Where will it all end?

[mamalone]

OK, it's been about twelve hours since I first got wind of Hillary's remarks yesterday. I began with disbelief, hope that she had been misinterpreted or misquoted. That stage was pretty short-lived... I personally have little doubt of her motivation. She has been saying for months now that basically her best hope for securing the nomination is some huge and terrible "something" happening to Obama or his campaign. Surely I am not the only one who has had the specter of his assassination looming just behind consciousness in my mind?

Her remarks have brought that fear and dread slamming up to the forefront of my thoughts. Robert Kennedy was the first political figure who grasped my personal attention. I was 11yo and he had my heart from the time I saw footage of him visiting the children of Appalachia. Last night I watched the film of the RFK's funeral train last night, listened to Teddy's speech and searched for a certain picture that has been seared into my memory banks for the last 40 years. I found it and it was just as horrible as I had always seen it in my memories.... Bobby lying on the floor of that hotel kitchen, his arm outstretched, fist clenched, those beautiful eyes staring. I learned something that I had never known before... Did you know that Bobby's last words, spoken as he lay dying were, "Is everyone alright?" At that I needed to step away, because all of this remembering is just too painful.

And so today I wonder where will this all end. In the immediate sense, what will this do to Hillary's campaign? And what will this do to her political future and legacy? I freely admit my complete lack of objectivity in figuring all this out. I have been generally appalled by her behavior in this primary, any respect and affection I had previously felt towards her has long since dissipated. I feel emotionally raw from my revisitation of RFK's death. I know that many here at DU share my feeling that she has long since crossed over the line of decent or professional discourse. But I also realize that DU is not the "real world" and that many "out there" do not share my personal feelings about Hillary or about RFK. And so I don't trust my own judgment in all of this.

So here's a question for those of you who are able to be more objective... or perhaps are just more politically "in the know" than I... What, if anything will come of this? How will all of this play out?

[Crazy Dave]

1. Immediately she's going to call all this criticism an attack...

...that she's still a victim and that all these viscous attacks and criticisms are only going to make her want to stay in longer and fight harder for all the victims like her in America. It's for them she'll keep fighting, not her. I can almost guarantee it.

[mamalone]

2. Yes...

I can totally see her taking that tack... probably also attacking Obama for "twisting and misinterpreting" her remarks.

I'm so tired of all this:(

[IDemo]

3. She is in an untenable position and she knows it

She could deliver an eloquent, passionate apology to Obama, Democrats, and the Kennedys. But that would undo her only remaining objective: damage Obama as much as possible before the camapign is over. And that expectation of and hope for something, anything to happen to Obama was revealed in her slip yesterday.

I was 11 also when RFK was assassinated, and I share your memories of that terrible evening.

[mamalone]

4. Precisely...

You wrote:
that expectation of and hope for something, anything to happen to Obama was revealed in her slip yesterday.

and I think that's what is so jarring...

[IDemo]

6. As someone else posted, we saw a snapshot of her soul

Her verbal slip suggested that it would ultimately benefit her if he were shot, even it that sentiment was thinly veiled in the historical reference to RFK.

[Crazy Dave]

10. It just really shows that it's all about her

Not for America

Not for women

Not for the democratic party

Not for slavery

Etc.

Etc.

[Crazy Dave]

5. Honestly, I don't think it was hoped for

But I do feel like the possibility of it has been discussed over and over and part of their campaign's "behind closed doors, off the record" discussions since the race began.

At least I hope that it wasn't hoped for because if so, then we were almost that close to electing another demonic and uncaring monster like Bush.

[mamalone]

7. I don't think she hoped he would be killed.

But I do think that she hoped "something" would happen to him.

You know when things were really truly horrible in my marriage, my dh was very late coming home one night. I started thinking about all kinds of eventualities... including that he might have been killed in an accident or something. And I realized, to my horror, that there was a tiny secret part of me that would have been relieved should that have happened. I could barely admit it.. but there it was and I couldn't deny it. I think that kind of thinking is part of being a human under great stress. It brings out things that are hidden deep inside, and for some of us those things aren't necessarily pretty. I think Hillary's comments let us see a slice of herself that she keeps hidden, probably even from herself.

[IDemo]

8. No, I don't actually feel they would hope for such a thing

But she expressed her feeling that it would ultimately reward her to remain in the race if such a thing (or another WrightGate, etc.) were to happen. She has only one thing left - the hope that Obama is damaged by another Reverend Wright. I think the intensity of her desire for such a thing was revealed in her comments yesterday, but no, she certainly doesn't hope for Obama to become another RFK, even if many here believe she does.

[Crazy Dave]

9. There's been other rumors about using the head scarf photo again and...

...accidentally (pretending) saying Osama instead of Obama more often and then saying, "Oops, boy am I exhausted. That's the ninth time I've said that today" kind of shit.

[Geek_Girl]

11. I'm not a HRC Supporter but my Hope for her and the Party

Is that she gets out of this soon and with as much grace intact as she possibly can. The political atmosphere is way to charged right now.

When democrats are encouraging and believing that the Clinton's are publicly hoping and maybe even plotting the assassination of another fellow democrat who is the front runner and most likely the next president of the United States, it's time to get out of this race and salvage what political future you have left.