Dusting off the old Clinton character assassination manual
by digby
Roger Simon has a Politico piece up about the latest Hillary scandal-mongering. As a public service, as these things crop up I’ll try to interpret for you what they’re really saying (aside from simple character assasination, obviously.)
If you are not familiar with the lurid particulars of the past claims about the Clintons, just wait. As 2016 draws closer, the right wing will provide a refresher course for you.
In fact, it is starting already. In case you haven’t heard, Hillary Clinton may have a secret, terrible illness that will prevent her from running for president in 2016. Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, Matt Drudge and Roger Stone, often described as a “self-admitted GOP hit man,” have spread the rumor.
On Feb. 24 of this year, Stone, who now says he is a Libertarian, tweeted: “@HillaryClinton not running for health reasons. Remember you heard it first from the #StoneZone.”
Four days later, Rush Limbaugh began a broadcast: “Whispers are persisting, whispers — there’s a whisper campaign, folks — that Mrs. Clinton is sick; that she will not run for the presidency because she is sick.”
Limbaugh went on to speculate that it was Democrats and not Republicans who were behind the “rumor campaign” because Republicans lacked the guts for it.
“Do the Republicans have the gonads to do something like this?” Limbaugh asked. “Do the Republicans have the gonads to start a rumor that Mrs. Clinton is ill? It’s Drudge’s lead story there with a picture of Hillary looking like she’s in great stress and distress. The headline is: ‘Is She Sick?’ That’s all it takes, and people start wondering, ‘What kind of sick?’’’
Limbaugh concluded: “If this, indeed, is established as a rumor campaign, my prediction is that a Democrat is behind it. There will be a lot of Republicans trying to take credit for it if it’s a rumor campaign that ends up being successful in terms of damaging her chances to win the presidency.”
Interpretation: She looks like a hag and is too old to run for president. Also too, her husband is obviously schtupping a younger woman (and really, can you blame him?) See: hag, old.
It’s just the beginning folks. Whether anybody cares about this crap anymore is another question, but there’s no doubt the wingnuts are going to dust off their Clinton character assassination manual. Those were their glory days. And just think, they won’t be called racist for doing it. (Sexist yes, but I don’t think that carries quite the same punch…)
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