Reminding Us 'What Happened': Hillary's Latest Claim of Democratic Crisis Under Trump

Reviews for Hillary Clinton’s book What Happened — a 512-page recounting of her 2016 loss to political newcomer Donald J. Trump — are in. And not all are glowing, even at outlets which might be expected to offer enthusiastic upward thumbs.

At HuffPost, for instance, reviewer Sam Kriss titled his article “What Should Have Happened in Hillary Clinton’s Useless Book — An Artless and Inauthentic Memoir, Written by the Absence of Clinton.”

Perhaps in an effort to vitalize the work, she’s updated it with a new afterword. The former First Lady is isn’t particularly known for understatements — as I covered in July, she claimed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the highest court in the land could take the United States back to the days of slavery. Hillary’s latest expression decries a “constitutional crisis” due to the advent of the Trump era.

An early-morning Monday tweet linked to Clinton’s addendum, as featured by The Atlantic:

“My new afterword for ‘What Happened’ is excerpted in @TheAtlantic. It’s about the constitutional crisis building in our democracy and why we should all be focused, determined and, yes, optimistic as we work to save our country.”

My new afterword for "What Happened" is excerpted in @TheAtlantic. It's about the constitutional crisis building in our democracy and why we should all be focused, determined and, yes, optimistic as we work to save our country. https://t.co/HBEvB9919F

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 17, 2018

Here’s a taste:

Trump and his cronies do so many despicable things that it can be hard to keep track. I think that may be the point — to confound us, so it’s harder to keep our eye on the ball. The ball, of course, is protecting American democracy. As citizens, that’s our most important charge. And right now, our democracy is in crisis.

I don’t use the word crisis lightly.

Continuing:

There are no tanks in the streets. The administration’s malevolence may be constrained on some fronts — for now — by its incompetence. But our democratic institutions and traditions are under siege. We need to do everything we can to fight back. There’s not a moment to lose.

To her credit, that does sound like a crisis.

In the afterword, among other things, Hillary protests family separation at the border, Trump’s dispute of the hurricane death count in Puerto Rico, and The Donald’s criticism of kneeling NFL players.

Whatever her grievances in Trump’s America, Hillary Clinton appears as a woman who believes she was meant to lead. Given that, we’ve doubtlessly not heard or seen the last of her. She’ll make her way into the conversation, or way or the other. Will that occur related to a 2020 nomination? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, enjoy the hilarious duet between Hillary and her nemesis below.