Tuesday, January 08, 2008

OD'ing on empathy

I would like to make it known, before history gets written this evening, that I feel really bad for Hillary Clinton. Maybe I shouldn't: Lord knows she has power, position, significance, some comfortable amount of money, a house in Chappaqua, brains, a great daughter, and a place in history. She may even love her husband -- who knows?

Also, not everyone is ready to write her off, even if (when?) she does lose this evening.

All the same, lady queen looks like she's going down, and it saddens me. I do like the man who's flattening her; of course I'm an Obama girl. But the Obama boys in my office have are being pretty dismissive of the Hillster's fall from grace. How can they be so cruel? I mean, look at her! She wants this so much, and she's not the young, idealistic person she used to be. In fact, I think that's mostly what's working against her. She isn't just middle-aged, she is Middle Age. Get close enough to a picture of her and you can smell the deflated dreams, the settling, the compromises.

Get close enough to a picture of Barack Obama and your nose fills with the new car scent. Who doesn't want to buy a new car, especially if it's the same price as the used one? Even if the used one's a BMW?

I just feel bad for her, dammit. Despite everything, I like her and it hurts my heart a little that so few other people do.

6 comments:

herding tapeworms said...

coffeeshopgirl and i are dying over the car analogy. well said.

amelia said...

viva la hillary, eh? she's not my candidate but i'm still kind of happy for her NH outcome.

ester said...

wow! who would have thought that my empathy would be so widely shared, after all, by women of new hampshire? at any rate, NOW it's a real contest.

Unknown said...

this is a great snapshot, especially after a couple of days getting to watch the cw harden.

its especially obnoxious to see her yoked with essentially every misogynistic stereotype there is.

tom toles is on the money, as usual

Rebecca said...

yeah, i keep saying, i don't want her to win, but i want to see a good civil grown-up fight between her and obama. also, shockingly, i am starting to like her positions more. except for the war. but i start to doubt his. i don't know, i have been looking closely at my own ingrained sexism... it's ugly!

ester said...

jesse, that's a great cartoon. :)

rebecca, i know what you mean. but ingrained sexism? i'm surprised--not that anyone should be immune, but still. how does that manifest?