Hillary is a Monster

Samantha Powers is one of the best minds and hearts of her generation. She won a 2003 Pulitzer Prize for her book, A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. When I learned she was an advisor to Barack Obama, I was impressed with Obama because of it. She brings an entirely new and needed perspective to how the U.S. engages with the world.

Now she's resigned because she made an exasperated comment to a Scottish reporter, which she quickly withdrew and which a reporter with anything but a gotcha mentality would have let go.

She called Hillary Clinton a "monster," a characterization she withdrew today. And of course the Clinton campaign is monstrously all over her, ready to destroy her and Obama if they can. Howard the Wolf can apparently refer to any criticism as "Ken Starr tactics" and Hillary can mischaracterize Obama's statements and call him unfit for the office of President, her campaign can inject racism at every opportunity and with tardy apology if ever, and that's okay. That's hardball.

(Or it's the definition of what is is. Hotline: Clinton did not address Power's specific comment. When asked how it was different from Communications Dir. Howard Wolfson's statement yesterday that Obama was imitating Ken Starr, she said "one is an adhomiem attack and one is a historical refererence." Which means that it would have been okay if Samantha Power had said Hillary was imitating Hitler, or if she'd said, "Hillary is a Godzilla." Or perhaps "a flesh-eating insect," which would be a biological reference. )

Well, there are a lot of people who agree with the characterization of Hillary as a monster, and she's giving them more reason to feel that way every day.