DRUGGED

DRUGGED 

Just when you thought it was safe to assume that the Democrats would not self destruct, the Democrats prove they are more than capable of doing so. 

The latest in their long list of invitations to implosion comes in the form of comments from Billy Shaheen. Unknown nationally, Billy is very much known in the state of New Hampshire, home to the first primary. He is the husband of former New Hampshire Governor (and current Senatorial candidate) Jeanne Shaheen, and also is the co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in that state. Today, under the guise of discussing the issue of electability, Billy told the press (and us) that Barack Obama's admissions of past drug use will haunt him in a general election campaign. Shaheen stated that Obama had "opened the door" to further questions from the GOP hit squad. According to Billy, "It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" This apparently worries Shaheen in spite of the GOP having assiduously guarded the past drug use of its own standard bearer from any disclosure whatsoever, full or otherwise. In 1999 and 2000, W effectively declared all talk of his rumored drug use out of bounds, inventing a political statute of limitations that precluded discussion of anything he did before he was 40 and sober. The GOP will now apparently ignore that precedent as it unloads on Barack. 

Maybe I am missing something here, but at this point, I am worried less about the GOP hit squad than I am about the Hillary Hit Squad. No one will believe, nor should they, that Billy Shaheen went to the podium today with anything other than a green light from Hillary and her campaign. Nor will anyone believe, and again they should not, that Billy's ostensible concern reflects anything other than the fact that Obama is now neck and neck with Clinton in the polls not just in Iowa but also in New Hampshire. This has desperation written all over it. 

It also has hypocrisy written all over it. In 1992, when Bill talked about not inhaling, no one in the Clinton camp thought admitted use invited questions about dealing that threatened his electability. Nor do they now. This is true for many reason. W's "I take the Fifth" on this is one reason. But there are others. Obama did not do anything millions of us have not done, and there's a good chance that among those millions are a number of current GOP candidates for President, Congress, and a whole host of other offices . Whatever the GOP asks about Barack will be asked about them. The Justice Department hires prosecutors who have to answer the "drug question". I was one of them, and I am betting that, if an honest "I tried it" answer to that question doesn't eliminate you from being an Assistant US Attorney, it won't derail Barack's presidential campaign. 

But it may derail Hillary's. Her selling point is experience, but her campaign of late is looking like the gang that can't shoot straight. First there was the whole "he wrote that he wanted to be President in kindergarten" brouhaha, a comical attempt to claim that Obama was somehow inappropriately ambitious whereas Hillary was not. Wholly apart from the notion that Hillary attacking someone for having more ambition is about as credible as Bush announcing he has seen the light on global warming, the claim was silly and more than a little bit crazy. It used to be a good thing to want to be President, and it still is a great thing when you can write out any sentence at the age of five, especially if you could do that 40 years ago when most of us couldn't. Now, however, an overly ambitious five year old (who could write) is being turned into a twenty something Harvard educated potential drug dealer (just asking, mind you) because he didn't equivocate on the de riguer "did you inhale" question. 

Sounds to me like the Clinton campaign better exhale . . . 

Fast!