Hillary is back and swinging and the target is Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton is back. People wondered what had become of her. Wonder no more. She has issued a roundhouse punch at the glass jaw of Donald Trump and the gloves are off. This is not an announcement that suggests a political agenda. Clinton may be out of the realm where she was a daily pinata for voices on the left or right. She may be at her best now when she emerges as a voice of reason, like calling the Trump budget "a grave mistake".

Almost a rally

Clinton delivered her broadside at Georgetown University before an enthusiastic crowd who stood and chanted her name, prompting her call for an encore.Then she fed them reason rather than red meat. The Trump budget, she said, is a "blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country."

A blow to security

Clinton argued that Trump's call to almost destroy the government to raise money for an already bloated military was not a way to ensure national security. Trump has called for $54 billion to swell the military budget and a $10 billion cut for the State Department.

She said women were needed at negotiating tables and that achieving "full participation of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century."

Mattis and Clinton on the same page

A key moment in Clinton's speech was her citing of Trump's Defense Secretary Mattis who has argued against cuts in State Department funds. Mattis has said that cutting funds for the State Department necessitates the purchase of more ammunition. The former Secretary of State got laughs when she said, "Studies show — here I go again, talking about research, evidence, and facts."

Reconstruction

So daunting was the campaign that it has left a scar on our politics. It is doubtful that Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will ever escape the lash of contempt that was caused by the events of the presidential campaign.

But if reconstruction is to occur there will have to be some give on both sides, That may happen. We can only hope that it does. Politics can only survive for a limited time on an exclusive diet of bile.