Get Lost

What lesson do you think Hillary Clinton has learned most pointedly from her enduring marriage to Bill? Forgiveness? Tolerance? Patience? Or maybe political opportunism:

In a speech at a fund-raising dinner for a Boston-based organization that promotes faith-based solutions to social problems, Clinton said there has been a "false division" between faith-based approaches to social problems and respect for the separation of church of state.

"There is no contradiction between support for faith-based initiatives and upholding our constitutional principles," said Clinton, a New York Democrat who often is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008.

Addressing a crowd of more than 500, including many religious leaders, at Boston's Fairmont Copley Plaza, Clinton invoked God more than half a dozen times, at one point declaring, "I've always been a praying person."

She said there must be room for religious people to "live out their faith in the public square."

There’s nothing technically wrong with what Clinton is saying; it’s true that there isn’t an inherent contradiction between support for faith-based initiatives and upholding our constitutional principles. In fact, there are many religiously-based organizations that do incredible work (namely those who do their work without proselytizing or requiring the beneficiaries of their charitable work to adhere to a particular faith), and they should never be barred from receiving federal funding because they were founded by people of faith. But likewise, non-religious groups shouldn’t be excluded from a list of organizations approved to receive federal funds—and that’s what’s happening under the orders of this administration. Hillary’s decision to ignore that reality is truly disingenuous.

And when she says that there has been a “false division” between faith-based approaches to social problems and respect for the separation of church of state, she’s right—the administration has made repeated attempts to minimize that division, using their support of faith-based approaches to mollify those who falsely claim a Christian foundation as part of this country’s history. But that’s not what Hillary’s saying. Hillary is scolding those who resent and criticize the Bush Administration’s preferential treatment of Christian social service organizations.

Hillary is trying to distance herself from secular liberals.

Personally, I’m not a praying person, but I’m gonna start. I’m gonna pray every day between now and 2008 that the Clintons FUCK OFF and take their bullshit, opportunistic, sell-out centrism with them. Amen.