Taming Of The Shrew?

Not a chance. Harold Ickes made that perfectly clear at Saturday's Democratic Rules and Bylaws meeting.

Has Hillary overplayed her hand? Maybe, but my wager is she is not going to fold.

I've been reading Gail Sheehy's book Hillary's Choice. I should have finished it weeks ago but after three or four chapters I get so exercised I have to set it aside for awhile. What I am learning, however, is that everything we have been witness to during this primary season follows Hillary's pattern since childhood. When she gets in hot water she turns to the victim strategy. She does not accept defeat. Period. And, in truth, she is an elitist.

Had she been of a different generation, she may not have attached her ambitions to Bill Clinton. Every choice she made since the day they met was calculated to elevate him to the presidency. She had the instincts, the drive and the discipline he lacked. She sacrificed hugely for the effort. He had the ability to schmooze. He sacrificed little and benefited mightily.

Time and again during their tenure in Arkansas it was suggested perhaps the wrong Clinton was being supported. That was probably a correct observation. She mastered the art of compartmentalizing her bruised feelings, inflicted by Bill's inability and unwillingness to curb his own weaknesses. He, and her ambitions for him, always prevailed.

Now it's her turn. It would seem she has some weaknesses of her own. An ego without check. A campaign staff and spokesmen, including Bill, who are less than warm and fuzzy. A penchant for miscalculation - the primary would be over super Tuesday. Rules don't matter unless they are to her benefit.

She has said all those against her are misogynists, haters of women. Does that mean the women who so fervently back her are misandrists? Haters of men? Sometimes I've wondered! They certainly have no comprehension of fair play, truth or rules. Nor do the have any comprehension of the fact that people who don't back Hillary have very valid reasons. That she is female has nothing to do with it.

I'm guessing if Hillary does bow out of the race before the convention it will be with a great deal of reluctance and no poker face. I'm guessing she'll do no more than absolutely necessary to bring the party together or to help Obama beat McCain.

We know by now she's not a team player. We know rules are not meant for her. We know that the Clinton to be feared is Hillary, not Bill. What we don't know is whether or not she will have expended all her political capital by the time this is over.

Will she rise from the flames like a phoenix or has she driven a stake through her own heart?