Op-ed: The bitterness tour

  • By Cal Thomas
  • Wednesday, May 16, 2018 9:49am
  • Opinion

MELBOURNE, Australia — When you hear “world tour” you usually think of superstars performing concerts in various cities for adoring fans. Not so with the presidentially deprived, entitlement-driven Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Hillary Clinton came to Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, and to Sydney, its largest, with a huge chip on her shoulder. The chip has been there since the 2016 election and seems to be growing larger with every appearance.

As with almost everything else the Clintons do, it cost to hear her bitterness. Those who went to hear Clinton speak, more than 5,000 people, paid between $200 and $500 Australian dollars (about $15 to $380 US). What they heard was criticism of President Trump and his foreign and domestic policies. Not that long ago, Americans made an effort to stop “partisan politics at the water’s edge,” but no more. Especially with some Democratic politicians who seem to believe that government belongs to them and when Republicans win an election it was somehow stolen from its rightful owners.

Interviewed by former liberal Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Hillary Clinton eventually got to what she believes is the real reason she lost to Donald Trump. It was misogynistic men and women who voted the way their husbands told them to that prevented her from making history, or if you prefer, herstory.

Hillary Clinton was at it even before the event began by tweeting that President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was a “big mistake” that actually makes the U.S. less safe. As if America would be safer by trusting the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world to live up to an agreement when Iran’s religious and political leaders regularly speak of their commitment to destroy us (and Israel, too).

In his account of her appearance, Chip Le Grand of The Australian newspaper writes that while Hillary Clinton was “at times disarmingly honest (that seemed to be a first), warm, funny and optimistic,” she also appeared “self-serving and sad.”

Like a boxer who doesn’t know when to leave the ring, Hillary Clinton is a two-time political loser who hasn’t gotten the message that she is unlikeable and unelectable. She would do herself and the country (not to mention the Democratic Party) a favor by retiring and leaving the scene of her political accident.

There is still money to be made, however, and to the Clintons money is their catnip.

The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday: “…it’s Clinton fundraising season. This has been true of every season of every year since the late 1970s. But this is a particularly important moment because of a major event that is now less than two weeks away. Last month Axios reported: ‘Longtime Clinton supporters last week received an invitation offering access to the family (the green invitation features photos of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea) at a Clinton Foundation benefit on May 24 in New York, at prices ranging from $2,500 (“Friend”) for cocktail party and dinner, up to $100,000 (“Chair”) for “Leadership Reception for two, a premium table of ten, program recognition as Gala Chair and invitations to the Clinton Foundation Annual Briefing.’”

The now defunct Clinton Global Initiative (which not surprisingly stopped receiving large donations after Hillary Clinton’s defeat) spent a lot of donor money on a large staff, travel and “miscellaneous” expenses. What do new contributors to the Clinton Foundation hope to get in return for their donations? More bitterness, perhaps?

Very sad.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.

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