One reason some of us are reluctant to support Hillary Clinton in this election season is that we do not want to annoint a second royal family in America.
Already we have annointed the Bushes, by having a father-son duo occupy the White House, with a brother-in-waiting (Jeb), and perhaps even a nephew (George P.) not far behind.
We know how that has turned out. We have seen the arrogance and sense of entitlement for nearly eight years, and no one can deny that by every possible measure the country is worse off today than it was eight years ago. Indeed it is immeasurably worse off.
To make the same mistake again, to put in office the wife of a former president and expect that to turn out well is a gamble many of us are not willing to take.
Already we see signs of entitlement in the Clinton campaign. Hillary acts like she and her husband are the royal court in exile, simply waiting to regain the throne, and willing to take down anyone in their way. They treat Obama as a fraud, a pretender to the throne. To them, this is not democracy, no matter how much they scream about counting the votes in Florida and Michigan. Had Obama won those contests, when they weren't supposed to count, Hillary's royal court would be insisting that rules are rules and must be obeyed.
Hillary's royal court has some creative ways of insisting she is the legitimate heir to the throne. Only big state wins count. Only blue state wins count. Only primaries - not caucuses - count. Only blue collar states count. Now, her husband says the primary season will not be legitimate unless Michigan and Florida count, even though the husband wife duo was all too willing to sign on to disallowing the votes of these two renegade states before they voted for Hillary.
The verbal footwork is awe-inspiring. The only explanation is that they feel the presidency is theirs by divine right. They don't honor democracy. By their behavior they show that they prefer a return to a feudal society, when those who opposed the king (or queen) were beheaded for treason.
That explains the stubbornness of James Carville in comparing Bill Richardson, a former Clinton cabinet member, to Judas, and suggesting he sold out his former boss for some promise of future employment. In not condemning Carville's statements, the Clintons have condoned them, and are making it clear that any member of the royal court who opposes them commits treason against them. In another time, if Richardson wanted to hold onto his head, he would have to go into hiding.
There are many problems with monarchies as any historian knows, and over 250 years ago, this land not only rejected the British monarchy, but monarchy itself, as it created a new form of government: representative democracy. George Washington voluntarily limited his time in office as he felt the president should not serve over eight years. Legal limits were ultimately placed on how long one president served, to ensure that the presidency does not become too powerful of an office, controlled by one person or one family.
The majority of voters in 2000 honored this tradition and did not want the son of a recent president to serve. Lest we forget, George W. Bush lost the popular vote and probably even lost the electoral vote, but was installed in office by the Supreme Court. And so, in spite of the will of the people, we have seen the development of one royal family and the entitlement and arrogance that this reality represents has been nothing but bad news for this nation.
We don't need another royal family. We don't need the Clintons changing the rules, creating their own realities, and sending out their henchmen to lop off heads.
We need new ideas, new faces, and new leaders to take us forward to deal with the new realities facing this nation and the world. We need someone who plays by the rules, who believes in democracy, who inspires and instills hope, and who will lead us, not command us nor threaten us.
We have such a candidate in Barack Obama. The power of his message and his leadership threatens the Clinton in ways they never expected. As a result we see them changing the rules, telling lies, smearing their opponent, and attacking anyone who supports him.
These are the actions of monarchs and would-be monarchs who claim their right to power is divinely ordained.
These are not the actions of people who claim to love democracy. These are not the actions of true democrats.
