« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
Hillary Clinton's Terms Of Surrender
The past few days have seen a proliferation of agita over the implications of Hillary Clinton’s continuing campaign. Like that creature from the horror movie who refuses to die, Hillary soldiers on through crisis and scandal, repeating her mantra of electability and popular vote victory. While apparently doing little to improve her chance of winning the nomination, her persistence has inspired countless commenters on these boards to assert their God-given right to profess their hatred of all things Clinton. They are countered by a handful of bedraggled Clintonista holdouts still hoping for a miracle. Here and there, a few voices in the wilderness plead for party unity. Some have even asked what Obama can offer Clinton to win over her supporters, even floating the idea of an Obama/Clinton “unity” ticket. Most of these pleas, some heartfelt, some less so (i.e., we’ll have unity if only Hillary would just shut up), have predictably devolved into raucous mudslinging as the partisans once again air their deeply felt grievances.
Drawing on my extensive background studying non-traditional
warfare from the comfort of my living room, I’d say these pleas for
unity only perpetuate the problem. The issue is not what Obama can do to bring
Hillary and her supporters back into the fold. To take a phrase from our reviled leader, that's called appeasement. The better question is what they can do to get back into the Obama camp’s good
graces. The handwriting is on the wall. Victory is near. Who cares if you’re close to 50% or 15%. Do you want to be left in the cold when the
new folks take over Washington? More important, do you want to end once and
for all the anti-Hillary posts at TPM?
With that in mind, I propose a reasonable settlement under
which Hillary and her supporters will be permitted to rejoin the fold with
honor rather than face the prospect of eight long years in the Blue
Ridge Mountains.
(1) HRC and her supporters must immediately stop doing anything that can be construed as trying to win the nomination. HRC can no longer even suggest she is the better nominee. Do not even mention the words Hillary Clinton and nominee in the same sentence. Henceforth, the Clinton campaign must be geared toward proving that Obama is the superior candidate and a better person.
(2) Along those lines, the following terms shall henceforth be banned from the discussion: popular vote, swing state, working class, rural, older and, of course, white. HRC and her supporters must immediately stop denigrating the hearty souls in caucus states who spent hours in high-school gymnasiums standing in groups and debating the issues the way they used to do way back when before politics was overrun by the unwashed primary masses.
(3) HRC must issue a public apology acknowledging her intentional, premeditated attempts to divide the Democratic Party along racial lines and destroy the chances of the eventual nominee. This will be done in prime time and will include an unequivocal assertion that Barack Obama is not, in fact, a muslim.
(4) HRC must agree to undergo a period of intensive counseling to deal with her many personality disorders including her persistent delusions that she could win the nomination, her apparent willingness to do or say anything to get elected and her divisiveness.
(5) Then there is the matter of Bill. Bill must reject and denounce his infamous statement that Jesse Jackson won South Carolina. Instead, Bill must confirm that Obama is in fact the superior candidate, that he has kicked Hillary’s ass all over the country, and that he, Bill, knew it at the time. Bill will no longer be permitted to wag is finger and turn red in the face. Preventive measures will be implemented if this proves impossible.
(6) Paul Krugman will no longer be permitted to write a column for the New York Times. Other Clinton shills will be dealt with accordingly.
(7) The Michigan and Florida delegations will be seated, with the delegates being apportioned according to the results of the states that caucused between Super Tuesday and the Ohio primary.
(8) HRC must return Markg88’s watch, which she definitely stole from him while he was in the gym.
Clintonistas, the choice is yours. The new brand of politics is here. You can either join the fight against the Republican War Machine this Fall or face eight long years in the mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia.





Comments (40)
More:
(9) Hillary must resign from the Senate and take the corrupt leadership of the New York Democratic party back to Arkansas with her.
(10) Bill must go man-o-man with Huckabee until one of them knocks some sense into the other.
(11) Chuck Schumer must marry Joe Lieberman and the two of them move to Spain.
(12) Bill Clinton must renounce the phrase "first black president."
May 29, 2008 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am particularly intrigued by number 11. Though it has nothing to do with Barack or Hillary or the blood feud between their supporters on this site, I definitely see some possibilities. As for number 12, I think it's been done for him. And as for 9, we don't need to add this condition as they seem to be doing a good enough job of this on their own. Perhaps as a bone to the Hillary camp, though, we can install Silda Wall Spitzer as governor in place of the philandering David Patterson.
May 29, 2008 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think what they're actually proposing is joining the Ozarks with Appalachia - an intriguing idea. Could make for some killer music.
May 30, 2008 4:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
You got that right. I also see great aural possibilities in joining the Ozarks and WJC's newer neighborhood, Harlem.
May 30, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cool, they call it "Hillaryland". Or maybe "Cotton Comes to Harlem"?
May 30, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
AND Hillary must agree to wear an "I am not Bitter" pin on the lapel of her pantsuit jacket throughout the duration of the GE.
May 30, 2008 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
the unwashed primary voters.lolROTF
hillary supporters must chant for 24 hours its not about me.
May 29, 2008 11:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
And here is Hillary considering the terms of surrender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Lstkiexhc&eurl
May 30, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is very funny.
May 30, 2008 12:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
13. Pay all small business creditors.
14. Attend services at Trinity UCC.
May 30, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
uhhhh...scratch #14.
May 30, 2008 1:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Pro-Clinton bloggers must post heartfelt endorsements of Obama in which they apologize for being wrong, confused, and slightly pathetic.
(I am available to provide assistance with concession posts.)
May 30, 2008 12:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're gonna have to ghostwrite mine, Genghis.
May 30, 2008 9:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure your post will be wildly popular on TPM. Congratulations!
On a serious note, everyone with a brain knows Hillary's campaign has been more or less damaging to the Democratic party. What scares me more is Obama supporters like you who have no idea what harm you are doing to the party by perpetuating this sort of juvenile Obama fandom.
May 30, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Joe's not ready yet.
NEXT!
May 30, 2008 12:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Though I hate to spoil the fun, having been called out, I must divulge that I am in fact a Hillary supporter. It seems my snark was too cleverly concealed. I would even go so far as to disagree with your assessment that Hillary's campaign has been more or less damaging to the party. I might have agreed with your claim that Obama supporters perpetuating juvenile fandom are doing more damage, but since you were referring to me, I don't think I can.
May 30, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Before I am vilified as an evil, cave-dwelling troll, let me just add that I like Obama a lot too. Really.
May 30, 2008 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Shillary troll. ;-)
May 30, 2008 1:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
gasket, now you're gonna confuse people
May 30, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's not hard to do around here. ;-)
May 30, 2008 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
13. Set Chelsea free from her familial servitude. Do NOT visit the sins of the parents upon thy daughter any further.
13a. Destroy all copies of that audiotape with same pleading to the SD "why? why?? WHY???".
May 30, 2008 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
The important point you've raised (as David Gergen did recently by suggesting that Hillary renounce and reject racist votes) is that it is the overall perspective that needs to change. The loser does not dictate the terms, although we have certainly been invited to think so. With apologies for borrowing lines from JFK, Hillary must ask, not what her party can do for her, but what she can do for her party. Apoligizing, for anything, would be a start.
May 30, 2008 8:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
14) HRC must burn the yellow jacket with black trim, unconditionally.
May 30, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, definitely. A good call from overseas.
May 30, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
See what happens when a delusional person like Hillary Clinton gets all this press exposure? It starts making the rest of us delusional, like this post.
HRC and supporters are not looking to rejoin the fold. They persist in thinking they are the fold. Pelosi and Reid think they will convince them otherwise - lot's of luck!
May 30, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Armchair Guerilla for Secretary of State!
May 30, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
My ego is too big. I will take nothing less than dictator (of the proletariat, of course).
May 30, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shouldn't Shrillary also be forced to publicly acknowledge that Presidents do not in fact get things done and that Congressional bills magically sign themselves into law?
May 30, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought that was obvious.
May 30, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the year of the unobvious. Reject, renounce. Get thee to rehab.
May 30, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Denounce, Desi, denounce. Renouncing is not nearly enough.
May 30, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Hill'ry, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
May 30, 2008 8:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
No negative words with "De" at the beginning. "Re" is for Republican, Reagan, rehab, renounce, reject, restitution, retard.
May 31, 2008 3:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Only one term of surrender is needed: Unconditional.
May 30, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
#15. Idiotic -- and all imitators (whether solo or in a coordinated digital wave) -- must give up their old ways and commence to post:
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!! FOR MCCAIN!!!
May 30, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guess that choice is obviousl
May 30, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I myself have purchased a small cabin in backwoods of West Virginia where I will wait out the brief Obama presidency before the coup.
May 30, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
As far as I am concerned, Hillary can ignore all your terms of surrender. I'll settle for Hillary addressing Obama as Commander in Chief with a snappy salute.
May 30, 2008 9:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
At this point, I'm leaning more toward a kind of Hatfield-McCoys split within the Democratic Party.
May 30, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
does this mean... no voting white after Labor Day?
May 30, 2008 10:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment