Freedom Rider: Hillary Returns

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

How long should one stay in rehab after losing to Donald Trump? In Hillary Clinton’s case, forever. Clinton’s recent “coming back out” party in Scranton, Pennsylvania, shows that “there will be no deviation from the failed strategies which put Trump in the White House.” With nothing else to offer (except war and more war) she’s still running against Trump. “If Trump didn’t exist the Democratic Party would have had to invent him.”

“Hillary Clinton must be stopped before she goes any further in thinking herself rehabilitated.”

Hillary Clinton is back. She is wearing make-up, posting on Twitter and making public appearances. She declared that she is “ready to come out of the woods” and made a campaign-like visit to Scranton, Pennsylvania. She has licked her wounds and watches as her losing strategy of linking Donald Trump with the Russian government gains traction. Like the devil, she has been very busy. She and her supporters sabotaged Keith Ellison’s effort to chair the Democratic National Committee. Giving the not-so-progressive Ellison this position would have been an easy way to improve the party’s image. Instead they made it clear that there will be no deviation from the failed strategies which put Trump in the White House. Not even the need for politically expedient window dressing will keep them from snatching defeat where victory is possible.

The election of Donald Trump is certainly an indication of the prevalence and power of white nationalist sentiment. But his victory would not have been possible had his opponent not been the face of a status quo that is losing what legitimacy it has left. Even a small nod to the Democratic Party might have made Hillary Clinton the 45th president.

“The left must look outside of the duopoly if there is to be any semblance of democracy left.”

The Democrats want to remain the corporatist party that carries out errands for the ruling class and wages imperialist war. They want those things more than they want to win. They are now fomenting an anti-Russian circus of a congressional investigation instead of making meaningful change in policy and platform that would bring them to victory. This strategy seems surprising until one acknowledges that change is the last thing they want. They prefer to live off of Republican unpopularity and slide back into office while doing the same things which have consigned them to also-ran status at every level of government around the country.

The Democratic Party exists on an outdated perception that it stands for justice and a fair and inclusive system. It has done nothing of the sort for decades but still lives off of long dead imagery.

This party is in free fall yet it keeps a hold on progressives who cannot imagine a political world without them. It is clear that supporting the Democratic Party is a path to more defeat. Even if they were committed to reforming their way to victory they would do nothing but repeat their history of ignoring and even attacking the millions of people who vote for them. The left must look outside of the duopoly if there is to be any semblance of democracy left.

“The Democrats prefer to live off of Republican unpopularity and slide back into office while doing the same things which have consigned them to also-ran status at every level of government around the country.”

Independent politics is the only way to gain true democracy. While the Republicans pursued gerrymandering and voter suppression the Democrats stood aside with no plan for attack. Hillary Clinton hoped to rely on support from Barack Obama and a $1 billion war chest. While she gave mealy-mouthed attention to the Bernie Sanders phenomenon it was Trump who inspired newly engaged voters around the country.

Allowing Hillary Clinton to resurrect herself is not just the road to another defeat in 2020 but possibly to world war. The Putin bashing is certainly meant to tie Trump’s hands and perhaps begin the process of impeachment. But Hillary Clinton is the leading member of the war party and hopes to use opposition to Trump to pick up where she left. As secretary of state and as a candidate she brought chaos to the world and threatened even more should she become president.

The fact that Hillary Clinton can even show her face in public without being booed is proof of the Democratic Party death spiral. Instead of asking hard questions about the Trump debacle most Democrats retreated into shock and then opposition to the newly elected president. “Not my president” were the words on millions of lips. But there were no words of scorn for the leadership whose well funded standard bearer couldn’t hold on to states that Barack Obama had won.

“While the Republicans pursued gerrymandering and voter suppression the Democrats stood aside with no plan for attack.”

The mass revulsion that should have greeted Hillary Clinton and the Democrats never materialized. If Trump didn’t exist the party would have had to invent him. His appeal to white nationalism, buffoonery and “deplorable” supporters made him a natural target of hatred. But Democrats never voiced any discontent with their leaders who have nothing but losses on their ledger.

Hillary Clinton must be stopped before she goes any further in thinking herself rehabilitated. She can still muster a war chest and the support of the corporate media. But it cannot be forgotten that she has twice been thwarted in her quest for the presidency. Her inability to seal the deal with voters must not be forgotten. She is a danger to leftists who must learn to ditch the party that long ago ditched them. She is a danger to the planet. It must be made clear to Hillary Clinton that she must stay in the woods forever.

• Margaret Kimberley’s blog

MAIN IMAGE: Hillary Clinton, the ghoul that won’t go away.