Clinton Hack Bids Farewell to Salon

Sanctimonious Clintonista hatchet man Sidney Blumenthal, one of the sleaziest operators on the political scene, authors his last piece of hysteria before joing Team Pantsuit.

Even by Blumenthal's hyperbolic standards, this is so far over the top, one can only assume Mrs. Clinton helped write it.

Torture is the linchpin of the new Republican argument on presidential power. Abuse of detainees is the metaphor for beguiling the public into supporting abuse of the presidency. The sadomasochistic ecstasy of torture and the thrill of vengeance are the ultimate appeal of the party of torture. Projecting violence against accused terrorists in an endless war is a deep political strategy to forge and fortify a new regime. This novel form of government, never before installed in the U.S., despite precursors from Nixon's planned seizure of powers, is being cemented into place so that its penetrability and removal will become extraordinarily difficult. Those who undertake the task of rebuilding the structure will be vulnerable to harsh political attacks as unpatriotic and subversive. Thus restoring American constitutional government after Bush demands the most strategic political and bureaucratic genius.

So vital is torture to the imperial presidency that Bush staked the nomination of his new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, on his refusal to oppose a ritual designed during the Spanish Inquisition to purge sinful heresy: waterboarding. Were Mukasey to have called waterboarding torture, as it surely is, he would have been obligated to prosecute those responsible for war crimes.

So if you criticize anyone trying to undo this regime of torture, you're accusing them of subversion and questioning their patriotism.

Lord knows, we shouldn't pile on, lest their feelings be hurt.

But now, he must change the tone.

Readers know of my background in the Clinton White House. (See "The Clinton Wars.") They are familiar with my long friendship with Sen. Hillary Clinton. When she recently asked me to join her campaign as senior advisor I felt I must accept, though not out of obligation but, rather, wholeheartedly. There will be other times and places for me to explain how I have seen her grow into the person I now feel is best qualified and suited to restore the presidency, an office I observed and participated in for four years and about whose nature, I know from working closely with her, she has a deep grasp.

Indeed, a grasp so deep, she cannot answer a simple question and abandons principles at the drop of a hat.

But when things don't go according to the neat little script that Team Clinton has crafted for this campaign, watch out - the candidate simply unravels.

This bodes poorly for a Hillary presidency - for the real world is anything but scripted. It's full of nasty surprises - just ask George W. Bush.

If Hillary Clinton can't even cope with a relatively simple challenge - answering a tough question at a campaign debate without panicking and losing her cool - how on earth does she hope to deal with people like Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korea's Kim Jong-Il?

Accusing Iran of leading a global pile-on against her sure won't solve the problem.