2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary: "fused and fired by fever-ridden ambition and sense of pure entitlement. IT IS HER TURN" [View all]Rilgin
(795 posts)Nixon was called Tricky Dick for a reason because he would do anything to further his ambitions. Its not the ambition part only, its the value of that ambition over every other value. it is the method of satisfying that ambition.
Nixon violated the constitution to satisfy his ambition. He certainly was criticized for lack of morals in pursuing his ambition over everything.
That is what people are pointing to in Hillary. She was not satisfied with getting rich before running. A good person would confront the decision she was making when she started taking huge amounts of money personally and from her foundation from institutions that she would be regulating. Good people recognize that ambition that trumps everything is bad. At that point, she was putting the democratic party and our futures at risk. Male politicians do that all the time, they drop out of races or do not enter it for the good of the country, their family, or their party rather than use power politics to satisfy their personal ambition over everything.
People who are critical of Hillary's ambition are also pointing to the fact that it causes her to say anything that anyone wants to hear. If she ever took a principle that was unpopular so that it worked against her ambition to obtain something it would fight that perception. However it never happens. Everything in her history reveals that from recent relevations of her public opposition to the Columbian Trade Deal followed by back room lobbying of congress for it. Ambition is fine if one does not sacrifice morals to obtain the ambition and is rarely criticized.
In business, males are criticized all the time for being too ambitious. Its not ambition in itself that is bad, it is how it manifests.