Althouse: "Hillary Clinton did everything right in this campaign, and she won more votes than her opponent did. She won."

November 17, 2016

"Hillary Clinton did everything right in this campaign, and she won more votes than her opponent did. She won."

"She cannot be faulted, criticized, or analyzed* for even one more second. Instead, she will be decorated as an epochal heroine far too extraordinary to be contained by the mere White House. Let that revolting president-elect be Millard Fillmore or Herbert Hoover or whatever. Hillary is Athena."

The last lines of Virginia Heffernan's "Hillary Clinton Is More Than a President/She is an idea, a world-historical heroine, light itself."

Didn't anyone ever teach you not to idolize political leaders? I find that deification pretty damned funny after all the times I heard Trump supporters reviled for wanting an autocrat.

Anyway, Herbert Hoover? Are you saying you'll be delighted if the country ends up in some Great-Depression-like predicament?

I know Ms. Heffernan thinks she's amusing and she's trying to cheer up a basket of depressives. But really, you ought to be ashamed to love a political figure so much, and if you're not, I've got no sympathy for the pain you feel as you witness Trump receiving adoration from those of your fellow citizens who are ecstatic about the results of the last election.

_______________________

* "I ain’t lookin’ to... Analyze you, categorize you/Finalize you or advertise you/All I really want to do/Is, baby, be friends with you...." — Bob Dylan lyric that independently occurred to both Meade and me on reading that text.

94 comments:

MayBee said...: basket of depressives.

heh; 11/17/16, 5:20 AM
MayBee said...: Ace had a great twitter rant last night about how bad it is for our culture that we so celebrate and encourage this "I'm traumatized" behavior.
There's a lot to be said for holding yourself together and moving forward, but that doesn't seem to be what we encourage these days.; 11/17/16, 5:23 AM
MayBee said...: Sorry to spam the thread. Here's Ace's post http://ace.mu.nu/archives/366915.php; 11/17/16, 5:26 AM
Ipso Fatso said...: Just think back to Obama's election in 2008; the idolatry and out right religious zeal of his supporters and what they thought he would accomplish was pathetic. There is some of that on the right as far as Reagan is concerned, but nothing compared to the level of what comes out of the left for their "leaders". They seem to really love the "perfect master" type of leader. Very sad.

I voted for Trump. Do I expect him to do everything I want as president? No. He will do some good and screw some things up? They all do, regardless of party affiliation or ideology. You vote for imperfect human beings and you get imperfect human responses and from that you hope for the best.; 11/17/16, 5:35 AM
Bob R said...: For one thing, no one taught poor little Virginia how to write well. A lot of people spent time checking this one out to make sure that is wasn't a parody. Apparently it's the real deal. Hard to believe.; 11/17/16, 5:36 AM
Wince said...: I still want to know what was up with Hillary election night, given the second-hand reports of a drunken rage.

Where were "The Circus" cameras omnipresent throughout the campaign?

It's crucial information to know if we're going to do the complete forensic what-ifs of this campaign.

I'd also like to know if Trump went easy on her in part because she drunk dialed him.; 11/17/16, 5:39 AM
sinz52 said...: Hillary did NOT do everything right.

Unless you think that the French General Gamelin and the Maginot Line were the optimal way to defend France.

This article on Powerline analyzes the campaign mistakes Hillary made:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/11/the-myth-of-hillary-clintons-competence.php

Essentially, Hillary just assumed that "Blue Wall" states like Wisconsin were hers, that Trump would just write them off, and she could campaign in Ohio and Florida.

Trump blew right through that "Blue Wall" and totally flummoxed her.; 11/17/16, 5:40 AM
tim maguire said...: She got the most votes, she won. Yes, she won a trace nobody was running. The stupidity of liberals never ceases to amaze me--they want to change a basic rule in a game played by tens of millions and think it won't change anybody's behavior.

No wonder they believe in socialist economics.; 11/17/16, 6:09 AM
PB said...: Claiming the rules or law should be ignored to benefit Hillary is just so ironic.

As I've said before, Democrats lack the gene for irony.; 11/17/16, 6:09 AM
Humperdink said...: People never learn. Never put your faith in people. It is a house built on sand.; 11/17/16, 6:16 AM
campy said...: Just think back to Obama's election in 2008; the idolatry and out right religious zeal of his supporters

Well, he is sort of a God.; 11/17/16, 6:19 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: These mourners for the living remind me of a cartoon by David Lynch:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angriest_Dog_in_the_World; 11/17/16, 6:22 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Remember how people were always saying "we're going to tie this around his neck!" Well the Democratic party seems to have the political corpse of Hillary Clinton tied around their neck and they keep pulling it tighter; it seems they like the smell.; 11/17/16, 6:25 AM
MayBee said...: I really do understand the frustration Democrats must feel, twice in the last 16 years winning the popular vote and not the election. That would be hard to take.

I get it, too, that it seems ridiculous that Donald Trump is actually our president elect. I almost cannot believe it.

But this meltdown is just self-indulgent.; 11/17/16, 6:26 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: It does absolutely comfort and reassure me that a Trump administration will have strong scrutiny from the press. Just reading this sort of thing creates an upwelling of joy and relief in me that Hillary Clinton did not win, and reaffirms my conviction that a vote for her would have been a vote against the structures of democracy in the US.

Those who wish to build an altar to Clinton are free to do it. I don't think the money is going to keep rolling in the same way without the political power, and I suspect that the true believers will be few indeed.; 11/17/16, 6:37 AM
Clyde said...: Spock has a beard in her universe, doesn't he?; 11/17/16, 6:42 AM
David Begley said...: Anybody who says Hillary won is a complete idiot or delusional. Trump won by the rules of the game.

And the smartest people in the room spent more money chasing Omaha's one Electoral College vote than in all of Wisconsin and Michigan.; 11/17/16, 6:44 AM
Jaq said...: It's hagiography with emphasis on the "hag."; 11/17/16, 6:46 AM
Bill Peschel said...: According to wiki, VHeff is also a creationist, which explains this essay.

I also noticed that this "Lenny Letter" is a Lena Dunham joint, financed by "Hearst Advertising." Because this thing obviously couldn't make a profit on its own.; 11/17/16, 6:47 AM
rehajm said...: There's a lot to be said for holding yourself together and moving forward, but that doesn't seem to be what we encourage these days.

So true but nobody should lose sight of the fact this isn't typical wallowing in loss. It is weaponized wallowing.; 11/17/16, 6:48 AM
JML said...: She says this about a woman who didn't have enough grace to come out and thank her devotees on election night.; 11/17/16, 6:54 AM
rehajm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/17/16, 7:06 AM
Jaq said...: According to reports out of Idaho and elsewhere, Clinton supporters have obtained Electoral College voters’ personal information and are harassing them with calls, Facebook messages, emails and even home visits, encouraging them to become “faithless electors,” and change their Trump votes to Clinton votes.

And they aren’t being kind about it: “A lot of ’em use bad, rough language,” said Layne Bangerter, one of Idaho’s electors. “Nothing I feel intimidated over. But we’re watching it very closely. They’ve got our home phone numbers, our cell numbers, our emails, our Facebook. We’re just getting an orchestrated barrage from the left.”

“They attack my religion, they attack my politics, they tell me that I must be a terrible father, I must be a terrible American, they use foul language — every swear word,” Bangerter said. - Heat Street

Basically they are using the same tactics that lost them the election. They seriously have no clue. It is like Caesar bringing his soldiers to the Senate. They care nothing for the rule of law, just like their candidate.

Or like those protesters chasing down state reps in Wisconsin, cornering them, and haranguing them with a bullhorn. "This is what democracy looks like!"; 11/17/16, 7:09 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: If you love Hillary, you love a corrupt money-grubbing liar. Is that old? I know. But it's an eternal truth.; 11/17/16, 7:09 AM
rehajm said...: ...they want to change a basic rule in a game played by tens of millions and think it won't change anybody's behavior.

Yes, this. It's called Static Scoring and it's the only way their policies look rational.; 11/17/16, 7:14 AM
rhhardin said...: Armstrong and Getty started promoting their producer Vince as the world's top Asian in talk radio (I may have name and job wrong but who cares). Vince observed that he had broken the grass ceiling.; 11/17/16, 7:23 AM
SJ said...: As a stray thought...

isn't idolization of political leaders the kind of thing that happens in fascist politics?

Thus, can't we say that those who idolize Hillary are trying to turn her into a fascist leader?; 11/17/16, 7:26 AM
Doug said...: Watch the news - sometime during the holidays, one of the presidents of a women's college - possibly one of the Seven Sisters - is going to get bumped off - figuratively, or literally - and Shrillary! will graciously and humbly accept the offered sinecure.; 11/17/16, 7:33 AM
Bob Ellison said...: SJ, leftists have a peculiar affinity for personality cults. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Chavez. Barack Obama fit the mold. Hillary never did. If she had a tad more charisma, she could have won the election.; 11/17/16, 7:41 AM
Levi Starks said...: Up to, and on the day of the election all I heard was the constant "Trump would have to get 270 electoral votes" which was then framed as an absurd idea. Hillary was never asked if she would accept the results if she lost, because to even frame such a question would have seemed ludicrous. She would have laughed in their face. On the very day of the election we heard over and over again "Trump would have to run the table" While it can be assumed I suppose that Hillary needed only to show up.
There is sexism involved also, no one in the media would be crying any tears if Trump had won the popular, and lost the electoral college vote. They would expect him to take it like a man, because He knew the rules going in. Diane Feinstein would not be proposing legislation make popular vote the deciding factor.
And it's a demonstrated impossibility that the prognosticators can tell us what the outcome would have been had the rule been popular, not electoral. The ways campaign money and time was spent would have been completely different, and most certainly turnout numbers would have been different. Would the outcome have been different? That is and will forever remain an unknowable.; 11/17/16, 7:42 AM
Michael K said...: I'd also like to know if Trump went easy on her in part because she drunk dialed him.

That's an interesting thought. She has only appeared once since the election.

In 2008, they ran out of money before Texas in the primaries and Obama beat them late. This time she had a billion plus and maybe they thought that would be enough and just didn't think beyond that,

I wonder who in the Secret Service is drawing the short straw to spend the next few years with her?; 11/17/16, 7:47 AM
mezzrow said...: Can anyone explain why Ms. Heffernan's children are mentioned on her Wikipedia page, but there is no mention of any husband, either current or past? You know, the one who said King Lear was a tragicomedy so he could get lucky?

Amazing, this internet. You can ask the most probing questions about someone you do not know at all, and have only gotten to know through some reference. I'm sure that being the child of an Ivy league English professor and garnering a Ph.D. in English at Harvard makes one prepared to shed greater light on such questions. Not like those insular hillbillies.

It's good we have thought leaders of such quality, and with such broad background in American life.; 11/17/16, 7:47 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Uh - No.; 11/17/16, 7:51 AM
Larry J said...: David Begley said...
Anybody who says Hillary won is a complete idiot or delusional. Trump won by the rules of the game.

If you add up all of the scores from the 7 games of the 2016 World Series, it ended in a tie (27-27). But that isn't how the series winner is determined. Each game stands on its own and the Cubs won 4 out of 7. National vote totals aren't how the presidential election game is played. Each state is on its own with a predetermined number of electoral college votes. The winner is the first to get 270 EC votes, which Trump did handily. Had the election rules said that the winner was the one with the highest national vote total, the campaigns on both sides would've been planned and executed differently.; 11/17/16, 7:58 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/17/16, 8:05 AM
Henry said...: I voted for HRC, but every time one of her fans posted something like this I had to fight the urge to vote against her. Thomas Frank nailed it in one of his post-election autopsies:

Clinton’s supporters among the media didn’t help much, either....[T]he act of opening the newspaper started to feel like tuning in to a Cold War propaganda station.... Hillary was virtually without flaws. She was a peerless leader clad in saintly white, a super-lawyer, a caring benefactor of women and children, a warrior for social justice.; 11/17/16, 8:28 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Hillary Clinton did everything right in this campaign, and she won more votes than her opponent did. What happened next will blow your mind.

FIFY; 11/17/16, 8:32 AM
Larry J said...: Larry J said...
David Begley said...
Anybody who says Hillary won is a complete idiot or delusional. Trump won by the rules of the game.

If you add up all of the scores from the 7 games of the 2016 World Series, it ended in a tie (27-27). But that isn't how the series winner is determined. Each game stands on its own and the Cubs won 4 out of 7.

I need to correct something. Had the World Series been determined by who had the greatest total runs, the Indians would've won at the end of the 9th inning in game 7. The score for that game was tied at 6-6 at the end of the 9th, but the total score for all games at that point was Cleveland 26, Cubs 25. They never would've gone into the 10th inning. Once again, that isn't how the rules say you win the World Series.; 11/17/16, 8:36 AM
mtrobertslaw said...: What's up with those stories that Hillary went into a drunken rage on election night? That's easy, Bacchus paid a visit to Athena that evening.; 11/17/16, 8:43 AM
Jaq said...: Funny how many people from Wisconsin want to see their state totally ignored in presidential contests in the future. It will be Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Texas, Florida.. Where the votes are.

But Wisconsin needn't worry, California and New York will always vote in Wisconsin's best interest, now and for all time! You can trust them!; 11/17/16, 8:45 AM
J. D. said...: Hillary Clinton kicked six field goals to Donald Trump's three touchdowns, she her supporters are trying to say sure should have won because she scored more times then he did. That are won the popular vote by stop much, white losing the election is a mark of incompetence or a lack of understanding of the rules of the game on her part asked on the part of her team, rather than some badge of honor. The way the Trump campaign constantly over performed expectations, I have no doubt that he would have won the popular vote too, had that been necessary.; 11/17/16, 8:46 AM
Bob said...: "Basket of Depressives" has potential to go viral. Well done!; 11/17/16, 8:49 AM
Jupiter said...: Henry said...
"I voted for HRC, but every time one of her fans posted something like this I had to fight the urge to vote against her."

It sounds like you had a tough situation to deal with. You were determined to vote for the left-fascist criminal, but it bothered you that some of her other supporters were so eager to overlook her evident defects. Of course, there's no way she could ever be elected unless *lots* of people overlooked her defects. Still, it pained you to see yourself as one of a mindless horde of deluded imbeciles. How did you finally manage to resolve this conflict, Henry? Strong drink? Lobotomy?; 11/17/16, 8:52 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: This idiotic essay sets back women's rights by a decade.

She could have shortened the piece considerably by adopting the Bart Simpson method of chalkboard repetition:

I really really like Hillary
I really really like Hillary
I really really like Hillary
I really really like Hillary; 11/17/16, 8:56 AM
Robert Cook said...: It's humiliating for the writer to gush like a schoolgirl with a crush about the distinctly off-putting and unheroic Hillary Clinton, and sick-making for her readers.

This sort of idolization of any politician, beyond being childish and delusional, is extremely dangerous.; 11/17/16, 8:59 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Hillary Clinton did everything right in this campaign...

Except:

- Tell the truth about her secret server
- Campaign for black or white voters who aren't BLM activists
- Spend her money effectively
- Campaign at all within the "Blue Wall"
- Establish any positive work history since leaving CDF in 1985
- Hire good people
- Listen to Neera Tanden
- Follow the rules; 11/17/16, 9:01 AM
traditionalguy said...: If only Queen of the Globe wannabee Hillary had used even half of Sweet Old Bill's political talent. I must cry some more now.; 11/17/16, 9:01 AM
Robert Cook said...: I just read the whole article. It reads like something from The Onion. I was half-convinced she meant it all as a joke. That she says this with seriousness is flabbergasting.; 11/17/16, 9:03 AM
SweatBee said...: "Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.
People seemed to be content.
Fifty dollars paid the rent.
Freaks were in a circus tent.
Those were the days..."; 11/17/16, 9:05 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: She won

And I'm sure Hillary will proudly display her participation trophy.; 11/17/16, 9:06 AM
Henry said...: She cannot be faulted, criticized, or analyzed*

She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.; 11/17/16, 9:07 AM
Henry said...: @Jupiter.

How did you finally manage to resolve this conflict, Henry? Strong drink? Lobotomy?

Trump.; 11/17/16, 9:08 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Hillary Clinton did everything right in this campaign...

How far up your own butt does your head have to go to create this kind of an echo chamber, Virginia? Everything? Were those three "re-launches" of her campaign all part of the original plan then? Was writing a book no one wanted to read and attending signing where no one showed up part of the "everything" she did right to prepare? How about continuing that long disgusting relationship with Sid Vicious Blumenthal? Was that "right" too? And when she said she wanted to "put a lot coal miners out of work" was that the "right" thing too? And when she said, in reference to four brave dead Americans who died as a direct result of decisions she made as SoS, "what difference at this point does it make?" Was that part of the "everything" she did "right" too? Is cheating by getting a heads up to the question that will be asked in a debate the "right" thing to do, Virginia?

Virginia? Virginia? Are you having a stroke?; 11/17/16, 9:08 AM
Big Mike said...: Oh Lordy! I agree with Cookie! I need another cuppa coffee. Or maybe scotch.; 11/17/16, 9:12 AM
Unknown said...: I must say, I think we finally figured out who Shiloh was. Must have been this idiot. Please, comparing Hillary to Athena?

In what universe does Athena have anything in common with Hillary Clinton? Athena was wise, brave, a patron of the arts, a fearless military leader, and so forth.

Hillary is a corrupt greedy power-hungry real life Dorian Grey. The only thing these two have in common is a rather punitive streak (See Ariadne).

No, if Hillary was comparable to any Greek mythological female, it would have to be either Hera or Eris, the goddess of Discord.

Hera went into rages over her husband's infidelity and was a selfish type. Sounds like Hillary, really. And no one ever seems to have liked Hera.

--Vance; 11/17/16, 9:19 AM
Fabi said...: I doubt that Hillary received the most legally cast votes -- I guess we'll never know, but it's forever in doubt.; 11/17/16, 9:49 AM
Tari said...: That was so delusional it was awesome. Honestly, if you read something that has a bit of truth in it, but you can see how that truth has been twisted around to mean something it doesn't, it makes you angry. But reading something so completely loopy - the kind of thing where you just know the author sprinkles LSD on every meal like it was Tabasco sauce - well, that's fun.; 11/17/16, 9:57 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Note how this person claims that "She won more votes than her opponent". Very strategic. Winning is everything to this woman, and whether there was cheating is irrelevant. Never mind that Crooked Hillary very likely didn't win more legally cast votes by legal voters. We all know, from Wikileaks, etc., how the cheating was rampant on the Dem side this election. Surely far above the minuscule margin of popular vote victory by Crooked Hillary. Heck, thanks partly to President Obama telling illegals that it was just fine if they voted, it is quite possible that she got well above the difference between their national recorded vote totals in votes from illegals in one state alone (CA).

My hope is that voter fraud is investigated a bit more this time, than it has been in the past. Typically, leftists and Dems claim that voter fraud is almost non-existent because no one is ever convicted of it. But, the argument is really circular, because the places where it is the most egregious are the exact same places where they have the most political control, and, thus, invariably where there is the least investigation into it.

The problem for this election is that if the electoral totals had been switched, with the recorded popular votes so close, Crooked Hillary would not be accepted by a large proportion of the country, thanks to their knowledge about the rampant voter fraud that would have helped her over the top. Some of it came from the top of her campaign, but most of it was probably more local. Oh, and the violence that followed Trump's campaign being orchestrated from hers wouldn't have helped matters either. And, of course, the MSM using that violence to condemn Trump was also noted by a lot of Trump voters.; 11/17/16, 10:08 AM
Big Mike said...: My serious comment number one is a question. Did Hillary win all the votes legally cast by legal voters? Or were there snowbirds who cast absentee ballots in their home states and a second ballot in Florida? Those illiterate Spanish-speaking voters, are you sure they're legally registered to vote?

I'm okay with abolishing the Electoral College, provided we put serious penalties in place for folks who vote more than once, folks who are not US citizens but who are caught voting, folks who register dead people to vote (caught one of them here in Virginia!). Maybe not a capital offense, but lots years in federal prisons long distances from friends and kin who might otherwise come to visit.

What say you Democrats?; 11/17/16, 10:15 AM
Quaestor said...: "Hillary is Athena."

Athene, dear lady. Though generally called the goddess of wisdom, her epithet would be more accurately translated as "goddess of war strategy". Not for nothing did Phidias sculpt her with a helmet, aspis, and spear. The wisdom she dispensed to her worshippers was about how to win. Athena, indeed.

We dodged a bullet.; 11/17/16, 10:25 AM
Henry said...: Crooked Hillary would not be accepted by a large proportion of the country, thanks to their knowledge about the rampant voter fraud that would have helped her over the top.

The fact that a certain proportion of the country has accepted this as an axiomatic truth is disheartening. About as disheartening as Hillary supporters bragging about popular vote totals.

Oh, maybe there is rampant voter fraud. We know that various Dems have bragged about fraud. We know that voter registration drives are larded with false forms. But rampant does not mean the same thing as significant. And there is absolutely no evidence of significant vote fraud.; 11/17/16, 10:27 AM
Quaestor said...: Maybe not a capital offense, but lots years in federal prisons long distances from friends and kin who might otherwise come to visit.

Anyone who solicits or advises an illegal voter should be treated as the Athenians did, thrown headlong from the Acropolis. The Trump Tower should do for us.; 11/17/16, 10:30 AM
Quaestor said...: But rampant does not mean the same thing as significant.

How do you explain the difference in a significant way?; 11/17/16, 10:34 AM
Big Mike said...: @Althouse, my serious comment number two is addressed to you and other women who regard yourselves as feminists.

Despite all the "women's studies" departments on campuses, I think you women need to formulate a coherent theory of womanhood. If the McCain thought that picking Sarah Palin as his running mate would automatically earn him female votes he thought wrong, but if the Democrats only eight years later thought that they were a lock for all or nearly all of the women's votes then they were wrong too, weren't they?

So let's look at Sarah Palin for a minute. She didn't talk like an Ivy-educated person (as indeed she wasn't) and I get that it was held against her that she did not abort a Downs child. But why was it that only we men looked at and admired her actual accomplishments, which were pretty good? There's something wrong with the entire theory of feminism if it takes a man to appreciate a woman's struggle to overcome obstacles to make good things happen for her state.

A proper theory of feminism should have room for women who enjoy sex with their husbands. The notion, pushed by some prominent feminists, that "all sex is rape" is just so much crap.

A proper theory of feminism should accommodate women who want to hold a job as well as women who want to raise fine kids as well as women who want both.

A proper theory of feminism should accommodate women who don't abort imperfect children as much as it presently accommodates women who do.

In short, a proper theory of feminism should make room for women with different goals in life, different economic circumstances, different spiritual beliefs, and fundamentally different in many ways. If you think that this is what's already the case, then Professor, I urge you to look again.; 11/17/16, 10:39 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: @Henry - the problem this time around is that we knew that the Dems and Crooked Hillary's campaign were engaged in rampant cheating. In the past, it has been well hidden. Not this time. We had the VA Gov (and long time Clintonista) giving 60,000 felons pardons, along with pre-stamped mail-in ballots. We had the President of the United States telling illegals to vote. We had numerous dead people voting. And, claims of watching voting machines switch votes from Trump to Clinton (I doubt that can ever be either verified or debunked). We have Wikileaks emails tying the Clinton campaign chair Podesta to both orchestrating violence at Trump events, and how they were fudging polls. Apparent cheating that is far above the margin of victory or loss in a number of close states, as well as in the national vote totals. While we have a lot of hurt feelings on the Dem side, for the loss, there is little, if any, evidence, of voter fraud waged against them. Just the opposite of what the Republicans and Trump faced. To suggest that Trump voters should have just laid down and taken a close loss, closer than the perceived margin of fraud, is to essentially justify the voting fraud as a legitimate campaign tactic.; 11/17/16, 10:44 AM
Static Ping said...: Unknown: No, if Hillary was comparable to any Greek mythological female, it would have to be either Hera or Eris, the goddess of Discord.

Hera went into rages over her husband's infidelity and was a selfish type. Sounds like Hillary, really. And no one ever seems to have liked Hera.

There are some problems with the Hera analogy. First of all, Hera was almost certainly stunningly beautiful. Second, while she was foiled at probably a higher percentage than the other Olympians (with the exception of Ares), she actually had accomplishments to her name. You want Troy destroyed? She gets Troy destroyed. Having an affair with Zeus proved to be a very bad idea for a substantial number of lovers. Third, she was the goddess of marriage and beloved in that role. It is difficult to conceive anyone with that sort of reverence to Hillary barring eating whatever lotus that the author of this article was chewing upon.; 11/17/16, 10:55 AM
Static Ping said...: mtrobertslaw: What's up with those stories that Hillary went into a drunken rage on election night? That's easy, Bacchus paid a visit to Athena that evening.

If Athena is there, then that's probably Dionysios present, not Bacchus. If Bacchus is there then we have Minerva, a very nerfed version of Athena. For the record, if Hillary started throwing furniture at Dionysios, the only thing left of her would be a few stray swatches of pantsuits. DO NOT MESS WITH DRUNK GODS!; 11/17/16, 10:59 AM
CJinPA said...: All serious thinkers insert "or whatever" into their writing.; 11/17/16, 11:03 AM
Jaq said...: The fact that a certain proportion of the country has accepted this as an axiomatic truth is disheartening. About as disheartening as Hillary supporters bragging about popular vote totals.

You know what I would like to hear, Henry? An explanation of how California keeps illegals from voting. That would be great. We know John Podesta supports a system where we take voters at their word, he says that will "scratch the itch." The itch being how do you capture these millions of illegal votes.

But perhaps you can explain to us how we can trust the vote totals from California?

Whenever somebody says "absolutely no evidence" of just about anything, you know they just don't want to hear the evidence. I will be happy to provide you with evidence that there was enough voter fraud in Wisconsin in 2000 to tip the state to Gore, but I am pretty sure you will ignore it so that you can continue to rant about their being "no evidence."; 11/17/16, 11:13 AM
Jaq said...: I think John Podesta should give out his bank account numbers and tell the bank that anybody who "attests" to being him, under no penalty of law, can take out money.; 11/17/16, 11:15 AM
Sigivald said...: You lost me at "world-historical".

Seriously, Hegel? Or, just as bad, Hegel-as-used-by-Marxians?; 11/17/16, 11:18 AM
Robert Cook said...: "The fact that a certain proportion of the country has accepted this as an axiomatic truth is disheartening. About as disheartening as Hillary supporters bragging about popular vote totals."

You can be certain that if Trump had won the popular vote but had lost the electoral vote, his supporters would be braying the same thing.; 11/17/16, 11:22 AM
MacMacConnell said...: All Hillary is entitled to for winning the popular vote in an electoral college election is a participation certificate. Maybe President Trump will send her one instead of a pardon after the inauguration.; 11/17/16, 11:35 AM
Darrell said...: You can be certain that if Trump had won the popular vote but had lost the electoral vote, his supporters would be braying the same thing.

Sure, Cookie. Whatever you say.; 11/17/16, 11:36 AM
Howard said...: This is a great article. It explains the root cause of Hillary's defeat... her acolytes thought she is a transcendent hero rather than flesh and blood. Pride cometh before and after the fall.; 11/17/16, 11:37 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: You can be certain that if Trump had won the popular vote but had lost the electoral vote, his supporters would be braying the same thing.

I wouldn't. I love the Electoral College.

It's the perfect balance between having the populace decide (120 Million voters; Clinton wins slight plurality) and having the states decide (Trump wins 30 to 20).

It is the United STATES OF America, is it not?; 11/17/16, 11:49 AM
Henry said...: tim, Bruce Hayden:

What you are supplying is anecdotal. You are extrapolating from the posturing of idiots and inventing hypotheticals rather than finding facts

There's simply no evidence of vast electoral fraud by people who study it. In order for you to advance your hypothetical you need something tangible.

This is an article from 2012, but you will have a hard time coming up with different conclusions from any study since:

Nearly all scholars of America’s system of locally run elections acknowledge chronic problems, including administrative incompetence, sloppy registration rolls, unreliable machinery, vote buying, and absentee-ballot fraud. But Robert Brandon, the president of the Fair Elections Legal Network and a longtime reformer, says that the current debate, “which is about people impersonating another voter, is silly.” He adds, “You can’t steal an election one person at a time. You can by stuffing ballot boxes—but voter I.D.s won’t stop that.”

This article does not address the risk of illegal immigrant voting, but when millions of votes are cast in a state like California you need more than a few thousand illegal votes to tip anything other than a town board.

Clearly voter fraud happens in small-scale cases. Here's an article about voter fraud in Los Angeles. But that investigation concerns several hundred votes in a county where over 2 million ballots are cast. And Trump lost California by 3 million votes. That is well out of the bounds of any kind of fraud.; 11/17/16, 11:49 AM
Mr. D said...: Hillary is Athena.

Athena, my heart felt like a shattered glass in an acid bath
I felt like one of those flattened ants you find on a crazy path
I'd of topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask
Was I a suicidal psychopath?
She's just a girl - she's a bomb

Consumed, there was a beautiful white horse I saw on a dream stage
He had a snake the size of a sewer pipe living in his rib cage
I felt like a pickled priest who was being flambed
You were requisitioned blondie
She's just a girl - she's a bomb; 11/17/16, 12:12 PM
Robert Cook said...: "I'd of topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask

"I'd HAVE..."; 11/17/16, 1:12 PM
Michael K said...: We don't know the consequences of vote fraud until the feds get serious about it, which might be number 22 on Trump's agenda.

The best argument for the electoral college, in my mind, is that we are a republic and states vote for president. The EC is based on the number of people in each state and therefore the number of representatives. Senators are another matter and each state gets two. This was a big issue in the Constitutional Convention.

If California chooses to throw away Senators on two idiots like Boxer and Feinstein, it is the state' choice.

If we had a popular vote presidential election, they would be counting votes into the second year of the presidency. The popular vote of EACH STATE determines the result. The four big blue states are headed for collapse before the rest due to runaway public employee unions.; 11/17/16, 1:49 PM
Barry Dauphin said...: We should think about what it means to "win" the popular vote. Neither Gore nor HRC won 50% + 1 of the popular vote. Both were the leading vote getter but did not win a majority of the votes. Seems like a run off would be needed if the DNC really wants to go in that direction. Otherwise we encourage lots of candidates to enter the race with the "winner" getting smaller shares of the votes in elections than we currently have. So, a candidate could become president with 38% of the vote if he/she was the leading vote getter? Yikes. WJC got 43% in 1992 but had a clear electoral college win. That helped citizens accept him as legitimately elected, notwithstanding subsequent events.

Also, Athena wasn't elected but was born into the right family!; 11/17/16, 2:00 PM
Bilwick said...: Well, yeah, if you like lying, Alinsky-inspired statists, Hillary is Wonder Woman!; 11/17/16, 2:04 PM
Bilwick said...: Cook probably has a poster of Hillary as "Hilse, She-Wolf of the IRS," hanging up laminated in his shower.; 11/17/16, 2:05 PM
el polacko said...: is this the same virginia heffernan who offered to fellate bill clinton as long as he protected her right to kill her unborn child ? sounds like maybe she's now bucking for a clinton/heffernan three-way.; 11/17/16, 2:16 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: I said (on Patterico) more or less jokingly after the second debate

Obviously, Anderson Cooper didn’t tell Donald Trump about these pills…

http://www.healthreportz.com/POPS/fsh/iqcompliant.html

Looks like he did tell him actually, and Donald Trump used them for the end of his campaign:

http://www.healthreportz.com/POPS/fozdt/iqcompliant.html?path=dtb&siteid=1148&campaignid=21666&placementid=45203&channel=News&subchannel=National+News&c=0.0186535&sxid=bmhv5aceumng

Donald Trump waas wondering what Hillary was tkaing. So he took something himself??; 11/17/16, 5:28 PM
wildswan said...: California has Hillary ahead of Trump by 3,000,000 votes. And Hillary is ahead of Trump in the popular vote by 700,000 votes. If we did not have an electoral college only the largest states would matter. So as part of their drive to become relevant to the people outside their big city, bi-coastie bubble, the Democrats are trying to abolish the electoral college. They're trying to invalidate the election because it wasn't decided in their strongholds. Good. Keep it going. Keep Pelosi. Make Hillary an important Party advisor and ban criticism of her. Yes!!! Kellyanne Conway knew the blue firewall was in play - don't talk about her. Good. More like that. More riots. Insult Trump voters. And here's an idea. Float the idea that Republicans are a hate group - all of them. Think Big. Please. I'm counting on you for victory.; 11/17/16, 8:14 PM
RonF said...: Greater than Benjamin Franklin? Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Inventor of the bifocals and the Franklin stove? Discoverer of the link between electricity and lightning? Ambassador to France during the Revolution, convincing France to give us essential support?

Exactly how far up her ass is this woman's head?; 11/17/16, 9:36 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "You can be certain that if Trump had won the popular vote but had lost the electoral vote, his supporters would be braying the same thing."

A whole lot of them would be. Which is why the rules are laid out in advance. So all the adults know who won the game.

" "I'd of topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask

"I'd HAVE...""

Our premier Leftist is a grammar Nazi?; 11/17/16, 9:54 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: I don't understand why people don't realize Republicans could make the race tighter in states where Democrats are running up the popular vote score, but the way our system works there's no point in doing so. If you're going to lose a state no matter what you do, there's no reason to put any effort into it at all.

Trump could have won the popular vote. But he might have lost the election as a result.; 11/17/16, 10:21 PM
The Bear said...: So ... in the Liberal world ... a diety is represented by a creature who is a combination of Delores Umbrage (Wiki "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix" for the non-Hogwarts folks) and Leona Helmsley (Hotelier - called the Queen of Mean for how she treated her staff).; 11/17/16, 11:35 PM
Peter J Barban said...: I would love to have Trump read this letter in sonorous tones at his inauguration. At the end, he says, "Let's make America great again. For Hillary."; 11/18/16, 12:15 AM
Rusty said...: This article does not address the risk of illegal immigrant voting, but when millions of votes are cast in a state like California you need more than a few thousand illegal votes to tip anything other than a town board.

How about a few 10s or thousands and 100s of thousands?; 11/18/16, 6:04 AM
Henry said...: You're extrapolating from a fact-free hypothesis. The Democratic party can't even get legal immigrants to vote consistently.; 11/18/16, 7:53 AM
mikee said...: I predicted a Hillary win back in 2012, shortly after Obama surprised the heck out of me by winning a second term. I even made a $100 bet with my wife that Hillary would win this year. I paid that bet off on Wednesday, November 09, 2016 with a crisp Franklin, and while my wife said something at the time about using it to take me out for a nice dinner she has said nothing about it since.

My wife and I were completely unconcerned with the total popular vote count, and relied on the electoral vote count.

I'd say that my $100 payment, and my wife's very sincere demand for it, covers the entire issue of the popular vote arguments rather completely.; 11/18/16, 11:02 AM