mikema63 wrote:I didn't claim that. I responded to your idea that they are only in it for themselves by pointing out things they did to help others.
My claim is not that they are saints, my claim is that they are normal people who really did try to help peoples lives. What you've written here is literally a strawman of my point and I'm rather shocked to see you indulge in it.
OK, they might not "only" in it for themselves, but they are
primarily in it for themselves. I don't see why I'm supposed to be so impressed by Hillary advancing a dead cause (universal healthcare in the US) and being
pilloried for it. When other politicians fail to pass unpopular legislation, we aren't expected to act as if they're wonderful people for trying. For some reason, in Clinton land, we are. It's not enough to pass some good legislation - even the Bushes, Reagans and Nixons of the world do that! - we must be seen for our pure and Christ-like motives.
mikema63 wrote:You didn't say it outright but it underlies this entire view that Hillary is just totally awful. She's an ambitious woman with a record that contains good and bad, but for you she is reduced only to the bad.
Not "only" bad, but on balance, bad. Her political achievements are vastly overstated, in my view. Coming at this as a non-American, I find it incredibly hard to care about a failed attempt to pass universal healthcare when weighed against things like her support for the Iraq war, intervention in Libya, and attempts to intervene in Syria. And there is something deeply distasteful about getting obscenely wealthy on the back of such mediocrity.
mikema63 wrote:Her book is all about blame.
*Points out that a lot of her book blames herself.*
Those are the insincere lying bits. She's only being honest when she says things I don't like.
Context matters. If I say "The buck stops with me, and I take full responsibility. But it was also the fault of Bernie Sanders, the whole mainstream media, Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, James Comey, Russia, the debate moderators, sexism, stupid voters and Joe Biden", then it's kind of hard to take the "I take full responsibility" bit all that seriously.
Imagine a murderer has just been found guilty, and is trying to spare his life during the sentencing phase. One way to do this is to accept responsibility and show remorse. He says "I am very sorry for what I did - I killed my wife, and it will haunt me as long as I live. But the bitch had it coming". Do you think he gets off?
mikema63 wrote:Yes, Hillary totally deserves the ridiculous bloviating about how aweful she is for writing a book pointing out things that hurt her campaign. Including decisions she made (Oh wait those are insincere and we have to ignore them and focus on how the perfectly true things she writes in the book are whiny and shrill.)
The book tour is a conscious attempt to bait this "ridiculous bloviating", so forgive me if I find it difficult to have much sympathy.
"Perhaps you want me to die of unrelieved boredom while you keep talking." - Martin Luther