Perhaps some of you saw the 60 Minutes interview with President Obama and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton which aired this past Sunday. If you didn't, you missed nothing substantive, so fret not. If you did, then you saw the love fest between these two hard-core, liberal politicians who, a scant four years ago, were mortal combatants in a pugnacious presidential primary race. Four years ago, the things these two said about each other would leave one to believe that neither of them had one scintilla of respect or admiration for the other and, most likely never would. It was an almost unprecidented tableau of accusations about lying, misrepresentation, lack of trustworthiness and skills. Sunday, it was a miracle how four years can make such a big difference.
President Obama heaped praise upon Mrs. Clinton and even went so far as to say history would show that Secretary Clinton was one of the best State cabinet members "of all time", despite the fact that neither could cite even one major accomplishment during her tenure and the stain of the Bengazi embassy tragedy so prominent on her watch. He said that they have become "close friends" during her time serving on his Cabinet. She was equally lauditory of the President's skills and accomplishments and called him a close friend as well. So what was the difference between these two people today versus where they were four years ago? Simple. Back then, Hillary wanted to be President in the worst way and was willing to do and say anything to gain that prize. Barrack was in the same boat. Today, Obama is a second-term, lame-duck President who, come four years from now, will have no dog in the hunt. Clinton, who will have only one more shot at being the most powerful woman in the world given her "advanced age" of 70 when that election happens, needs his endorsement as the current party leader. O.K., that is how politics works these days.
This is all very interesting; however, it was not the most revealing moment of the interview as far as I am concerned. At one point, Steve Kroft, the 60 Minutes reporter who threw nothing but softball pitches at both Obama and Clinton for the entire interview, asked something like "what were the biggest differences between the two of you four years ago during the hard-fought Democratic primary?" There was a brief pause as Obama and Clinton looked at each other and then laughed. They both admitted there really was not that much difference at all. They both said their individual campaigns had to work really hard to come up with debate points. Almost apologetically, they admitted to strikingly similar if not identical policies and politics. It was a seminal moment for me. No, actually, it scared the hell out of me.
What this told me was that if Hillary Clinton campaigns for and wins the Democratic nomination to represent her party, with Obama's full-hearted and full-throated endorsement, that four years from now there is a potential for a minimum of four more years (God forbid EIGHT) of the same thing American's have had to deal with for the past four years and the coming four years. Why is that scary? Because instead of being a mere $ 16 trillion in debt today, or $ 19 trillion when Obama leaves office, American's will have to shoulder well over $ 20 trillion in debt. The economy will remain stagnant and possibly slip into recession, the dollar will drop even further against foreign currencies, the Fed will continue to print money like toilet paper and inflation will rear its ugly head, possibly back to double digits. More social reform will ensue and the number of people on welfare will skyrocket. And, the likelihood of the United States defaulting on our debt could be a real possibility.
Too much doom and gloom? Not finished yet. If Hillary Rodham Clinton defeats her Republican opponent and becomes President it will be the end of the Republican Party as a viable ideological alternative. For the first time in American history, we will basically be a one-party system. Why is that scary? Because a one-party system is just this close (hold your thumb and index finger so close together that you cannot see light between them) to a dictatorship.
Now surely there will be some disagreement on that! Comments?
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