The Vanity Fair Hillary Clinton video isn't worth the fuss
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton . (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Thereâs not much to do when youâre home for the holidays  so this season some have decided to fill up their free time by melting down over  a video that snipes at Hillary Clinton .
âTake up a hobby in the new year â a young writer holding a glass of champagne says to  Clinton  in the short  which Vanity Fair magazineâs âHiveâ vertical produced as part of a series proposing âresolutionsâ to various political figures. âVolunteer work  knitting  improv comedy â literally anything that will keep you from running again.â
Well  no.  The video  had sexist overtones  and the lameness of the jokes made them all the more offensive.  It âs harder to plead comedic license when your comedy isnât funny. But  Clinton  occupies an odd place in the political sphere:  She  was so close to the Oval Office for so long leading up to 2016 that  her  heir apparentness discouraged potential challengers. A career candidate from a Democratic dynasty held little appeal for anyone dissatisfied with the party status quo then  and will hold even less in 2020. Itâs not surprising that some cringe to think  Clinton âs shadow could still loom over races to come.
So then why resurrect  her ?
Although ride-or-die  Clinton  supporters werenât they only ones who took umbrage at the knitting comment  it was that cohort who turned particularly hysterical. These all-in  Clinton  fans seem determined to keep their candidate relevant: Even if they arenât calling on  her  to run again  they want  her  at the center of the political conversation. Every faux pas of President Trumpâs becomes an opportunity for Clinton-would-have-been-bettering. No kidding  she  would  yet thatâs neither here nor there when it comes to countering the damage Trump does every day  or to cultivating a roster of candidates who will win the seats to turn things around.
[Vanity Fair staffers provide snotty  condescending life tips for  Hillary Clinton ]
But more perplexing than the multitude of Clinton crusaders who are still crusading are the  Clinton  critics who continue to place the defeated candidate center-stage in their narratives even as they shriek that they want  her  out. This  besides its blatant unfunniness  may be the greatest failing of Vanity Fairâs ill-advised advice video. The staffers have devoted one minute and three seconds to telling  Clinton  to go away  and all theyâve succeeding in doing is bringing  her  right back.
This is âWhat Happened?â week on repeat. Journalists lambasted  Clinton  for re-litigating the 2016 primary in writing  and then they did the exact same thing. Over and over. They rolled their eyes at  her  play for attention  cash  catharsis or whatever else it was â and then they helped  her  find all of the above.
And itâs not only professional pundits who canât seem to give  Clinton  up. For every amateur commentator or plain old civilian re-upping a  Clinton  campaign talking point on Twitter  thereâs someone ready to fire back with an explanation of why  Clinton  is the worst politician of all time. This goes on  every day  more than a year after the election and almost a year after the man who beat  Clinton  walked into the White House.
Hours before the Vanity Fair outrage  Trump sent a Boxing Day Twitter missive from Mar-a-Lago in his usual style: âThey used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!â he concluded  harping on his beef with  Clinton  yet again. Which prompted all his critics  left  very left and right alike  to tell him to get over it. Perhaps they should  too.
[TGT]  . (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Thereâs not much to do when youâre home for the holidays  so this season some have decided to fill up their free time by melting down over  a video that snipes at  [TGT]  .
âTake up a hobby in the new year â a young writer holding a glass of champagne says to  Clinton  in the short  which Vanity Fair magazineâs âHiveâ vertical produced as part of a series proposing âresolutionsâ to various political figures. âVolunteer work  knitting  improv comedy â literally anything that will keep you from running again.â
Well  no.  The video  had sexist overtones  and the lameness of the jokes made them all the more offensive.  It âs harder to plead comedic license when your comedy isnât funny. But  Clinton  occupies an odd place in the political sphere:  She  was so close to the Oval Office for so long leading up to 2016 that  her  heir apparentness discouraged potential challengers. A career candidate from a Democratic dynasty held little appeal for anyone dissatisfied with the party status quo then  and will hold even less in 2020. Itâs not surprising that some cringe to think   [TGT]  âs shadow could still loom over races to come.
So then why resurrect  her ?
Although ride-or-die   [TGT]   supporters werenât they only ones who took umbrage at the knitting comment  it was that cohort who turned particularly hysterical. These all-in  Clinton  fans seem determined to keep their candidate relevant: Even if they arenât calling on  her  to run again  they want  her  at the center of the political conversation. Every faux pas of President Trumpâs becomes an opportunity for  [TGT] -would-have-been-bettering. No kidding  she  would  yet thatâs neither here nor there when it comes to countering the damage Trump does every day  or to cultivating a roster of candidates who will win the seats to turn things around.
[Vanity Fair staffers provide snotty  condescending life tips for  Hillary Clinton ]
But more perplexing than the multitude of  [TGT]  crusaders who are still crusading are the   [TGT]   critics who continue to place the defeated candidate center-stage in their narratives even as they shriek that they want  her  out. This  besides its blatant unfunniness  may be the greatest failing of Vanity Fairâs ill-advised advice video. The staffers have devoted one minute and three seconds to telling  Clinton  to go away  and all theyâve succeeding in doing is bringing  her  right back.
This is âWhat Happened?â week on repeat. Journalists lambasted  Clinton  for re-litigating the 2016 primary in writing  and then they did the exact same thing. Over and over. They rolled their eyes at  her  play for attention  cash  catharsis or whatever else it was â and then they helped  her  find all of the above.
And itâs not only professional pundits who canât seem to give  Clinton  up. For every amateur commentator or plain old civilian re-upping a  Clinton  campaign talking point on Twitter  thereâs someone ready to fire back with an explanation of why  Clinton  is the worst politician of all time. This goes on  every day  more than a year after the election and almost a year after the man who beat  Clinton  walked into the White House.
Hours before the Vanity Fair outrage  Trump sent a Boxing Day Twitter missive from Mar-a-Lago in his usual style: âThey used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!â he concluded  harping on his beef with  Clinton  yet again. Which prompted all his critics  left  very left and right alike  to tell him to get over it. Perhaps they should  too.