Didn't Realize How Much Andrew Sullivan Personally Dislikes The Clintons

I don't share Andrew Sullivan's strong personal disliking for Hillary and Bill Clinton. The strong adjectives he uses to describe both Bill and Hillary Clinton as "frauds", quoting others who classify Hillary as "narcissistic" and "hungry for power" (as if every Presidential candidate isn't), and Hillary and Bill as "shameless" for competing.

His choice of what to blog about often sends jabs a-flying at New York's feisty Senator. His lending of any credence to any meaningful power behind the Limbaugh smoke-and-mirrors "Operation Chaos" leaves me scratching my head. Dream-scenarios about Obama grace his recent front page. His lending of the aura of any respect to a blogpost where Bill Clinton is substituted for Jeremiah Wright in a negative attack-analogy is one of the most pathetic tributes to Hillary-hate that I've seen.

I haven't read his blog in a while, but I liked his recent idea about a fusion-ticket, so I decided to read more of what he had to offer. As a person who's remained neutral since John Edwards suspended his campaign, I have to say that I'm bowled over by Mr. Sullivan's startling lack of objectivity.

But a blogger isn't required to be objective, is he?

Still, I think Andrew's all-too-happy report about African Americans sticking it to the Clintons is a major tribute to what ails the Democratic party right now. Here's the not-so-nice things Mr. Sullivan had to say on the subject:

"Here's what now seems obvious: African-American voters killed the Clinton candidacy. It is a fitting end to the Clintons' campaign and an almost Shakespearean coda to their career. The Clintons were exposed in their long-running exploitation and reliance on minority votes. No group was more loyal to them than African-Americans; and in the end, like everyone else, African-Americans realized that the Clintons are frauds, disloyal to the core, cynical to their finger-tips, and finally, finally, returned the favor."

To read this, one would think that any politician who eventually became a beloved leader has never exploited anyone or pandered to any group before in all of America's history. How much would it hurt Mr. Sullivan to admit that African Americans saw an African American who was becoming more and more inspiring and popular by the day and decided that they were going to support him because he reminded them of themselves and their own personal struggles? But, no-o-o-o. Framing their pride and joy in voting for an African American who has the potential to be a great leader has to involve sullying Obama's "narcissistic", "power-hungry", and "shameless" competition.

Please. About his theory on African Americans crushing Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Sullivan gushes, "How wonderful. How poignant." (That's just creepy). Who's exploiting African Americans here?

What the perpetuation of this theory does, however, is to underscore Mr. Sullivan's own reasons for believing a fusion-ticket will be what carries the Democrats over the finish line as winners in November. If the voting public puts any stock in the race-issue as Mr. Sullivan himself is framing it, there will be natural race-based animosity. A brief review of our Anthropology 101 and Sociology 101 textbooks will show you it's true. I believe the last thing Mr. Obama would want is to have the Democratic voters who've supported Mrs. Clinton believe that it was African-Americans, as a group, who'd willfully denied her the nomination they'd so heartfully desired to see. Putting Mrs. Clinton on the ticket (if Obama gets the nomination) will bring Obama closer to his own stated desires...to bring all people together (begining with Democrats who he'll need to come out in as large numbers as possible) in a country where too many have bought into racial stereotypes and Hillary-hatred....the kind that started irrationally and has grown into a myth ... the very kind that I see Mr. Sullivan most unfortunately promoting in his analysis.


There's a lot of people who've looked up to Mr. Sullivan and his views. I think it's obvious that I'm disappointed in the way he's used his prominence to perpetuate this line of thought.