Blonde Ambition.
Hillary was in rare form at a fund-raising stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she blasted the Bush Administration mercilessly in front of hundreds of supporters. She declared that the economy may be on the edge of collapse and that the President's strategy is to turn a blind eye when the administration doesn't have an answer to a serious question.
Said Hill: "I don't see that thoughtful, visionary direction that got us where we are today. The history of America is ??¢â???¬ ¦ to make sacrifices today for a better tomorrow. The progress that then occurred moved everyone forward." However, thanks to George W. Bush, "that progress is at risk today."
Hillary noted that President Dwight D. Eisenhower left a legacy of highways, John F. Kennedy the excitement over space exploration, and Lyndon B. Johnson created the legal framework for civil rights, but that President Bush was leaving nothing for the future.
"What are we investing in today?" she asked rhetorically. Of course, she managed to squeeze in some kind remarks for her favorite President. "I believe that on both political and substantive grounds, my husband did it just right," she said, hopefully referring to Bill Clinton's official work as President. "The deficit-reduction act didn't get one single Republican vote. He took on the gun lobby with the Brady Bill. He took on health care. He took on hard issues that we pay a President for. Frankly, it is not that hard cutting people's taxes."
Apparently, Hillary doesn't think that attempting to fix Social Security, enacting tort reform, challenging the education establishment, and fighting a global war against terror are ambitious goals or even worthy of presidential effort.
Does She Feel Their Pain?
On the 32nd anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision, Hillary took the occasion to try to appear moderate on the ever-volatile abortion issue. She spoke in front of a pro-choice crowd in Albany, N.Y., where she first "firmly restated her support" for the decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. But in the next breath she said that "there is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate. We should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved."
She then went on to say in a thousand words what could have been summed up in her husband's famous platitude about abortion-that it should be "safe, legal and rare."
Still, most political pundits think this was Hillary's way of reaching out to potential 2008 presidential voters by emphasizing her views on preventing unplanned pregnancies, promoting adoption, and recognizing the influence of religion in abstinence. Along these lines, she called on pro-choicers and pro-lifers to join together to support sex education, family planning, and morning-after emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault as ways to reduce unintended pregnancies. "We can all recognize that abortion, in many ways, represents a sad, even tragic, choice to many, many women," she told the crowd of more than 1,000 family planning advocates. "The fact is that the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place." Hillary also said, "I, for one, respect those who believe with all their hearts and conscience that there are no circumstances under which any abortion should ever be available," that "research shows that the primary reason teenage girls abstain from early sexual activity is because of their religious and moral values," and she admitted that faith-based groups might actually be beneficial to society.
But before anyone starts thinking that Hillary has turned into Phyllis Schlafly, remember that at last year's Roe v. Wade anniversary and at pro-choice events throughout last year's campaign-before the 2004 presidential election was decided because of "values voters" and before Democrats across the country were scrambling to appear extra "moral" in the election's aftermath-Hillary was the usual fire-breathing abortion supporter we'd known for years.
One also suspects that when President Bush makes his first Supreme Court nomination, Hillary won't be extra accommodating and willing to "find common ground" if the nominee is anywhere close to holding pro-life views.
