The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for May, 2017

There are days when I almost regret having established my tradition of the biweekly Ass Clown Awards ... not because I don't enjoy doing them, but because the mental anguish of having to select one appropriate representative out of the surging crowd of eligible candidates causes miserable headaches.

I had the list of finalists down to five for this week, and the choice was difficult to make, but you're counting on me to do it ... and so, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I give you

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for May, 2017

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Disclaimer: I voted for Hillary Clinton for president in the last election, if with gritted teeth and crossed fingers.

For the last two years, during the presidential campaign and its aftermath, I took a very large amount of grief from my more conservative friends for not bestowing this award upon Secretary Clinton. I was sternly lectured on her many faults, and the various reasons why our government would crumble into ruin if such a morally flawed individual as she - hell-bent on ruining the nation - were elected. 

Well, the people spoke and - although they gave her three million more popular* votes than Mr Trump - the Constitution mandated that she lose in the Electoral College to a different morally flawed individual hell-bent on ruining the nation. 

Secretary Clinton is presented this award for her recent interview with CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour in which, although she said that "I accept full personal responsibility" for losing the election, she went on to provide a laundry list of the real reasons she lost (Russian meddling, misogyny, Wiki-Leaks, FBI Director Comey's actions** while investigating the horror of her private e-mail server, etc, etc) ... none of which mentioned her own actions and personal shortcomings as a candidate (poor likeability, a deficit of trust, etc). 

We know from observation that Donald Trump will dodge responsibility and blame everyone but himself when things go wrong. One would have hoped that Secretary Clinton, seeing this, would have stepped up and delivered an honest critique of the campaign that acknowledged her role in the defeat ... but one would be disappointed. I, for one, had hoped for better.

We live in a political era in which the acceptance of personal responsibility is viewed as a sign of weakness. Everything that goes wrong is always someone else's fault. Unfortunately, we swallow this whole and give those we like a free pass while heaping blame on everyone else.

We get what we deserve.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, Hillary Rodham Clinton is our Right-Cheek Ass Clown for the Month of May, 2017. 

And it's no one's fault but her own.

Have a good day. Come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

* I use the term "popular" to mean "of the people," not to imply that Secretary Clinton was especially popular in her own right. She was not an especially likeable or trust-inspiring candidate, and gave her opponents plenty of opportunities to magnify her shortcomings.

** Which won him the Right-Cheek Ass Clown Award for November of 2016.