Those who celebrated Obama’s victories then, fear his victory now

Last Spring, the commenters at Lucianne.com, showing all the dignity and self-restraint of the crowd in Mogadishu in 1993 whooping it up over the corpse of an American soldier, were viciously and spitefully cheering the extinction of Hillary Clinton’s presidential hopes at the hands of Barack Obama. Today those same L-dotters are trembling in anguish at the looming election of Obama, which they see as the worse disaster in the history of the country.

Am I alone in noticing a certain lack of perspective among these people, indeed, an all-out embrace of emotion and refusal to think? If Obama represents the ruin of America, wouldn’t Hillary have been the better choice? That’s what I consistently argued, from Obama’s victory in the Iowa caucuses until Hillary’s concession six months later.

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Elizabeth Wright writes:

You wrote: “If Obama represents the ruin of America, wouldn’t Hillary have been the better choice?”

Think of all those years of build-up of animosity against Hillary. Every crazed radio host went after her with a vengeance I’ve never seen before or since. Rightwingers were already viciously tearing her down, even before she officially announced her candidacy. Leftwingers complained that she refused to take strong enough stands against existing Republican policies, e.g., Iraq, and that she had gone along with the Repubs too many times. She simply was not left enough.

You would think that the Lucianne.com crowd would have taken the hint, when Hillary asserted herself as best suited to represent the white working class vote. By that time, Obama’s affiliation with his strange preacher was becoming known, so a picture of him was beginning to take shape. But this did not stop the crazed ones from continuing their drive against Hillary. So now, who would they rather have as Prez?

Van Wijk writes:

You wrote: “Am I alone in noticing a certain lack of perspective among these people, indeed, an all-out embrace of emotion and refusal to think?”

You are not alone. Conservatives are the new liberals.

October 28

James N. writes:

I went to the trouble of registering as a Democrat last January so I could cast a “Stop Hillary” vote for Obama in the NH Democratic primary. I took a very serious view of the threat Hillary posed to our political and constitutional order.

I of course did not imagine that we would find ourselves where we are today. I wanted Obama to be nominated because I could not imagine (and I really mean this) that he could win. As I have written to you before, I do not recognize the country which is about to do this thing. I grew up in the tristate New York area, I lived in Brooklyn, I spent age 30-52 in Boston—it’s not like I’m from West Texas.

But what is about to happen is literally unimaginable in the America which lives in my heart and in my soul.

You are right, of course, that Hillary would have been much better. At least she won New Hampshire without me.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 27, 2008 09:14 PM | Send