Death Before Dishonor, A Survivor's Problem

I found myself having an argument online about the Kissinger thing--that is: is Hillary history's greatest monster on her own, or is the fact that she socializes with Oscar de la Renta and the Kissingers proof that she is history's greatest monster because Kissinger's sins became hers the moment they shared a canape and a glass of bubbly on the beach? Let me hasten to add that I'm as shocked and horrified by the idea of socializing on a beach front estate in wherever caribbean place with other 90 year olds as I am with the fact that Kissinger is an unindicted war criminal. I've thought about this quite a bit, actually. I'm old enough to hate Kissinger, and Nixon's ghost, with a white hot fury.  Not only for what Kissinger did in Cambodia and Vietnam but also for East Pakistan and a number of other places. But does that mean that, if I were ever to be First Lady, or President, or Secretary of State that I wouldn't consult with him if I thought it would benefit the country? Or that I would refuse to break bread with him--well, I probably would, actually--but I wouldn't expect other people to take such a hard line.  I don't expect Obama to piss on Nixon's grave. Or refuse to permit George Bush to pose in a picture with him.  Or behave rudely to Mrs. Bush on the grounds that Bush is responsible for millions of displaced and murdered Iraqis.  You can't run a country on grudges and recriminations. You can't run a country--and HRC and Bill Clinton have been in the top slot already--and not be willing to compromise, a lot, to get things done.  I said this over at Balloon Juice and I think it bears repeating here.   "No one runs a country like the US without blood on their hands. Sins of omission or sins of comission. That has been true since the founding. Ask the native americans. Ask our African American citizens. If Sanders is pure now, right this moment, he won’t be five minutes after he takes the oath of office. He will end up being responsible for avoidable deaths somewhere, somehow, inevitably. And he will break bread with, and confide in, and socialize with people who have done so. That’s the job."