To be, or not to be...the President
HRC strives to be a classic politician. These are the honorable proxy agents who enact the discourse of democracy. They are the servants of the voting public in broadstrokes, who exercise personal will in the particulars of negotiation. Given a classic forum, she would be a fair representative of the (classic) party, and a fair leader of the nation. She is, I believe a decent human being who shares the ubiquitous career flaw of the politician (the overarching desire for power), but who gamely struggles to reign in the desirous id for the public weal.
My problem in embracing her candidacy is the dark theatre of American governance. The political stage, set, and script are fully owned by a corporate cabal in service of a corporate class...or at least that is my fear. Enter the classic politician, and rhetoric becomes a means to an electoral end, posing as the discourse of democracy. Words are weapons of opportunity unrelated to social contract. Good intentions are led astray by the droning seduction of lawyers, guns, and money. Money becomes votes, becomes the proxy voice of citizens...united. When the classic politician is trained fit for purpose by corporate masters, it subjugates the public will and weal to the profits of the few. They will be costumed in populism but the true message will out in their actions.
"Make me do it..." BHO said of the hard work we wanted done. No amount of advocacy short of revolution would get him to put on his comfortable shoes. And by his words, we are made responsible for his inaction. BHO is a classic good heart who made change in the corporate space he was allowed to work and we praise him as pragmatic. But, he could have stood up to the corporate sponsors. He could have brought an empowered audience to its feet from the bully pulpit. He could have been the hero. Succeed or fail, that act would have created a new, subversive narrative to challenge the owners. But he was not a brave heart in this respect, and perhaps for good reason - it would have been a personally dangerous thing to speak Main Street truth to Wall Street power. As much as I love and respect the man, I was hoping for more from the president. I suspect that an HRC presidency would leave me wanting even more.
In the hands of the lesser good and in the trade of fungible values, democracy becomes a shadow play in a shrinking circle of light. We cannot afford the classic politician and the polished lines that simulate the world on a stage. We need a politician who can break through the third wall and convince a restive audience that we are all players, that this is our play, our history in the making.
Entering the third Act, I have my doubts about HRC in this role. When I see the candidates again on the stage, I will be looking for this spark in them all. But stage directions for Hillary...give me some improv. I want to see your heart. I want to see the 99% reflected in your eyes. I want to believe the power you seek is vested in us, not in dynasty.
