Why Do Republicans Answer Every Charge with "Bill Clinton"?

I've picked up a trick in discovering where Republicans get their talking points. If they are discussing something, anything, such as problems created by the Bush administration, and they steer the blame to Bill Clinton, they probably get their information from Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh made his career on his obsession with the Clintons, and he hasn't stopped talking about them since. One conspiracy theory he purports is that the Clintons will not support John Kerry because Hillary would like to run for president in 2008. He might have wanted to let Bill in on this before his stellar speech at the Democratic National Convention, or Hillary herself should have known this before she called Kerry's performance in the last debate "masterful." Besides, I personally wouldn't have any problem with Hillary running for president; she'd make an excellent first female president. This, of course, seems to be about conservatives' fear of strong women.
I've noticed, though, that one can find points of commonality with conservatives. For instance, I was talking with a group of Republicans recently about outsourcing, and we seemed to all agree that the problem has gotten out of control and must be addressed. I'm pretty sure Bush wouldn't agree; it's only grown under his leadership. Last night, an avowed Republican started telling me about his military sons and their experiences with the "back-door draft" that Kerry talks about. Troops are being forced to stay beyond their terms in the military, and they are being forced to endure multiple tours of duty. I would add to that that their pay and benefits have dropped and that they are not being provided with the materials they need. I agreed with him. Then he proceeded to blame former President Clinton for reduction in military forces. What? This reminds me of how conservatives will also blame the recession under Bush on Clinton. Connversely, when Clinton turned the economy around, conservatives claimed he was enjoying the success of the Bush Part I administration. Beware the spin. Reality as you experience it, according to Republicans, is quite reverse of fact. Thank you for reinterpreting the world for me. Readers (if there are any), you can believe your experience or you can accept a quite opposite explanation that the right media will sell you. Things are going swell in Iraq. Meanwhile, if you know someone over there, or if you know several people over there, and if they have been held beyond their promised time, let their experience tell you how it's going. And if you don't, you might read "Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" a collection of letters from those who are serving or who have served. Don't forget what you saw durinng the debates, and don't forget how angry you became when you realized that we suffered a bait-and-switch on reasons for this Iraq conflict (it should have made you angry), and fire this Commander-in-Chief on November 2.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bible School Chronicles – Cleaning Up (Chapter 3)

My first job at the school was in its Physical Plant department. My first job overall was as a paperboy. I’ve nearly always held some sort of job—at most fast food restaurants you can name, with a disreputable operation to collect money for veterans, at a bucket factory, and in securing appointments for cemetery plot sales. I felt like something of a sucker as I observed some of the more well-off students who had never held a job. The student population was largely divided between children of the wealthy and those less well provided for. It was tuition-free but as such relied heavily on donations. Anyway, my deeply-established work ethic came to appear as more of a sham. I was told that you work hard to prepare yourself for adulthood and foster independence. For others, though, they focused on their academic lives until they graduated, perhaps took a brief detour, then entered the workforce in the capacity for which their education had prepared them. Through our way, we lost a...
Read more

Bible School Chronicles - Barista! (Chapter 4)

At some point during my formative years, I posited that being a clerk at a record store would be the best possible job. I never had luck securing such a position (now, record stores hardly exist), but I did procure an interview at a coffee shop. This was before Starbucks entirely monopolized this market. I applied and interviewed at a location just a block or two from my school (this was a small local chain). The manager, Sue, introduced herself. She had cuffed jeans, boots, and short hair, with a Clash pin on her bag. Through some small talk, I learned that she was in a band that was influenced by Gang of Four. She left me with a handout concerning how coffee is grown and prepared and told me to return for a quiz within a week. Upon being hired, I was told that I would also have to work at three other locations regularly. This was okay; I can’t say no to much anyway. All of my co-workers were of course very hip. Two of whom were also in Sue’s band, one with short pink hair (...
Read more

The Chronics

I will be glad when I am through II Chronicles. Such a considerable portion of what I've been going through lately has been recording history of wars and kings' rule. So many portions are phrased in exactly the same way. Most often, the record is that a particular leader did not please God, usually because he let idols to other gods stand and/or worshiped them himself. David is one of a handful of exceptions. He was a man of war, it to me he seems a womanizer, but many times he is depicted as trying to act rightly despite some of his subjects or those around him acting outside of God's will (through killing someone or trying to kill him). Something humorous that is repeated over and over is to the effect of, "As to the rest of King _____'s reign, is it not recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?" I respond to this immediately with, "I don't know," and then by wondering, what has become of this book? Was it decided that ...
Read more