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One of many quotes from the CNN/YouTube debate among the Democratic party’s 2008 Presidential candidates stands out and it would be grand if it evolves into a collar hanging around the political neck of Hillary Rodham Clinton. “I prefer the word progressive, which has a very American meaning,” said Hillary Rodham Clinton. Even the one Democratic candidate often reported as the front runner for the party has problems with the term liberal. Is that to say that even liberals accept the negative nature of liberals? Is this evidence of liberal self-loathing? How about googling for a result from Princeton’s Wordnet on defining Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new philosophy of ‘progressive’?

Definitions of progressive on the Web:

* favoring or promoting progress; “progressive schools”
* favoring or promoting reform (often by government action)
* (of taxes) adjusted so that the rate increases as the amount of income increases
* a tense of verbs used in describing action that is on-going
* gradually advancing in extent
* liberal: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
* advancing in severity; “progressive paralysis”
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

It is interesting that one of the references to the definition for progressive is liberal as ‘ liberal: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties’. And HRC’s comment that progressive has a ‘very American meaning’ should cause some problems for liberal voters. Hillary Rodham Clinton started out as a Republican, changed to Democrat and until now has had no known problem with the word liberal. Just another example of Hillary Rodham Clinton changing her mind as often as often as the political wind changes direction or her transparent scheme dictates.

Senator Clinton is lifelong, devout Methodist, and was especially active in church groups as a teenager. She was a Goldwater supporter while in high school, and was President of the Young Republicans at Wellesley College.

Like many baby boomers, her politics became more liberal as the Vietnam War raged. By the time she was selected valedictorian of her Wellesley class, she was a Eugene McCarthy Democrat.

As the political wind blows so does Hillary Rodham Clinton’s political positions. This is a trend that began all the way back in high school. It is therefore fair to say she has been changing her mind her entire life. Her emphasis on the terms liberal and progressive may indicate abandoning positions of the last decade or more in order to pursue the White House. Do you really want someone in the White House (again) with these characteristics?

Other fun quotes from Hillary Rodham Clinton:

I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.

“From my perspective, this is part of the continuing political campaign against my husband… I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this. They have popped up in other settings. The great story here for anybody willing to find it, write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”
(Reacting to truthful reports that her husband, Bill Clinton, had had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; Interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show (27 January 1998)

Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price.

I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if necessary, to use force against Saddam Hussein. I believe that that was the right vote. I have had many disputes and disagreements with the administration over how that authority has been used, but I stand by the vote to provide the authority because I think it was a necessary step in order to maximize the outcome that did occur in the Security Council with the unanimous vote to send in inspectors.

I wonder if it’s possible to be a Republican and a Christian at the same time.

Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you … We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.

I’m not some Tammy Wynette standing by my man.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has said and done many things. If you really study her public words and actions there should be ample reason to ask hard questions and understand what you get with Hillary Rodham Clinton in addition to William Jefferson Clinton. With Bill Clinton in the White House you also got Hillary Rodham Clinton. The reverse is also true. When the Office of President of the United States was limited to two terms, do you suppose they considered this potential situation at the time?

One last thought, when Hillary Rodham Clinton described herself as a ‘modern progressive’, do you suppose she added the adjective ‘modern’ so she can redefine her philosophy whenever someone asks or she deems it necessary?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, campaign, election, youtube, Democrats, News Media, Clinton, hillary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.