When I was a kid (thought I felt kind of old at the time) disaster movies were the thing.
Before Star Wars, the 1970s were about killer sharks, towering infernos, earthquakes, and capsized cruise ships.
Psychologists and sociologists attributed the genre’s popularity to the people’s need to assimilate nuclear holocaust.
I think the movies were just good, cathartic entertainment.
Nonnie Parry: [Deck behind the group is flooding rapidly] How long will we stay afloat?
James Martin: Long enough
Robin Shelby: The Andrea Doria stayed afloat 10 hours before she sank.
–The Poseidon Adventure
Doug Roberts: I don’t know. Maybe they just oughta leave it the way it is. Kind of a shrine to all the bullshit in the world.
– The Towering Inferno
And then there was the more personal and mysterious horror flick.
Wendy Torrance: Hey. Wasn’t it around here that the Donner Party got snowbound?
Jack Torrance: I think that was farther west in the Sierras.
Wendy Torrance: Oh.
Danny Torrance: What was the Donner Party?
Jack Torrance: They were a party of settlers in covered-wagon times. They got snowbound one winter in the mountains. They had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
Danny Torrance: You mean they ate each other up?
Jack Torrance: They had to, in order to survive.
Wendy Torrance: Jack…
Danny Torrance: Don’t worry, Mom. I know all about cannibalism. I saw it on TV.
Jack Torrance: See, it’s okay. He saw it on the television.
When the Presidential campaign began, pundits saw the stars lining up for Hillary Clinton. (I didn’t. But I’ve never been any good at seeing things in the stars.)
Hillary was running more or less unopposed for the Democrat nomination. She could pack in the cash and build an oppo file on the Republicans throughout 2015, receive her party’s coronation at the convention, then come out guns blazing in September when people start to pay attention.
Meanwhile, the Republicans would rip each other to shreds. Seventeen candidates would make fools of themselves trying to tear down the heir-apparent, Jeb Bush. In vain, because Jeb Bush was invincible with his family name and endorsements and war chest. And no Bush has ever beaten a Clinton.
That was the prevailing narrative in May 2015. My, how times have changed.
Democrats will now run to RealClearPolitics and say “but, but, but the polls!” Yeah. Whatever.
The SS Hillary is a ship taking on water beyond the capacity of the the drain pump to discharge overboard. The Andria Doria stayed afloat 10 days. I’m not sure the Hillary Clinton can survive 10 weeks.
Here’s what’s sinking the Hillary:
** Benghazi won’t go away ** Hillary introduced Bill Clinton’s unresolved sexual harassment charges, and the issue’s not helping ** Bernie Sanders only grows in popularity with the Democrats' socialist base ** Political correctness–a product of the Clinton era–is a dirty word for most Americans ** Joe Biden prefers himself or Sanders ** Elizabeth Warren lurks in the wings ** Jim Webb might run as a third-party moderate ** 150 FBI agents and DoJ investigators are preparing an indictment over Hillary’s email server ** Hillary’s health problems won’t go away ** Fewer people are willing to say they won’t vote for Trump under any circumstances
Are many of these stories the product of wishful thinking? Sure. But not all.
And any one of these stories could stop Hillary dead in her tracks. If she loses Iowa or New Hampshire, or both, her campaign could be over.
Two years ago, I predicted Hillary would not run. When she announced, I modified that to say she would not make it to the DNC convention.
Look how the parties have reversed. The Republicans are down to two candidates: Trump and Cruz. And they’re the only two who seem unwilling to attack each other (despite fraudulent attempts by the press to make people believe they are.)
And the Democrats are cannibalizing their own. Realizing that he has a chance at the nomination, Colonel Sanders is now battling Clinton in earnest, and Clinton is feebly fighting back.
The old days of the 1990s aren’t helping. In fact, they’re getting in the way. And her time at State seems more like time in in the state penitentiary. Her excuses seem weak. Her plans seemed warmed-over. And she seems tired.
I stand by my prediction. And I’m more confident every day. Hillary will be nothing more than an honored guest at her party’s convention.