Former Gingrichite Arianna Huffington scolds Hillary Rodham Clinton for being a political fake.

I think I need to go to the emergency room and get my sides sutured up from bwa-ha-ha-ing at Arianna Huffington’s op-ed attacking Hillary Clinton in the Los Angeles Times this morning.

So, what’s Arianna’s beef with Hillary?

There are politicians with great instincts as leaders — those who recognize not just the crises directly in front of them but those around the corner as well. (And these leadership instincts come from the gut, not from a multitude of consultants, strategists and pollsters.) And then there are politicians with great instincts as followers — those who are the first to stick their fingers in the air and notice even the slightest shift in the wind of popular opinion.

Clinton is in the latter category: She is the quintessential political weather vane.

Sticking fingers in the wind? Swaying any way the wind blows? Ahem. Arianna knows whereof she speaks. And so do I.

Arianna also doesn’t like who Hillary’s been photographed with:

Democrats are fed up with fence-straddling and triangulation. But that has become Clinton’s brand. Smiling photo ops with Bill Frist, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Smiling with Newt? Damnable! But at least Hillary never hosted $50,000-a-plate fund-raisers for him…

Doyenne of political authenticity Arianna then goes on to excoriate Hillary for surrounding herself with consultants and trying to buy her way into the hearts of left-wingers:

She quietly and methodically began building her campaign team — surrounding herself with a gaggle of advisors and consultants, raising millions of dollars (and lining up a top-flight finance director to help her raise millions more), reaching out to power brokers in her home state. She even hired a netroots pro to harness the energy of the Internet and win over the blogosphere.

Gasp. Imagine that!

For once, I am on Hillary’s side.

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Mark Finkelstein: “I told you that watching the Dems’ internecine battles was going to be fun.”

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