Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book entitled “What Happened” is stirring up a lot of controversy plus it shows an underlying seething anger about losing the 2016 presidential election to New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump — who had never held an elected office.

Clinton — a former First Lady, New York senator and U.S. Secretary of State — this week began a multi-city book signing tour that ends in December. Her followers lined up Tuesday at New York City’s Barnes & Noble book store for more than 12 hours in order to meet and greet the former candidate and receive their signed first-edition copy. Every political pundit and commentator from New York to Los Angeles is clamoring away about Clinton and this memoir. Social media is also ablaze over this book.

“It’s sad that after Hillary Clinton ran one of the most negative campaigns in history and lost and the last chapter of her public life is going to be defined by propping up book sales with false and reckless attacks,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a Tuesday news briefing in response to a reporter’s question asking if the president planned to read Clinton’s new book. “And I think that is sad way for her to continue this.”

Much criticism is laid at Clinton’s feet for blaming so many outside influences for her dramatic, unexpected loss on election night Nov. 8, 2016. She says she did not write a concession speech because she was so sure she’d win. When Clinton lost, campaign director John Podesta conceded the election to Trump during the early morning hours of Nov. 9.

According to a story on CNN Politics, in the book, Clinton claims President Trump was “ill-prepared” for the presidency and his election was “illegitimate.” She goes on to blame Russian intervention on behalf of Trump. The ultimate clincher for losing the 2016 election came when former FBI Director James Comey announced on live TV just days before the election that the FBI was reopening their investigation into Clinton’s emails. She also blamed former candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Green Party candidate Jill Stein for taking away so many of her votes. She also agreed that her decision to use a private email server was a bad one, but she blames the media for blowing the email stories out of proportion.

Yes, she does admit she made mistakes too.  However, there’s not much in the book about her many skeletons in the closet – Benghazi, Vince Foster, Whitewater, her husband’s impeachment, Anthony Weiner and that Bill Clinton-Loretta Lynch airplane meeting and on and on. All of her past came to roost on that election night.

“I think it’s fair to say that I didn’t realize how quickly the ground was shifting under all our feet,” she writes. “I was running a traditional presidential campaign with carefully thought-out policies and painstakingly built coalitions, while Trump was running a reality TV show that expertly and relentlessly stoked Americans’ anger and resentment.”

All of this new controversy over this book is doing little to unite the Democratic Party. Clinton’s claims about Bernie Sanders are alienating fellow Democrats who next year are facing ‘do or die’ midterm elections that may or may not result in the Democrats regaining control of either or both houses of the U.S. Congress. Perhaps Hillary doesn’t care about her Democratic Party any more … she’s just selling books. One can’t help but wonder if Hillary will ever figure out what happened. Trump happened. The Trump Train pulled up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and parked. That’s what happened.

If there is any advice to give Hillary Clinton it would go something like this sign hanging in a bar in Daytona Beach that reads, “If the horse is dead … get off!”

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.