Hillary Won't Take A Backseat (Pants Suit On Fire)

Hillary was a hipster in the 60's

I'm not a Hillary hater. I'm very enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders, not because of who she is but because of who he is. And although at this point I can't imagine voting for her if she wins the primary, I know myself well enough to admit I'll be rooting for her over Bush or Trump or Walker or Cruz or whichever garbage wins the clown car derby. That said, I was shocked today when Hillary-- visiting New Hampshire progressive bastion Hanover-- told a medium-sized crowd, "I take a backseat to no one when you look at my record of standing up and fighting for progressive values."

She's no dummy and she certainly knows what "progressive" means; apparently she doesn't care. There may be some good justifications for progressives to vote for her-- primarily to keep someone far worse, whether Webb or Rubio, out of the White House-- but her "progressive values" would not be among them. She's a cautious centrist with many of the most reactionary power-mongers within the Democratic Party on her team. If actual progressives like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alan Grayson and Donna Edwards get "A" grades, it wouldn't be fair to grade Hillary anything more than a "C" or, at best, a B minus. On almost every progressive issue outside of specific women's issues she's been a laggard and a follower, never a leader, holding a wet finger to the wind.

Seeking the Democratic nomination, Clinton's focus has been on economic issues, the driving force behind Sanders' recent rise in polls. The senator describes himself as a democratic socialist and has won elections in Vermont as an independent. He has drawn large crowds around the country and reported raising $15 million since late April, about one-third of the $45 million Clinton has brought in.

Sanders said on Friday in an email to supporters that he would release a series of policy proposals in the next few weeks "to address the major issues facing our nation." The campaign is seeking to ramp up its volunteer base and planning to hold organizing meetings across the nation on July 29.

This is a Bob Dylan song from 1965, his first Top 40 hit and the lead track from Bringing It All Back Home. The song references the conflict between the liberal firebrand Hillary supposedly really was at the time and the centrist she gradually turned herself into. It's worth listening to over and over until you know every word and understand every inference:



Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off

Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when

But you’re doin’ it again
You better duck down the alley way

Lookin’ for a new friend

The man in the coon-skin cap

By the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put

Plants in the bed but
The phone’s tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say

They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tiptoes
Don’t try “No-Doz”

Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose

Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin’ to sell
Try hard, get barred

Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail

Look out kid
You’re gonna get hit
But users, cheaters

Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool 

Lookin’ for a new foolDon’t follow leadersWatch the parkin’ meters Ah get born, keep warmShort pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed

Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts

Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid

Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals

Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t wanna be a bum

You better chew gum

The pump don’t work
’
Cause the vandals took the handles