STFU

It’s hard to be a Clinton supporter these days.

Regular commentators and diarists have felt driven off their home sites. The heat on both sides on-line is toxic. Favorite sites (of mine!) are camped out across large divides and progressive communities are being split. And for every voice trying to caution folks not to harden themselves around a do-or-die outcome, there are four or more who are promoting poisonous attitudes about The Other. And The Other is Clinton on-line.

If you have followed me here from my email postings, you know that I started out as an Edwards supporter who migrated to Hillary as he dropped out and the media helped remind me that sexism was alive and well.

And for all of the resentment of the netroots about the Clinton’s previous triangulation against the left, there is no doubt that she has staked out the most liberal policy positions throughout the campaign. The frustration among her supporters is that we recognize that there is a butt-load full of heartache between where we are now and things like universal health care, and we some of us have grown to become more concerned with outcomes than with promises. We are aghast that Obama has done all the compromising up-front in an effort to separate himself from any radical reform.

But the Clinton campaign, itself isn’t making things any easier.

On the most base and political level, the Clinton campaign is a disaster. I cannot remember another in which so much damage has been done by people either close to the campaign or directly involved. It compels one to scream, “STFU!!”

From insider leaks to Bill’s acting out in South Carolina to Ferraro to today. Via TPM, it appears to be Harold Ickes.

It’s very hard to defend these reprehensible tactics, however based they may be on realpolitic.