Hillary Clinton has no integrity

Hillary Clinton has no integrity, and although I consider myself to be nomially a Democrat (once upon a time I was a much more enthusiastic member of the party, but more on that later), I would not vote for Hillary if she would become the Democratic candidate for president in 2008. I'd vote for some independent, or not vote at all. And, this is new for me because I have always thought that voting for a third party was a waste of a vote. Making a statement doesn't win any election, and often the worst choice ends up assuming power. But I wouldn't vote for HIllary.
The reason is her spearheading of the movement that would make flag burning illegal, and potentially unconstitutional. That movement came to an end in the Senate yesterday by a single vote. There are much more grave matters, and timely matters, for the government to deal with. Flag amendments have come up from time to time throughout history, often pushed by politicians that are in trouble and who are looking for a popular cause to trumpet and rally their constituents around. But, we are now at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, diabetes is an epidemic in the country and no one can seem to figure out how to provide decent affordable healthcare to a quarter or more of the American population, the current president assaults the constition almost daily and instead of fighting him tooth and nail, people like Hillary Clinton try to one-up his patriotism by making it illegal to burn the flag. Which is really attacking the freedom that the flag sybolizes, and using this wonderful symbol to desecrate the very constitution. And the country gets worked up while soldiers die in war and children die in poverty in this very country.
Clinton's purpose is to make herself unassailable should she run for the presidency. If she is on record as having promoted the anti-flag burning cause, a Republican can't as easily claim that she's fundamentally un-american. Hillary Clinton is covering her ass. Problem is, all this energy spent looking over her shoulder would be much more productively used in coming up wiht good ideas to deal with America's ills and really make this a better place to live, make us even more proud to be Americans. The great presidents are remembered for the risks they took- challenging the British to found a new country, daring to end slavery and keep the country together. If Mrs. Clinton is already showing that she's more interested in not doing wrong while not having the courage to do right, I don't think she would suddenly come up with great ideas, or resolve, were she to occupy the White House.
Which brings me back to why it pains me to call myself a Democrat today. I don't know what the Democratic party stands for. The party seems to exist more to balance out the Republicans, and play lip service to protecting the constitution from the damage the current president is inflicting upon it. But, other than contradicting the republicans in lock step, I haven't heard a single visionary idea from the Democrats in years. I hate to say it, but a vote for the Democratic candidate in 2008 will be a vote against the current government, not a vote for a particular vision of a brighter tomorrow. Not only has Hillary CLinton failed to demonstrate visionary thinking, she has reverted to a cynical Republican populism as a substitute for progressive leadership.