The Fathomless Fakeness of Clinton

A Democratic reader responds to her Selma speech:

First  a little about me. I am a lifelong 56 year old Democrat (count me as a Scoop Jackson type). I voted for a Republican once, when I was living in Ft. Worth and Phil Gramm was still a Democratic congressman. I have held my nose very hard to vote for Gore and Kerry. However, I am completely appalled at the hypocrisy, and incompetence of the Bush people. And to think I thought hard about voting for Bush last time. Their embrace of torture, catering to the hard right (intelligent design indeed), politicizing of US Attorneys, appointment of godawful idiots to the federal bench (I am a retired lawyer after 31 years of federal court trial work around the country), the mindless rhetoric (it is critical that we win in Iraq, but refusing to do the job right), etc. etc. is the stuff of nightmares. The takeover of the Republicans by unthinking single issue and frankly unhinged fanatics is awful - viz the decline of National Review into anti-abortion fanaticism. 

Yet, I will never vote for Hillary. Ever. She and her husband's amoral crew initiated the idea of the "permanent campaign" and brought us years of  scorched earth politics in the service of only themselves - there was no moral or philosophical foundation - just talk and power and narcissism. She bared her teeth recently in the Obama kerfuffle and showed her inner self. 

All that is an introduction to my thoughts about her Selma speech (thank you CSPAN). Unbelievable. She lapsed occasionally into this phony southern accent. I'm from the midwest (with southern relatives) and the jarring transition from Chicago accent to southern mush mouth was unbelievably phony. She doesn't know who she is. In fact, she isn't anybody, just a robot. Empty phrases. Fake emotion. Fiction. She claimed to have gone to a MLK speech in Chicago in 1963 and been transformed (hey - what about being a Goldwater volunteer?). 

You can see the body and mouth taking instructions from the operating system  -  and we thought Al Gore as a candidate was phony and robot like. Her scripted and practiced hand gestures were gag-inducing. Particularly the throwing out of the arms embrace style. I can envision her practicing for her coaches. She is like a humorless, adult, Little Miss Sunshine - I wonder who her Alan Arkin is.

Not Bill.

(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty.)