June 18, 2016

The ancient notion that Hillary Clinton must become personal and purpose driven.

My standard checking of Drudge this morning got me over The Smoking Gun to read an article titled "DNC Financial Records Stolen By 'Guccifer 2.0'/Hacker swiped personal info on thousands of party backers." Scroll down a bit and you'll get to:
In a 2015 document, a branding expert recruited by the Clinton campaign advised that the candidate needed to employ “new authentic language that gets personal.” The memo notes that, “HRC...must move from Policy and Political to Personal and Purpose driven,” adding that the pivot represents the “start of the new ‘Personal and Purpose Driven’ phase of our messaging.” The document then lists an assortment of suggested speech passages.
Then, I was looking at my new photos, taken with a camera that had the date mistakenly set at 2015, so I ended up in photos from last June. For some reason, I'd taken a few photos of the computer monitor in mid-June of last year. There's one of Jeb Bush announcing that he's running for President. (Who could have imagined what a disaster that would turn out to be? Not only did he never get anywhere, he sucked up all the money, depriving others of a chance to get going, and then he spent it all in a way that was worse than if he'd just burned it.) And here's one of Hillary:



Ah, yes! Hillary started off as if she were following a branding expert's advice to use new authentic language that gets personal. (I love that word "authentic." If you can fake that, you've got it made.) Remember all the autobiographical material about her relationship with her mother? She was trying to be personal and "purpose driven" a year ago, but then the very same idea was reprocessed by a hired branding experts into what she needed to do for a pivot.

And what's with "purpose driven"? I associate that with Rick Warren and "The Purpose Driven Life." So 2008! Remember when the 2008 candidates — including Hillary — sat down for a long interview with Rick Warren at something called the "Compassion Forum"? And she was all:
"You know, I have, ever since I've been a little girl, felt the presence of God in my life. And it has been a gift of grace that has, for me, been incredibly sustaining. But, really, ever since I was a child, I have felt the enveloping support and love of God and I have had the experiences on many, many occasions where I felt like the holy spirit was there with me as I made a journey. It didn't have to be a hard time. You know, it could be taking a walk in the woods. It could be watching a sunset. You know, I am someone who has [been] talked a lot about my life. You know more about my life than you know about nearly anybody else's, about 60 books worth... some of which are, you know, frankly, a little bit off-base. But I don't think that I could have made my life's journey without being anchored in God's grace and without having that, you know, sense of forgiveness and unconditional love. And I am not going to point to one or another matter. I mean, some of my struggles and challenges have been extremely public. And I have talked about how I have been both guided and supported through those, trying to find my own way through, because, for me, my faith has given me the confidence to make decisions that were right for me, whether anybody else agreed with me or not. And it is just such a part of who I am and what I have lived through for so many years that trying to pull out and say, oh, I remember, I was sitting right there when I felt, you know, God's love embrace me, would be, I think, trivializing what has been an extraordinary sense of support and possibility that I have had with me my entire life."

72 comments:

Lewis Wetzel said...

Maybe the woman has a sincerity gap with Trump. She doesn't believe whatever she is telling you, and it shows. Trump always seems to believe what he is saying, even if he know a minute later that it was bullshit.

M Jordan said...

Hillary has developed many different "voices" that I'm sure her handlers have advised. She's got the forceful, I'm on the side of Right voice which she uses in speeches accompanied by the slow, slow nod. There's the mea culpa, very low, very slow speaking voice. She has a good ol' Southern accent she pulls out of the drawer for certain audiences ("We've come too faaahhhrrrrr."). This voice micro-shits to a black voice she uses to pander to Black audiences, particularly Black church audiences. And there are many more.

The problem with this verbal "skill" of hers isn't it's lack of genuinesness, though that is apparent in all forms. It's that she is very, very bad at these vocal gymnastics. Very bad. So bad I don't even get much joy at mocking her as I watch her employ the many shades of Hillary. Yet, amazing, to me, is the fact that, among her supporters, they not only don't mind these faux authentic vocalizations, they don't even notice them. So I've got to give her some credit: fakeness works.

M Jordan said...

"Micro-shifts." "Shifts!"

Ugh.

David Begley said...

“Jefferson has beliefs and Burr has none.”

From the musical “Hamilton.”

rhhardin said...

and then he spent it all in a way that was worse than if he'd just burned it.

Burning money is a gift to the US Treasury. The Fed notices that the money supply is correspondingly low and just prints replacements, reducing the national debt by that amount.

rhhardin said...

Theodor Adorno has a book "The Jargon of Authenticity."

Moneyrunner said...

Hillary's relationship with God is between them. Her relationship to the truth is between us.

Michael K said...

Hillary can fake almost anything but honesty. That is pretty much beyond her reach now.

Curious George said...

God "embrace her?" I don't think so. Even Satan would throw her back.

campy said...

Jeb Bush announcing that he's running for President. (Who could have imagined what a disaster that would turn out to be?

Brother of the (MSM-declared) Worst President Ever? How 'bout "everybody"?

Chuck said...

Wasn't it in their '08 interviews with Rick Warren that candidate-Senator Barack Obama and candidate-Senator Hillary Clinton both said that they opposed any federal mandate of same-sex marriage?

Actually, I suspect that Donald Trump is just as sincere as Clinton and Obama were, in his opposition to same-sex marriage.


Michael K said...

"Actually, I suspect that Donald Trump is just as sincere as Clinton and Obama were, in his opposition to same-sex marriage."

Oh, I agree. SSM is the abortion question of this decade.

Chuck said...

SSM is the abortion question of this decade.

What does that mean?

Bob Boyd said...

The start of a personal and purpose driven phase...like a date rape.

Michael K said...

"SSM is the abortion question of this decade.

What does that mean?"

It is a stock question that politicians must answer correctly, whether they believe what they say or not.

The answers depend on which party you are running in.

McChrystal has an op-ed this weekend in the NY Times about banning guns. I assume he plans to run for something as a Democrat.

See how easy that is ?

mccullough said...

What would Zeus do?

chickelit said...

Chuck said...SSM is the abortion question of this decade.

What does that mean?


It means that it's a litmus test.

You can't be that dense.

Bay Area Guy said...

Hillary's the least authentic person on Planet Earth. Trump authentically set out to build apartments, hotels, casinos and golf courses to make lots of money. He's been honest about his ambitions, albeit a bit obnoxious.

Hillary wants power over us, wants to impose her liberal authoritarian will and vision over the country - and hitched herself to Bill's coat tails all these years to silently pursue this quest.

I hope Trump can pull this off. Denying Hillary of her quest is the most important aim of this election.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I honestly believe that the lines are so clearly drawn between American voters over gun control, in a way that works against the liberal elites, that if Trump took a strong position in favor of gun rights that alone could put him over the top.

chickelit said...

I honestly believe that the lines are so clearly drawn between American voters over gun control, in a way that works against the liberal elites, that if Trump took a strong position in favor of gun rights that alone could put him over the top.

He should, but will he?

campy said...

if Trump took a strong position in favor of gun rights that alone could put him over the top.

He won't, and it wouldn't matter if he did. Hillary is going to win — By Any Means Necessary.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I can't stand books like "A Purpose Driven Life" and have never managed to read more than a chapter or two of any purported "Christian" book written in the modern era with maybe two exceptions. To me they seem repetitive and their "message" is either theologically unsound or trivial.

Also, the writing is usually abominable.

Chuck said...

Trump? Taking a strong position on guns?

He was for an assault weapons ban in 2000, in his book The America We Deserve. And then as this campaign kicked off a year ago, Trump lied about that position in an interview with gun rights magazine Ammoland:

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/07/robert-farago/trump-lies-about-2000-call-for-assault-weapons-ban/

Now, with shifting political winds, Trump seems to once again be tacking to the convenient winds, and (having secured an endorsement from the NRA) is talking about regulations again, including the adoption of Democratic proposals on barring firearm sales to persons whose name appears on a terrorist watch list, etc.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/us/politics/donald-trump-gun-control-nra.html?_r=0

shiloh said...

Damn, 4 1/2 more mos. of Althouse pedestrian psychoanalysis of Hillary.

In the final analysis, voters pick the nominee they feel most comfortable with being president. Hillary vs Trump ... how did Hillary get soooo damn lucky?

Lewis Wetzel said...

"It's a signalling thing, to be reading those books."
I am just finishing Runyon's The Pilgrim's Progress. A very different outlook. You are steeped in sin and your misery is a result of your sin. The way to improve your life and the world around you is to do what scripture says, go in the narrow gate, stay on the straight and narrow path, overcome diversity, and true desire of your heart will be yours.

Michael K said...

"Denying Hillary of her quest is the most important aim of this election."

Yes. I would vote for Bernie over her. He is not dangerous. He is inept; she is the secular version of the Anti-Christ.

Bernardine Dohrn without the gun.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The virtue that I am signaling is thrift. The Pilgrim's Progress is in the public domain as an ebook :)
I thought that it would be much more dour than it is. "Slew of despond" and all that. But Christian is helped by various powers at critical times. Persevere, and salvation is assured.

Luke Lea said...

"You know, I have, ever since I've been a little girl, felt the presence of God in my life. And it has been a gift of grace that has, for me, been incredibly sustaining. But, really, ever since I was a child, I have felt the enveloping support and love of God and I have had the experiences on many, many occasions where I felt like the holy spirit was there with me as I made a journey."

Channeling Angela Merkel?

Bruce Hayden said...

@Michael K - Hillary doesn't need a gun. She would apparently have 200,000 armed federal civilian employees at her beck and call, if she were elected President. Not bound by the UCMJ. Just what her hand picked Attorney General decides are the proper constraints on the use of those armed bureaucrats and agents.

Wince said...

"You know, I have, ever since I've been a little girl, felt the presence of God in my life -- or a close male friend of the family, I don't remember, exactly."

Fernandinande said...

Luke Lea said...
Channeling Angela Merkel?


Occam's razor says she's just lying. Occam's butterknife says temporal lobe epilepsy.

rhhardin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

She is a better liar than Trump, but, paradoxically, that makes her lies appear more manipulative. Bill Clinton is still the go to guy if you want to hear sincere, earnest lies. Trump's lies are part of his sales pitch. Hillary's lies are who she is. There is nothing about her that quite rings true, as brittle as a porcelain bell.

Chuck said...

chickelit said...
Chuck said...SSM is the abortion question of this decade.

What does that mean?

It means that it's a litmus test.

You can't be that dense.


Let's presume that you are correct. Is that a bad thing? "Litmus test" tells me that you think it is a terrible thing, right? "Litmus test" is our modern terminology for invidiously bad issues, right?

Because opposition to SSM and abortion could simply be "principles." Like "marriage equality" and "choice" and "medical access" and "privacy" are all principles and not litmus tests, right?

By those standards, Republicans (the real kind, not Donald Trump) have principles and not litmus tests. There are pro-choice Republicans and pro-gay marriage Republicans. Are there a-n-y Democrats who are pro-life or who oppose gay marriage?

So; I was not suggesting that Trump was insufficiently "Republican" originally. (I'd be happy to do that, on other and more detailed grounds.) But I am suggesting that Donald Trump is a lot like Groucho Marx (as well as candidates Obama and Clinton): "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."


rhhardin said...

Paul E Schmidt, empiricist professor of religion, notes the difference between experiencing God and a similar drug induced experience is no hangover for the former.

Anonymous said...

She's felt the presence of God?

No doubt, He comes around to get advice from her and to see which bimbo Bill is screwing this week.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Oh right. The god awful story about her mom again.

Here's the summary: Her mom was hated by her grandmom and grandpop so they sent her to live with Hill's great-grandparents in California.

There Hillary's momma was treated even worse by them. And Hill internalized the message that women are treated horribly... because in HER family they WERE. (Of course, maybe everyone in her family treated everyone like shit regardless of gender. But that's the conclusion we're not allowed to explore.

And so Hillary needs to resolve her resentments and family issues in the only conceivable way: By becoming president.

Of course. That's how all great presidencies are made. By people with intractable psychological problems proving that becoming president will help them overcome those things.

Which they won't and which will leave the rest of us without a voice that cares more about us than it does for the voices in her own fucking head.

Get out of the race Hillary and onto the psychiatrist's ottoman.

Bruce Hayden said...

She is such a lier. From her start as a lawyer, when given the choice of the morally correct choice or th personally advancing or enriching one, she has almost always picked the latter. A good Methodist like her should know that part of living that purposeful life is to try to live morally. There is little, if any evidence that she has ever really tried to do so. Rather the opposite. And one difference with Catholicism is that there is no one to confess to, allowing you to feel absolved from your sins. So, it is all on her own. And, yes, lying itself is sinful.

Of course, maybe they interpret purpose driven life means having a goal, and doing whatever it takes to achieve that goal, regardless of the merits of the goal (in her case, apparently to acquire as much money and power as she can, regardless of what she needs to acquire it). So, from that point of view, she has had a purpose driven life, and she has achieved much of her purpose. Never mind, of course, the lives ruined or lost along the way.

CWJ said...

Terry,

"overcome diversity" @9:32 made me smile.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Damn, 4 1/2 more mos. of Althouse pedestrian psychoanalysis of Hillary.

Actually, "psychoanalyzing" Hillary is easier than counting the number of Tic Tacs in a container. She makes her problem as obvious as she can.

Her family hated her mom so all women everywhere must now need to have a figurehead in an empty, platitude-spouting Everywoman President.

That's the lesson of the Hillary Candidacy. She is Everywoman. Because as we all know, every woman in America grew up in an unsupportive, nasty household that demeaned each other along gender lines and made them cry out for a female president to put a stop to this.

Only presidential example can stop bad family dynamics. Russia, Wall Street, terrorism, declining living standards, unwinding our Mid-East empire... All those things can wait.

It's time for Hillary to fight her family's anti-woman ghosts. America's New #1 Top Priority.

Bruce Hayden said...

@R&B - hard to believe that the Rodham greed and lust for power really had that much to do with the treatment of women in the family. Her two brothers keep popping up at the center of Clinton family schemes to aggrandize themselves. If anything, they seem even sleazier than she does.

Bill said...

Watching her, one feels the presence of Gawd.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

@R&B - hard to believe that the Rodham greed and lust for power really had that much to do with the treatment of women in the family.

She thinks it does and that's all that matters.

Perception is everything in psychology no less than it is in marketing.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Her perception of how to overcome how she feels she (or her mom) was treated is used to justify everything she does. Whether she'd be just as greedy or lustful for power otherwise is an open, and unanswerable question.

But this childhood issue of hers is what she thinks back on to justify it.

She might as well put a picture of her momma's head on that seal hanging on the podiums she speaks at. She's doin' it for momma.

Make momma proud, Hill! Throw everything else under the bus and make momma proud!

Bruce Hayden said...

Actually, I probably misspoke about the Rodham brothers - they keep popping up in the periphery of the Clinton schemes to aggrandize themselves, not at the center. She and her husband are the big time grifters. Her brothers are the ones always hovering around, scooping up the crumbs. The Clintons walk away controlling well over a billion dollars, and her brothers seem to be picking up a hundred thousand here and fifty grand there. Constant work, but they will probably never have anything near the wealth of their sister. What they seem to be doing a lot of the time is selling access, no matter how indirect, to their sister, and maybe brother in law. But mostly, any more, to their sister.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

To the contrary, I think it admirably forthright that HRC wants us all to know that she has temporal lobe epilepsy.

Anonymous said...

Every time I have the bad luck to hear Hillary's voice, I think "dead". You hear the dead voice and can see the dead eyes. Dead gestures. Dead soul.

Vito Gassmann said...

Remember Valley Girl Talk? Gag me with a spoon.

hombre said...

Hillbilly speaks: "You know, I have, ever since I've been a little girl, felt the presence of God in my life. And it has been a gift of grace that has, for me, been incredibly sustaining. But, really, ever since I was a child, I have felt the enveloping support and love of God and I have had the experiences on many, many occasions where I felt like the holy spirit was there with me as I made a journey."

Jesus speaks: Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?"

Nuff said.

mockturtle said...

Trump's mother was a maid at one time, too, but he doesn't appear to be politicizing that as yet.

traditionalguy said...

The Ghost of Vincent Foster past probably still haunts her like Dicken's Scrooge was haunted by Marley.

But money and power are a comfort.

Drago said...

Another day where "lifelong Republican" Chuck courageously avoids criticism of Hillary.

And to think it wasn't that long ago where Chucks excuse for not criticizing hillary was we were in the midst of the Republican primary.

But the primary is over and "lifelong Republican" Chucks shtick remains the same.

You are free to draw the obvious conclusions.

Bilwick said...

If Queen Cacklepants were any more purpose driven she'd be a guided missile.

CWJ said...

Miriam,

Actually I prefer cut and paste to people expecting me to go to links with at best minimal indication of what I'll find there.

That said. Could you please not try to turn a Hillary thread into a Trump thread? There are plenty of Trump threads to post stuff like this, and the attempted misdirection is both tedious and obvious. Why do you do this?

Inga said...

CWJ! You're right! I posted this in the wrong thread. But it's so good I'm leaving it here.

rcocean said...

Hillary will get elected because the MSM will help her hide and make the election all about Trump. She will be portrayed as the normal, sane candidate, she will suffer no adversarial interviews or tough questions. Her speeches will attack Trump, but otherwise say nothing.

Rats (Republican American traitors) like Romney, kristol, Goldberg, Kasich, and all the nevertrumpers will attack Trump but so nothing against her.

Fred Drinkwater said...

What kind of browser are people using that makes it so easy to post in the wrong thread? I see that all the time.

chickelit said...

Drago offered: You are free to draw the obvious conclusions.

Chuck isn't paid to tear down Hillary is my conclusion. He might make a token appearance here in response and even lob something gratuitous at her for free.

rcocean said...

I've never seen "Miriam" before. Is she getting paid by "Hillary for President"? Or is she 'Chuck' sock puppet?

rcocean said...

You seen her type all over the net. Say a good thing about Trump and a "Miriam" shows up to regurgitate the DNC's talking points.

We don't need her at Althouse. We already have R&B.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And America doesn't need you, rc. It already has Trump.

shiloh said...

"to regurgitate the DNC's talking points."

Indeed, thank goodness there are never any RNC talking points from the 95/5 con majority at Althouse.

Ironically the main RNC talking point at the moment is how do "we" get rid of Trump. But Althouse is trying her best not to mention that tidbit here.

CWJ said...

rcocean,

I don't agree with most of what she posts, but "Miriam" is OK if she's the person I think she is. We can live with her AND Ritmo (aka R&B).

Gahrie said...

Indeed, thank goodness there are never any RNC talking points from the 95/5 con majority at Althouse.

Actually, at least half of the Conservatives on Althouse hate the RNC almost as much as the Democrats. I certainly consider them an enemy.

Gahrie said...

That said. Could you please not try to turn a Hillary thread into a Trump thread?

That's her job.

chickelit said...

That's her job.

Her rice bowl

Achilles said...

shiloh said...

"Indeed, thank goodness there are never any RNC talking points from the 95/5 con majority at Althouse."

This is what a stupid person with no critical thinking skills would deduce.

It is pretty clear that the "Con majority" here hates the GOPe/RNC as much as the democrat party. I personally hate traitors more than enemies and the RNC are traitors. Except for Chuck of course who is just an oligarch pet.

but most Hillary supporters are either really stupid or have no soul.

shiloh said...

"It is pretty clear that the "Con majority" here hates the GOPe/RNC"

No, "you" hate the GOP/RNC because they keep losing presidential elections, rather than disagreeing w/their policy positions. And in a "divided" govt. you can blame one side or the other, but little progress is gonna be made regardless.

Of course, if Althouse cons ever got their dream "conservative" presidential candidate nominated, he or she would lose spectacularly in the general!

None of you fools seemed to like Kasich, but he did better in the polls than any other Rep. as he had the audacity to be a moderate. Gasp!

Indeed, Kasich is a moderate much like Dutch became after he was elected president ie that's how you get re-elected. Shocking!

One could easily argue that Nixon in his landslide victory in '72 was more of a moderate than Clinton in '96.

I yield back the balance of my time ...

Achilles said...

shiloh said...
"It is pretty clear that the "Con majority" here hates the GOPe/RNC"

"No, "you" hate the GOP/RNC because they keep losing presidential elections, rather than disagreeing w/their policy positions."

God you are stupid. The RNC wants open borders, wars that don't do anything, and passed the last major entitlement. Republicans don't want any of that. Trump is being attacked by the oligarch pets in the republican party more than by Hillary.

Don't think about why though. You might hurt yourself.

hombre said...

Shiloh: "None of you fools seemed to like Kasich, but he did better in the polls than any other Rep. as he had the audacity to be a moderate. Gasp!"

Lefties love polls so much that they will vote for the Queen of the Grifters if she leads them and that would be true even if Kasich were nominated.

Roger Simon coins a great phrase in his new book, "moral narcissism. It explains a lot.

shiloh said...

If your bs is true Achilles then it's Republican voters who are stupid because they keep electing representatives who will not do their bidding.

And when Hillary is easily elected, I'm "somewhat" concerned you might hurt yourself!

mikee said...

Hillary has a purpose, it is just so despicable that one tries to avoid even recognizing it.