Rush Limbaugh continued his long, strange vendetta against Hillary Clinton on Thursday, referring to Mrs. Clinton as merely a "secretary." Questioning her attendance at Time's 100 Most Influential bash the other night (a soiree "by libs, for libs, with libs"), Limbaugh wondered, "Exactly how influential is Hillary Clinton? What has she ever accomplished as Secretary of State?"
Having called former Secretary of State Warren Christopher a "prune face," Limbaugh has firmly established his lack of respect for the office. Limbaugh asked:
Where is the greatness? Where is the influence? Where is the standing up for America? Where is the defending America as a superpower? It doesn't exist.
Post-Sandra Fluke, Mrs. Clinton had said her political opponents are "entitled to their opinion," but also stated that "No one is entitled to engage in that kind of, you know, verbal assault." She also sensibly suggested, "Whether it comes from the right, the left, up, down, wherever it comes from, let's all ask for a return to civility and the kind of debate that really enables citizens to make better decisions."
That's a very diplomatic statement (as you would expect, coming from a diplomat), and all the more admirable given that she's talking about someone who, back in February, played a clip of Mrs. Clinton, then commented, "And people ask why the divorce rate in America is so high." And who could forget the classy moment when, on his old TV show in 1993, Limbaugh "mistakenly" introduced his audience to the White House dog by showing a picture of thirteen-year-old Chelsea Clinton in braces.
I'm not sure if it's only the politics, or if he's also intimidated by a strong woman, but Limbaugh's distaste for Secretary Clinton seems overly bitter. He took a nice swipe at her career, saying:
You can almost say folks, that Mrs. Clinton worked very hard throughout her whole life and she stuck by her husband while he… humiliated her, embarrassed her — affair, after affair, after affair — and now Hillary has reached a pinnacle, and all she is is a secretary. She's a secretary of defense. State! State. Whatever. But still a secretary. I don't know. The left has the strangest definitions of success.
It also must be strange to still lose sleep each night obsessing over Whitewater and Vince Foster.