Hillary Hate

TPM Horses Mouth has a good piece looking at the vehemence of the hatred of Clinton. It is something I have wondered about. She is far from a flawless candidate, and I disagree with her on a number of issues. But the reaction to her is so irrational at times, like she personally went across America and killed everyones pets. If you look at the arguments on many blogs and in so many threads on her, the arguments are blind screeds and bizarre conspiracy theories. And just saying that maybe she isn't all bad is enough to get reamed. But Sargent puts it better.

Ezra Klein has written perhaps the best description I've ever seen of the seething irrationality underlying Hillary hatred:

Everything becomes evidence of personal cynicism and ambition. Nothing is a slip, or harmless, or just politics. Every word, gesture, and political feint is evidence of Shakespearian levels of cynicism and power-lust. And this belief in the Manichean size of her traits makes her the center of gravity. Her failures are so deep, her appetite for conquest so epic, that everything must revolve around her story.

Ezra is talking solely about Andrew Sullivan's view of Hillary here. What's really sobering about this, though, is that this very same disease -- albeit somewhat less virulent strains of it, perhaps -- also infects a surprising number of professional pundits, commentators, and, occasionally, reporters, to the point where it has had a dramatic impact on the political conversation in this country.

At this point it's necessary to add the obligatory caveats: Yes, the Clintons are ambitious. No, Hillary isn't merely a martyr. Yes, Hillary's team manages and manipulates the press. No, Hillary is not without blame for her treatment at the hands of the media. Yes, plenty of commentators and reporters don't subscribe to this view of her.

But all this aside, the degree to which this grotesque house-of-horrors view of Hillary has permeated so much of our political discourse really is astonishing. Equally bizarre is the fact that it's just an accepted part of our political lives at this point. Worth pondering.