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Politics is an ugly game; those with monstrous qualities are best-equipped to play

A couple weeks ago, Barack Obama's campaign fired top aide Samantha Power for "unacceptable behavior." Did she rob a bank? Get behind the wheel drunk? No, she said the following to a reporter for The Scotsman: "She is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything... You just look at her and think, 'Ergh.'

The 'she' in this case was Obama's competitor for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Aside from being honest and hilarious at the same time, you'd think Obama would give Ms. Power a pat on the back for sticking up for him. But, alas, this is 2008 and we simply can't say things like that anymore. They are...beyond the pale.

They shouldn't be. A cursory glance back to earlier presidential campaigns reveals such nastiness it would make even the most hardened contemporary politician blush. The things Jefferson called Hamilton (and vice versa) easily exceeded Ms. Power's quip. Read about Andrew Jackson's feuds and the monster comment is rightly regarded as what it is: a candid, funny assessment of a career politician. Samantha Power may be out of the campaigning business, but I've no doubt she'd be able to have a nice run at The Improv.

If you think the monster comment made Hillary pause for a second, you haven't been paying attention since the early 90s. Ms. Clinton is a big girl. She's been more or less involved in politics for a good part of her "35 years of experience." Lesser souls would've wilted under such scrutiny from Limbaugh and the like; Hillary, never passing up on opportunity to categorize and sub-categorize groups of people, simply dubbed us conservative kooks "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" and moved on.

Ms. Clinton seems to revel in this kind of stuff. Politics is a rough game; exhibiting monstrous characteristics aren't a hinderance, they help one get ahead. You need that otherworldly tenacity and a pachyderm's shell to survive. Sure, politicians exhibit their human side when expedient (Bill Clinton's "I feel your pain" comes to mind), but it's the ability to bounce back that counts. After the Iowa caucuses, many pundits had Ms. Clinton buried for good, tucked safe and sound under six feet of earth. But the monster never quite dies. She thrust her stubby little hand out of the ground, a la those zombies in "Thriller" (courtesy Michael Jackson, a monster of another sort), rose out of the muck, and proceeded to stalk Obama into New Hampshire. She's been stalking him ever since. "Ergh," is right.

Obama may be a sweet kid now, but should he serve consecutive terms as President of th...um...(sorry, feeling a bit light headed here)...serve as President of the United States for eight years...er, (excuse me, I have to go wretch)...

That's better. As I was saying, let's see how endearingly naive Obama is in, say, 2016. His message of change, in this case, will involve a Mr. Smith-goes-to-Washington-type into a more cynical sort of dude. In eight years, he may age twenty.

Which brings us to the monster-du-jour, the ex-New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer. Even before his high-priced shenanigans with Grade-A prostitutes, Mr. Spitzer was widely regarded as a monster - for his prosecutorial zeal during his days as New York's Attorney General and, more recently, his brazen misuse of law enforcement to intimidate political opponents. When the scandal broike, the headline of the New York Times website said "Spitzer Wrestles Over Response, Paralyzing Albany." Lest you doubt ol' Eliot's worthiness as a monster, consider the last guy to paralyze a city...yup, Godzilla. Or the sprinting undead in 28 Days Later.

Though he may temporarily fade away, he'll be back. Count on it. Don't be shocked to see Mr. Spitzer resurface in maybe a dozen years or so. He may even show up on a presidential ticket. Scary? You bet. Bury Spitzer now, and he'll claw and scrape his way out of this mess. All monsters do.

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Originally posted by attilla_the_hun on 20DC.com