop it”:
    Oh…. she’s not alone. And I remember enough of ’08 and Clintonite sniping from the first term (Ed Rendell, Carville) to love the fact that HRC now needs Obama.

    and since I’m not on twitter, I’ll respond to Cole’s tweet here:

    John Cole ‎@ Johngcole
    Maybe you think 170 million dollars to have Cornell West’s platform suggestions ignored is worth it. I don’t.

    Oh, Cornell’s not gonna be ignored, Dan! I mean John. Morning Joe, Politico CNN and probably Fox will be happy to give him a platform. “Dr West, thank you so much for joining us… Brother O’Reilly, I salute your courage in having me on to talk about the Obama/Clinton corruption. Did you hear I didn’t even get an invitation to his inauguration?…. Terrible, can I call you Cornel?….”

  5. 5.

    Davis X. Machina

    She sounded a little crazy. She sounded guilty of, at the very least, bad faith. Except that what she was saying turned out to be true—there really was an obscurely wealthy man, Richard Mellon Scaife, bankrolling the attacks against her and her husband; there really was a right-wing media spawned by structural changes overtaking the news business, and it had found, in the Clintons, the template for every story that was to follow. Her only error was a matter of language. She used the word ‘vast’ to describe what she faced. It wasn’t vast, yet— It is now.

    If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

  6. 6.

    Rommie

    @Splitting Image: Yeah, I’m seeing my right-leaning friends talking themselves into falling in line. Only, this time, they aren’t supporting the Mitt-Bot or Grandpa or aw-shucks George. They are marching to the orders of someone who is openly shouting the glory of the White Male Rich Fascist. If they are on board with that, then Trump really could SFAK in Times Square with no consequences.

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    “The modern, extremist right was pretty much invented in opposition to her (and her husband). Now it’s up to her (alone) to stop it”

    Jebus H Christ. It’s an election, not the Apocalypse. Bill Clinton and Hillary were not the reincarnated avatars of Franklin and Eleanor.

    Bill was a junky man with junky appetites who attracted lifelong political enemies from the very beginning of his political career.

    But Bill ain’t running for office right now.

    The thing will be to get out the vote for Hillary. The rest is just chit chat.

  8. 8.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Oh, Cornell’s not gonna be ignored, Dan! I mean John. Morning Joe, Politico CNN and probably Fox will be happy to give him a platform.

    You keep spelling ‘Kanye’ wrong…

  9. 9.

    Mike J

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I mean John. Morning Joe, Politico CNN and probably Fox will be happy to give him a platform.

    They tried letting West on TV/radio back in ’09 at the beginning of Obama’s first term. He works much better if you can just grab one quote and repeat it in text. When he’s live everybody can tell just how batshit he is.

  10. 10.

    Ryan

    I can already hear Morning Joe the next morning after Trump loses. “If only we’d run a True Conservative.”

  12. 12.

    Major Major Major Major

    I am loving this piece.

    She helped create the modern right wing; the modern right wing helped create her; and now there is no place for them to go except at each other. The 2016 election is nothing less than the climactic event of the last three decades of American politics

  13. 13.

    Germy Shoemangler

    But now that day is here. She helped create the modern right wing; the modern right wing helped create her; and now there is no place for them to go except at each other.

    Call it the Batman and Joker syndrome.

  14. 14.

    Trollhattan

    A surprisingly useful (to me) graphical presentation on the growth of income equality. If the “So are you or aren’t you a billionaire, and if you are, can we talk about income inequality?” avenue opens up, Americans deserve a proper explanation of how bad its become, and how the trajectory assures no, you won’t be taking part in that top tier.

  16. 16.

    Loviatar

    2 quick Hillary Clinton points.

    —–

    Iraq War

    I understand why Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War. She followed the creed of every ambitious minority (ethnic or sex based) in this country, you can’t be as good as a white man you have to be better than them to succeed. She allowed her ambition to drive her to a decision that her typically cautious nature had to know was wrong. I understand, but I can’t yet forgive, I may someday. Saying that she is by far the best candidate of any of the 2016 candidates.

    —–

    2016 General Election

    This election is done, Hillary Clinton will be the 45th President of the United States. She will also be the first female president. Huzzah.

    There is a difference between this general election and the 2008 general election; this country at its birth and at its core is racist nation. We didn’t know in 2008 if this country would vote for a black man and if anyone says they knew prior to Nov. 8, 2008 they’re a fucking liar. We don’t have that same fear in 2016. For all their angst and noise the Berniebros, and their trump equivalents are a very small part of the voting population that skews female. This country can and will elect a female president.

  17. 17.

    slag

    I grew up in a family of dittoheads harping on Vince Foster, Whitewater, something about two kids and a train…all of it. I haven’t been relishing the thought of going back to those times. But if we simply must engage in this battle, I’m enthusiastically joining the light side of the force. I don’t give a damn how “likable” she is.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @slag: something about two kids and a train…

    Yowza, I don’t remember that one. I have a vague memory of a young woman who killed herself, after hours, in the DC zoo, and speculation that she was a Clinton mistress who may or may not have been fed to the lions. IIRC Ann Coulter, who apparently is now a regular on the Tweety show again, ran with that one.

  19. 19.

    Chris

    “Trump took out a field that couldn’t criticize him on issues because they fundamentally agreed with him.” —Hillary on the GOP primary

    She just summed up the last year of campaigning better than virtually any reporter I’ve heard or read.

  21. 21.

    slag

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah. Typing it out, it seemed ridiculous enough that I thought maybe I misremembered it. Apparently not:

    Twelve years ago, two teenagers were murdered on a rural railroad track. Right-wing conspiracy theorists who blamed then-Gov. Bill Clinton for the killings have now lost a $600,000 libel suit in the case.

    Seriously. The Ditto was strong with those people (aka my parents).

    ETA I’ll never forget how important the Wall St Journal was in pushing these conspiracies. It’s amazing to me that people still take that paper seriously after all these years.

  23. 23.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Loviatar:

    She allowed her ambition to drive her to a decision that her typically cautious nature had to know was wrong. I understand, but I can’t yet forgive, I may someday.

    Oddly enough, I’m more pissed off at the moron who got this country into the war with Iraq in the first place.

  24. 24.

    cleek

    @srv:

    Let’s watch what happens when he’s on her left and right.

    principles, schmiciples. what matters is hating on the Clintons.

    is there anyone as pathetically tribal as a “conservative” ?

  26. 26.

    Germy Shoemangler

    “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.”
    – Groucho

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    @slag:

    ETA I’ll never forget how important the Wall St Journal was in pushing these conspiracies. It’s amazing to me that people still take that paper seriously after all these years.

    Well, there was that change in ownership.

  31. 31.

    Stella

    @Brachiator:

    Bill was a junky man with junky appetites

    Bill came from a working class background and got himself into top schools, a governor’s mansion, and finally into the White House. The Village agrees with you though — he’s not the right “kind”.

    Bill … attracted lifelong political enemies from the very beginning of his political career.

    He first made enemies by choosing to confront the Arkansas Democratic party and Gov. Orville Faubus over racism. He continued to make enemies by trying to drag the Arkansas Democratic party to the side of inclusiveness. He confronted the racists openly and he was the object of death threats.

    I admire him for both his “junky” behavior and his deliberate making of racist enemies. I’d like to see more of that in liberal politicians.

  33. 33.

    Loviatar

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I agree Bush and his cabal (including Colin Powell and Condi Rice) deserve the vast majority of the blame, however anyone who supported this war in any small way deserves blame. I can’t bring myself to forgive any of them.

    Every time I think of this war, I imagine my mother, man smh, I imagine her being told what Cindy Sheehan was told and I get angry again.

  34. 34.

    A Ghost To Most

    The vast right wing conspiracy wasn’t invented for the Clintons. It was built in the 80s, and set free by the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine.

    The Clintons were just the first full scale field test.

  35. 35.

    Cacti

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “Dr West, thank you so much for joining us… Brother O’Reilly, I salute your courage in having me on to talk about the Obama/Clinton corruption. Did you hear I didn’t even get an invitation to his inauguration?…. Terrible, can I call you Cornel?….”

    “And God bless Brother Trump for his authenticity. He’s not selling false hope like that nappy headed Uncle Tom living in the White House now.”

  36. 36.

    slag

    @Brachiator: Or so my Murdoch Block plugin consistently reminds me. People are still constantly linking to that rag. “Respectable” people. That’s the real scandal.

  40. 40.

    John PM

    The TV in the lobby of my building was showing CNN just now as I was leaving. The headline read “Trump uses old, unproved attacks on Clinton.” I almost shouted at the TV: “False attacks! Not unproved! Assholes!!!” Unproved makes it sound like there is merit to these old disproven stories. Fuckin’ CNN…

  41. 41.

    The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016

    @Davis X. Machina: Goes hand in hand with Taibbi busting out the Goldman Sachs card in response to Clinton’s rally today. The HST wannabe desperately wants his Nixon.

  43. 43.

    Miss Bianca

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Oh, FFS.

    Because when there’s an openly, proudly incompetent blowhard as the Republican candidate for President, whose followers include an not-insignficant proportion of openly racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant assholes who are gleefully anticipating being allowed to let their Confederate-freak flags fly all over the country should their leader win, the *real* enemy to be combatted by True Progressives is *obviously*…the DNC.

    Christ in the Balkans.

  44. 44.

    A Ghost To Most

    @John PM:
    Someone earlier said Jake Tapper was calling tRump out on his lies today. Jake Fucking Tapper!

  45. 45.

    les

    @A Ghost To Most:

    The vast right wing conspiracy wasn’t invented for the Clintons. It was built in the 80s, and set free by the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine.

    The Clintons were just the first full scale field test.

    Finally, this. I know she’s been lied on for 25 years but:
    “The modern, extremist right was pretty much invented in opposition to her (and her husband). Now it’s up to her (alone) to stop it”

    is kinda lame purple prose. The modern extremist right was invented to hide the fact that conservatism existed by, of and for the further enrichment of the wealthy, and to excite the rubes willing to let that go if they thought they could oppress their lessers. It’s up to US voters to stop it, and unfuckingfortunately it’s gonna be a close run thing.

  48. 48.

    Ripley

    @srv:

    Let’s watch what happens when he’s on her left and right.

    Dude, right? He’s gotten really chubby these past few months.

  49. 49.

    Miss Bianca

    @A Ghost To Most: Why? Because someone’s “kidding”? It’s close enough to the truth for a lot more people I know than I care to think about. I’m spending more time disgusted than amused these days.

  50. 50.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Miss Bianca:
    I share your opinion completely, but reading DXM comments for many years, my gut tells me it was snark

    If not, humble apologies, and fuck him.

  51. 51.

    Miss Bianca

    @A Ghost To Most: You know, upon reflection, I think you’re right. My snark-o-meter done blowed up real good. *buries head in hands, snivels quietly*.

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    @Stella: RE: Bill was a junky man with junky appetites

    Bill came from a working class background and got himself into top schools, a governor’s mansion, and finally into the White House. The Village agrees with you though — he’s not the right “kind”.

    Bullshit. That’s not what I meant at all. Bill was like Marjoe or Jerry Lee Lewis or Elvis. Lots of swagger, but a tremendous appetite, including a voracious political and sexual appetite. And he was his own worst enemy. He gave his enemies the stick that they used to hit him over the head with.

    I could give less than a shit about who was or who was not the right kind in the South. I could give even less than that about the Village. I was born in the South. All my people were always the wrong kind.

  54. 54.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @A Ghost To Most:

    The vast right wing conspiracy wasn’t invented for the Clintons. It was built in the 80s, and set free by the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine.

    The Fairness Doctrine, or its lack, is wildly overstated as a cause of anything. It wasn’t that important at the time, and would be all but irrelevant today. It was specifically tied to over-the-air TV, and justified on the grounds that the broadcast spectrum had limited capacity and was a public good that could be regulated. It never applied to cable TV, and the Supreme Court made it clear that it would be found unconstitutional if the FCC tried to apply it to cable. So, Fox News wouldn’t have been effected.

    Beyond that, some people incorrectly believe that it required that alternative viewpoints receive equal time; it didn’t. Alternative viewpoints merely had to be offered. So, even if Fox News had been covered, the presence of “liberals” like Alan Colmes and Juan Williams likely would have satisfied the requirements.

    Aside from which, there really are 1st Amendment issues with the government deciding what does and does not constitute an “alternative viewpoint.” Nostalgia for the Fairness Doctrine, and arguments that it would make any significant difference, are misplaced.

  57. 57.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Disagree about then, agree about now, Rush Limbaugh and the rise of right wing radio networks didn’t happen until the Fairness Doctrine was repealed, because of equal time restrictions.

    Agree it would be useless now.

  59. 59.

    Kathleen

    Thanks for sharing Tom Junod’s piece, AL. It’s one of the most insightful articles I’ve seen in the mainstream media about where we are today and why. Excellent piece. I just pulled my copy of “The Hunting of the President” off the shelf. Perfect time to read it.

    One of the things about Hilary I most respect is that she really knows the depths of Republican bigotry and bullying and has no illusions about who or what she’s dealing with. I think she’s taking the right note with Bernie. She, Biden, Obama, Reid, and several other Dems are pretty smart and pretty tough. My sense is that Dems will do everything (for now) to placate Bernie on the surface, but that there’s some serious Bundy.2 strategy going on in the background.

  60. 60.

    catclub

    @Chris:

    I begin to see his appeal to the fundiegelicals. Maybe it’s not just the racism, after all.

    It will be VERY ironic if Obama is NOt the antiChrist, but Trump Is.

    ha ha

  61. 61.

    Jerry

    @John PM:

    The TV in the lobby of my building was showing CNN just now as I was leaving. The headline read “Trump uses old, unproved attacks on Clinton.” I almost shouted at the TV: “False attacks! Not unproved! Assholes!!!” Unproved makes it sound like there is merit to these old disproven stories. Fuckin’ CNN…

    HA! I had the same reaction when I saw it while in line at a Jerkoff Mike’s or a Subway or whatever crappy sub shop I was in at the time. Why not just start openly asking when HRC stopped beating her wife?

  62. 62.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m not sure I buy the first half of that line. Hillary didn’t create, or even help create, the vast right wing conspiracy. It came into being in response to Bill winning in 1992, but it would have come into being if any other of the five Democratic candidates for POTUS won in 1992. The only thing that would have delayed its arrival for 4 years would have been a George H.W. win. It came into being because Republicans do not believe that Democrats have any right to run this country, and they will break any and every unspoken norm of politics to prevent Democrats from successfully doing so. She identified the problem but she didn’t create it by identifying it. We can hope she’ll put the final nail in its coffin though. The alternative is to depressing to consider.

Comments are closed.