Beth Arnold

Whole Wide World Wants Obama

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

Putting yesterday's Pennsylvania primary in the correct perspective: Obama is the one who "closed" his deal by narrowing the big margin Hillary had going into the state. Hillary blew half her point lead. She lost even if she won. Even Republican caricature Bill Bennett applauded Hillary on her campaign -- which she ran like a Republican, he said on CNN. The Democratic commentators let that one go by without comment. What was up with them? Isn't this the ultimate insult, or is it a badge of honor for Leibercrat (thank you, Bob Cesca) Clinton?

Beyond Herself, Who Does Hillary Clinton Really Want to See Win?

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

The much-talked-about divisiveness in the Democratic Party is a hot topic to all Democrats and most Republicans, as the never-ending campaign of Hillary vs. Obama continues to take its toll. Wednesday night's debate was yet another example of Democratic bloodletting and again pointed out the part the press has played in perpetuating meaningless spin -- of which the point is to take down Barack Obama.

But the way to look at this is through the prism of Hillary's strategy, which is something most people don't keep their eye on because they've been distracted by yet another of her mines in the political field. The goal of this attack-and-destroy mission is to remove her competition one way or another. More about that later. And let's look at this in a wider perspective.

Hillary: First to Land on the Moon

This column first appeared on HuffintonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

With breaking news of Senator Hillary Clinton's heretofore unknown personal history and incredible accomplishments coming out daily, I thought I'd do some research of my own. What I found was stunning! It seems that this presidential hopeful has broken the boundaries of time and space to make her mark on her own country, and yes, indeed, the entire world. Mark Penn and James Carville have been slackers at their richly paid jobs as Hillary's Head Spinners as they led her attacks against Barack Obama.  They should have been encouraging their candidate to tell more about herself. 

Tibet, The French, & The Rights of Man

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

Parisians love a good demonstration, which they call "manifestations," especially when they concern the rights of man. Today, they grabbed the brass ring of human rights causes as the Olympic torch violently passed through the French capital.

On the Hotel de Ville of Paris (City Hall). The sign says: "Paris defends (stands up for) human rights everywhere in the world."

Does Hillary Have Any Shame?

This column first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

I'm asking.  Does Hillary Clinton feel any shame at all?  She was just on the Leno show to publicly announce--again--that she had a "lapse" and that was the reason she repeatedly lied in stump speeches about running from sniper fire in Tuzla, Bosnia. Obviously, the point of her appearance was to offset the political nightmare that ensued after the print media (including Frank Rich's great column)/TV/Internet pandemonium--the almost 2,000,000 views of this video--that forced her hand.

So the way she and her staff cleverly addressed this fabrication and others--like her non-support of NAFTA--was by lying again? Hillary walked on Leno's set and sat down in his chair. She was laughing while she dismissed herself from responsibility. She looked down instead of facing the audience, which she seemed unable to do (not a good sign in the truth department, if you ask me, but might show a smidgeon of shame), while she repeated her dog-ate-my-homework excuse. Hillary: "It's such a mismatch of words and actions...I wrote about this in my book, and I obviously just had a lapse...."

"Blue America" Blues

This column first appeared on Huffington Post.com. Comments not included here.

By Beth Arnold

"Oh, you're from a Red State." That's what the lanky man from San Francisco said at the moment we met. My husband and I were at a dinner with British/French friends, who wanted to introduce us to an American couple that lived in their building. We all were neighbors in Paris.

When my new acquaintance identified me in this way, I saw red.  Yes, I was from Arkansas and the state went for Bush--but I didn't. My friends didn't. A chunk of other people like us didn't. What was his point--to look down on us, or to put us down?

What I heatedly said back to the man was:  At least we're not so politically correct that we have as many rules as the right-wing Christians. You Californians may not have the same rules, but you have rules nonetheless--about how people should live, what we should eat and drink and smoke, what we should think and do. Oh, yes. It's free out there all right--as long as you fit a P.C. mold.