Hillary, Hillary, Hillary...

With her remarks alluding to the RFK assassination 40 years ago next month, Hillary seems to have brought her campaign to an ignoble end. No matter how she tries to distance herself from her remarks, the fact that she has said this before cannot be denied. And it is just the latest in a pattern of sly innuendo, coded race-baiting, off-hand-seeming remarks designed to inflame, and apologies that are not really apologies. This time it was just too much.

This is really quite sad. There were such high hopes for having (finally) someone who represented over 50% of the population who have not had someone in this position of power (at least not officially anyway). That having a woman would mean things would be different - no more of the macho-cowboy crap brought to us by the Current Occupant. That we would finally see our country turn to the things that are important to women - health care, child care, real family values, equal pay for equal work, codifying the principals of Roe v. Wade into law, and removal of the glass ceilings faced everywhere by women of any color or creed.

But no. What we have instead is a woman trying to out-man the men with her votes for the war in Iraq, and her vote for declaring the Iranian Army a terrorist organization. Someone who thinks the way to win is by belting back shots in a bar, playing at being a 'gunman'. Someone who, having been the target of all the right-wing hitmen in the 1990s, should have taken the high road and showed us what 'class' is really all about. Someone who, having been the target of much misogynistic screeching in the MSM, should have given us a 'gender' speech. Someone who, having been supported with her husband, by people of color everywhere has taken the low road of coded racist messages about her 'white' base.

So no, it is not going to be this woman, or this time. And Hillary - it's not because you are a woman. It is because you have abandoned all the things that women are good at. The knack most women have for settling disputes without violence. The different way most women have of looking at issues and seeing what is truly important. The bully pulpit you have enjoyed being the First Lady - but then not used, and finally, have abused. The lies, the triangulation, the race-baiting, the gender-baiting, and the faux victimization every time things didn't go your way.

You said you'd be ready on Day One. Well, you haven't been ready. You haven't shown us any leadership on women's issues - while at the same time crying that any woman who doesn't vote for you isn't a feminist. You haven't shown us any leadership on children's issues - even as you enjoyed a status in the Senate that even Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd do not enjoy. You haven't shown us any leadership on health care - even though you claim to have learned from your experiences with that issue when your husband was President. You haven't shown any leadership on gender issues, even as you have used that over and over in this campaign to batter your detractors and your competitors.

You keep saying you 'misspoke' because you are tired. Well, you are the one who made the 3 am commercial - you wouldn't be tired then? Are you going to misspeak when a true crisis comes along?

You claim you'd be ready for anything. Well, how about ready for this campaign? Didn't think the caucus states would be important - so guess what - someone else won. Didn't think the campaign would go on after Super Tuesday - so no backup plan for either organization or fund-raising and spending. Didn't think that it was important to fully vet your staff - so they have to be fired for what seem obvious conflicts of interest between your stated positions and what they are actually doing.

So, no. Not this woman, and not this time. I'm disappointed for women everywhere, because in the grand scheme of things, this will damage the chances of any good woman in the near future who fancies herself 'ready' to take this test, to lay it all on the line, to run for the highest office in the land. She will be told that America isn't ready to elect a woman, after all look what happened to Hillary. All the sexist people wouldn't vote for her. That is the myth you are building, that is the lie you are promoting. You are being helped by the MSM and the right-wing talk-radio-heads to be sure. But it wouldn't happen without your explicit and implicit cooperation and encouragement.

So, no. Not this woman, and not this time. I hope someday we can find that woman, the one who will take the high road, the one who will tell the truth, the one who will strive to encourage the best in people, the one who will excite our imaginations and show us a vision of a better America, one where women and children have value, one where education about these divisive issues is forefront, and one who really and truly can be elected. Because SHE will.