# Tell me Hillary wouldn't be a socialist dictator. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701 "2007-03-05T17:12:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/21 "2007-03-05T18:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] As I said: I’m open to ignorance-fighting here. Did she, or did she not, say she wanted to “take things from [us] for the common good?” While I’m sure she would try to explain this comment in some more palatable way after the fact, I’ve never heard before that this isn’t what she actually said. [/QUOTE] If that is exactly what she said, then I for one am impressed by Hillary’s linguistic ability to pronounce brackets. For the record, here’s the entire quote (minus the elided bit, which seems to be common in most stories reporting this quote): > [@](#): > > “Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you,” Sen. Clinton said. “We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” From [here](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040629-0007-ca-clintons-sanfrancisco.html). This more or less matches with what **tomndebb** already explained: she wants to reverse tax cuts that were already passed, which is _in effect_ taking money away from people the tax cuts would have benefited. I agree with the sentiment, although I think the phrasing is hideous. It should also be noted that this was a quote from 2004, so it may not even reflect her current opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/22 "2007-03-05T18:10:42Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] So what **are** you saying, then, **SA**? I haven’t seen that good a demo of backpedaling (as post #15) since Chris took up stunt-biking. [/quote] You have got to be kidding me! Surely you don’t think I meant that Clinton would be a full-blown dictator in actual point of fact. You know better and so do I. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/23 "2007-03-05T18:10:49Z")
Oh, and by the way, to respond to your thread-title request, “Hilary would not be a socialist dictator.” You asked to be told it; I did. You might look some of what they said about Eleanor Roosevelt while her husband was president, and how foolish they look now for having said it. Then remember that ER is Hilary’s chosen role model. (I’m sure you can find some juicy stuff that way too, if you care to look into it.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/24 "2007-03-05T18:17:38Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] You have got to be kidding me! Surely you don’t think I meant that Clinton would be a full-blown dictator in actual point of fact. You know better and so do I. [/QUOTE] Right. You ranted, as I’ve already noted was your privilege. And got called on it, and rephrased your rant. Now, I’m asking what specific issues you have with HRC. I though my asking that question was clear; you, unlike some _ranteurs_ generally have some point behind your hyperbole. If the rest of us are supposed to prove that Hilary doesn’t preside at Lesbian cannibal orgies consuming puree de fetus abortee soup or that she doesn’t plan on turning Wyoming into a statewide memorial for Matthew Shepard, it would be nice to know what it is that you actually allege she’d do that has incited your wrath, so that we can analyze it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/25 "2007-03-05T18:17:56Z")
[QUOTE=BayleDomon] If that is exactly what she said, then I for one am impressed by Hillary’s linguistic ability to pronounce brackets. For the record, here’s the entire quote (minus the elided bit, which seems to be common in most stories reporting this quote):From [here](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040629-0007-ca-clintons-sanfrancisco.html). This more or less matches with what **tomndebb** already explained: she wants to reverse tax cuts that were already passed, which is _in effect_ taking money away from people the tax cuts would have benefited. I agree with the sentiment, although I think the phrasing is hideous. It should also be noted that this was a quote from 2004, so it may not even reflect her current opinion. [/QUOTE] Okay. See? Ignorance fought. I mentioned in my OP that the things I have heard in regard to her were recollections from long ago that had eventually slipped my mind. That is one reason I didn’t provide cites (are you listening **tdn**?) and why I said I’d be open to ignorance-fighting in regard to them. Your post shows her comment to be less offensive and confiscatory than I thought, so in regard to this comment I now view it as less ‘dictatorial’ than I previously did. Congratulations! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/26 "2007-03-05T18:34:46Z")
1. HRC is not a socialist. She is not a social democrat. She is not even a liberal. She is a DLC DINO maybe three or four degrees to the left of Bill. Look at her record, not her rhetoric. 2. Really, how could she be a dictator? What’s she got up her sleeve that W hasn’t already tried? ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/27 "2007-03-05T18:37:20Z")
**Starving Artist** and **tomndebb** , I appreciate the insights you each have provided as to why this thread belongs right where it is. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/28 "2007-03-05T18:38:54Z")
Isn’t this the same crap the right was spewing about Bill for years? ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/29 "2007-03-05T18:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] And how she has said that she wants to take private (oil) company profits and use them how she (or the government) sees fit. [/QUOTE] So then you’re in favor of continuing to let the oil companies operate as a cartel and make record profits at the same time as consumers pay record prices at the gas pump? That’s not _my_ idea of capitalism. You really want to defend that position? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/30 "2007-03-05T18:43:51Z")
it would be impossible for any US president to operate either as a “socialist” or as a “dictator” (though W has certainly tried). Suck it up, SA. HRC is probably going to be your next CIC and she can’t be anything but an improvement over what we’ve got now. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/31 "2007-03-05T18:49:46Z")
The same could be said of a damp dishrag, **Dio**. Honestly, if you’re going to damn her with such faint praise, I don’t see how you can call yourself a gentleman… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/32 "2007-03-05T19:00:27Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Right. You ranted, as I’ve already noted was your privilege. And got called on it, and rephrased your rant. Now, I’m asking what specific issues you have with HRC. I though my asking that question was clear; you, unlike some _ranteurs_ generally have some point behind your hyperbole. If the rest of us are supposed to prove that Hilary doesn’t preside at Lesbian cannibal orgies consuming puree de fetus abortee soup or that she doesn’t plan on turning Wyoming into a statewide memorial for Matthew Shepard, it would be nice to know what it is that you actually allege she’d do that has incited your wrath, so that we can analyze it. [/QUOTE] My point is exactly as I laid it out in the OP, as is what I’d allege she’d do…namely strive for a confiscatory, socialistic and quasi-communistic type of government that would provide harsh penalties for anyone daring to try to circumvent it. Thus I came bearing criticism and vague recollections, asking either that she be pilloried for her quasi-dictatorial stances on these issues, or for ignorance-fighting in regard to my remembered take on them should someone here amongst the knowledgeable Straight Dope population be able to provide it as one can often gain a greater insight or a more persuasive type of argument here than can typically be found through random internet searches. I don’t see why this is difficult to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/33 "2007-03-05T19:04:11Z")
[QUOTE=Eureka] **Starving Artist** and **tomndebb** , I appreciate the insights you each have provided as to why this thread belongs right where it is. [/QUOTE] But what about **John Mace**? He called me an idiot! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/34 "2007-03-05T19:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] My point is exactly as I laid it out in the OP, as is what I’d allege she’d do…namely strive for a confiscatory, socialistic and quasi-communistic type of government that would provide harsh penalties for anyone daring to try to circumvent it. [/quote] Translation: She would want to roll back tax cuts for the rich and push for universal heath care. Good for her. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/35 "2007-03-05T19:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] Did she, or did she not, say she wanted to “take things from [us] for the common good?” [/QUOTE] Who cares? That’s the essence of taxation in a democracy. I suppose the alternatives are to either (a) tax us in order to pay for things that _don’t_ benefit the common good, (b) not tax us at all, and find some other way of financing the government (maybe we could go around threatening to invade rich countries unless they hand over hundreds of billions of dollars), or (c) maybe there’s a third alternative I haven’t thought of. But you’re saying Hillary’s a potential dictator because she believes Americans should be taxed to support endeavors that are for the good of all. Just which Presidents _haven’t_ been dictators by this standard? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/36 "2007-03-05T19:12:52Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] iSuck it up, SA. HRC is probably going to be your next CIC… [/QUOTE] Perhaps, though my fondest hope is that she gains the nomination and gets so thoroughly hammered that she finally gets it through her thick head that the American people just really can’t stand her, and that she slinks off into obscurity ala Jimmy Carter and is scarcely heard from again–although the reality is that in the event of the demise of her presidential ambitions she’ll probably just go on forever as senator from New York, trying to gain as much power from that as she can ala Ted Kennedy and his career. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/37 "2007-03-05T19:14:04Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] But what about **John Mace**? He called me an idiot! 😉 [/QUOTE] If you’d started the thread in GD, either **John Mace** would have shown more restraint, or he’d have gotten smacked by the mods for not doing so. I saw no need to thank him for behavior which is only appropriate in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/38 "2007-03-05T19:15:58Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] That is one reason I didn’t provide cites (are you listening **tdn**?) and why I said I’d be open to ignorance-fighting in regard to them. [/QUOTE] I understand, and realize that this board can be a great resource for jogging your memory or getting some info that someone else might have easy access to. It’s just that you came off as a bit “Do my homework for me so that I don’t have to justify my wild accusations.” Just a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/39 "2007-03-05T19:16:32Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] Perhaps, though my fondest hope is that she gains the nomination and gets so thoroughly hammered that she finally gets it through her thick head that the American people just really can’t stand her, and that she slinks off into obscurity ala Jimmy Carter and is scarcely heard from again–although the reality is that in the event of the demise of her presidential ambitions she’ll probably just go on forever as senator from New York, trying to gain as much power from that as she can ala Ted Kennedy and his career. [/QUOTE] It’s only a minority of Americans who hate her (because they’ve been brainwashed to, not because of anything she’s ever actually done). Bush is actually far more disliked than Hillary is. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701/40 "2007-03-05T19:16:58Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] Perhaps, though my fondest hope is that she gains the nomination and gets so thoroughly hammered that she finally gets it through her thick head that the American people just really can’t stand her . . . [/QUOTE] And what if it turns out the American people **can** stand her? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-hillary-wouldnt-be-a-socialist-dictator/394701.md?page=3)