And I am telling you I’m not going!
You’re the best man I’ll ever know.
There’s no way I can ever, ever go,
No, no, no, no way,
No, no, no, no way I’m livin’ without you.
Oh, I’m not livin’ without you,
I’m not livin’ without you.
I don’t wanna be free.
I’m stayin’,
I’m stayin’,
And you, and you,
You’re gonna love me.
Did anyone with half a brain really believe Hillary was going to graciously concede the nomination to Barack Obama, or (as has been her usual MO), would she continue to scratch and claw a bloody trail into the wall of her temple of broken dreams?
In her combative, defiant, passive aggressive, shrill and confrontational speech last night (a speech devoid of even a scintilla of conciliation or genuine charity) Hillary Clinton all but begged her supporters (all 18 million of them) to go to her website. Why? To help her decide if she should stay in the race and continue to fight for those 18 million (hard working white people) who have been made to feel invisible saying:
“Now the question is where do we go from here and given how far we’ve come and where we need to go as a party, it’s a question I don’t take lightly. This has been a long campaign and I will be making no decisions tonight.”
Hillary continues to play the “I have the popular vote” card. This was a legitimate argument in 2000 when, in the general, two-party election, Al Gore lost to George Bush even though he’d won the popular vote. But this is the Democratic nomination process. The argument and Hillary’s stubborn insistance on pointing this out every chance she gets is as polarizing as it is desperate.
What does she hope to gain by showing this decidedly unappealing aspect of her character? Is this a person who will restore the country’s reputation abroad? Does she imagine she will bully Obama into choosing her as his running mate? Six months ago, I thought that would be a dream ticket. Now… Oh, the horror. I believe she would work covertly to undermine President Obama and establish herself as some sort of co-president. I hope Senator Obama does not allow himself to be pressured into putting her on the ticket.
“This is our moment. This is our time” the presumptive Democratic nominee declared. Not even Hillary Clinton could put the cabash on Barack Obama’s moment because it was not only his historic moment, but also the nation’s. This was a moment Hillary should have shared, but for reasons that are entirely her own right now, she chose not to.
Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which declared:
“all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
I did experience a pang of emotion that I was utterly taken aback by. This was big. Obama was right. It really was our moment. In stark contrast to Hillary, whose speech was all about her and what she has done and the 18 million who voted for her (Is she planning to hold these voters out as pawns in order to negotiate some political position for herself? Shame on you, Hillary), Obama’s speech articulated and embraced all our hopes for the country and affirmed our collective belief in our “highest ideals and our highest aspirations.”
In spite of Hillary’s unfortunate and jaundiced performance, last night was a special and historic night. Nothing anyone could do or say will ever diminish that. Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for the office of President of the United States of America. Say it loud!
