The Brilliance of Hillary

The woman never says anything that cannot be backed away from later. Another way of saying it: She never utters a breath, at the podium or to the media, which can be contradicted by unfolding events. If the economy tanks, she was right to express her concerns. If the economy prospers, she always had faith in the American people to persevere in spite of the harmful policies of the Bush administration!

And the same is true with the Iraq war. She didn't support it BEFORE she was against it, per the hapless John Kerry. She's always been for it and against it at the same time. Who can deny the brilliance of this strategy? Of course it's spineless and demonstates a complete lack of core conviction, but it's very clever politics, because it's always self-validating.

Pity the politicians of any variety who take a stand, and risk being wrong.

It's not really amusing to watch the backpedaling of the Democratic Party now that good news from Iraq seem undeniable. It's really depressing that any major political party had to tie their fortunes so closely to American defeat. Which isn't to say that the Iraq war has always been handled correctly by the Bushies. We've been there too long, and spent too much money, and the charges of mismanagement seem to have serious merit. And it's not over yet.

What bothers me most is that we apparently can't stomach conflict. We can live with tens of thousands of people killing themselves on the highway each year, but soldiers at war, ostensibly with people who would do us great harm in a heartbeat? Goodness me, that's apparently quite intolerable.

What happens if we have a more serious problem - a natural disaster, or a large-scale epidemic? These events, like the next terror attack, are only a matter of time. We'll all be helpless, waiting for the government, ready to assign blame, duck accountability, and see in the event a twisted validation of whatever self-serving politics we already possess. We won't be responsible whatsoever.

No wonder Hillary is so appealing to so many.