Taking no prisoners

By Jennifer J. Foster

The blogs are abuzz with commentary about Hillary Clinton’s explanation to the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader about why she’s staying in the presidential race:

Clinton: “...people have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa ... Between my opponent and his camp and some in the media there has been this urgency to end this. Historically, that makes no sense, so I find it a bit of a mystery.

EB for the Argus Leader: You don’t buy the party unity argument?

CLINTON: I don’t because, again, I’ve been around long enough. You know my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just don’t understand it and there’s lot of speculation about why it is ...

Clinton later backtracked:

“Earlier today, I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Sen. Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968, and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nominating primary contests that go into June. That’s an historic fact.“

“The Kennedys have been much on my mind in the last days because of Sen. [Edward] Kennedy, and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever,“ Clinton added.

It seems everyone has something to say about this, but perhaps no one is as direct as the New York Daily News’ Michael Goodwin, who said Clinton’s RFK allusion “might qualify as the dumbest thing ever said in American politics.“

More from Goodwin:

SICK. Disgusting. And yet revealing. Hillary Clinton is staying in the race in the event some nut kills Barack Obama ...

We have seen an X-ray of a very dark soul ... It’s like Tanya Harding’s kneecapping has come to politics. Only the senator from New York has more lethal fantasies than that nutty skater ...

She kept digging deeper, looking for the magic button. Instead, she pushed the eject button, lifting herself right out of consideration ... She needs a very long vacation. And we need one from her.

Say good night, Hillary. And go away.

Ouch.

The full transcript—and video—of the Argus Leader’s interview with Clinton that started it all is available here.

What do you think? Innocent historical allusion, or window to the soul?

And regardless of Clinton’s true motives, what does it say that most Americans don’t consider it even among the remotest of possibilities that a Clinton could be capable of any action that isn’t calculated?

From the column: Loretta Nall’s planned uprising

By Jennifer J. Foster

You know you have to expect interesting things when Loretta Nall is involved.

After all, this is the woman who ran for governor by “campaigning on cleavage.“

Anyway, Nall remains active in politics, maintaining her own blog and making frequent appearances on talk shows of all kinds throughout the state. Her blog is ground zero for the planning of what she has dubbed the “Shadow Session/Pitchfork Rally” to which I referred in the column this morning. The rally is set for next Thursday, May 29, at 11 a.m., on the steps of the Alabama State House (11 S. Union St. in Montgomery).

Nall has already arranged six speakers (including three members of the Alabama House of Representatives), and more could be on the way. And, she’s got some entertaining ideas about how to “shame” senators into doing their jobs (among them: “Create our own ‘Senate Calendar’ to show them what one should look like”). So she expects the rally to last at least two hours—which may be longer than it takes for one of those overinflated Senate egos to burst.

Recapping the reason for her outrage: As The Birmingham News’ Bob Blalock says, “A lot of folks never expect much from the Legislature regardless of the circumstances, and the Legislature usually delivers.“ Put another way, the minimum standard of performance in Montgomery should leave us with something to say other than, “Oh well, at least no one got punched.“

You can check out Loretta Nall’s blog here. (Warning: Some of her content includes vulgar language and adult themes.)

Anyone out there planning on riding over to Montgomery on Thursday? I might head over there if I can. But in the absence of a pitchfork, I’d be forced to rely on a plastic rake that has been glued back together—or a giant Dora the Explorer doll.