Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Just admit you're wrong and move on

One of the things that has most disturbed me about this current administration is Bush's complete and utter inability and refusal to admit that he was wrong or that he made a bad decision. Even when it's painfully obvious and he would have a receptive audience, he just can't admit an error. It's infuriating and has done nothing but lead to continued bad decisions because to abandon a strategy, regardless of whether or not it's working, would be to admit being wrong, and we just can't do that.

And this is also what is really disturbing me about Hillary Clinton. She is completely unwilling to admit that she made a mistake or to take responsibility for anything, and even when she says "I take full responsibility" it's followed by a "but..." and some excuse that's so ridiculous it insults everyone's intelligence.

The most obvious and glaring example would be Iraq, of course. Look Hils, you voted for the war. Just own your shit, okay? Because to say, "well I thought I was voting for weapons inspectors and that's what I was told and even though the entire bill spelled out 'use of force' clearly including the title, I didn't support the war and didn't vote for it thinking that it would be a war." Please. Does she really think anyone is buying that? And if we did, what does that say about her judgement? That she took the word of Chuck Hagel over the actual text of the bill and is now shocked and dismayed that Bush did exactly what the bill explicitly authorized him to do? That's supposed to make us feel better? She couldn't just say, "Okay, I voted for the war. It was the wrong thing to do, but I've learned from the experience"? The American public has an unbelievable capacity for forgiveness.

And then there's Bosnia. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. What a mess you've made for yourself here. It's a true act of desperation to lie so blatantly and so many times, including in a prepared speech, about something so easily proven untrue. So Bill says, "But there was a lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated and immediately apologized for it, what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995." Bill, honey, you're not making anything better here. Now the Bosnia gaffe is all over the front page again. Not smart.

Of course, it seems like such a Clinton thing to do. I mean how much trouble, time, and money could we have saved if Bill had said, "Look, I had sex with a woman who was not my wife in the Oval Office. It was wrong and I'm sorry."

And then there's NAFTA. You can't have it both ways here, Hillary. The evidence is clear that you were in favor of it and now you claim to oppose it. Naturally the Clinton tendency to never admit a fault is at work, so now you claim you were never in favor of it. But at the same time, you claim that during your husband's White House years you gained so much political experience and influence that makes you far more qualified than your opponent. Yet somehow that political experience and influence did not translate into stopping NAFTA (or providing universal health care for that matter).

And speaking of experience--why on earth does she think it's a good idea to claim experience and being in war zones against JOHN FREAKIN' MCCAIN??? Perhaps it's bad advice from a chief strategist with a big, bad case of conflict of interest? Whom you gave the facade of demoting but by all accounts still maintains the influence he had before? Great idea!

The fact is, Hillary had no plans for a campaign beyond Super Tuesday, yet rather than regroup, plan, and execute, she opted to "Stay The Course" and continues to Stay The Course even when the course is clearly not working. Gee, where have we seen that before?