|
Clinton Reflux Syndrome
By David Michael Green
01/02/08 "ICH" -- -- My god, I loathe the Clintons.
The idea of Clinton redux gives me acid reflux. The idea of
Clinton duplex gives me Clinton reflux. Look out – I really feel
the need to hurl.
And (almost) never more than during the last weeks. Since the
days just preceding the New Hampshire primary these two have
been insufferable. Nothing brings out their worst behavior than
having their little personal joyride at the national expense
threatened by the rest of us trying to grab back the keys to the
battered car.
Wanna know how much these two sicken me? They’ve gotten me to
stop thinking lately about how much the little punk in the White
House sickens me. That’s how much.
It’s hard to know who is worse. Bush is as immoral as it gets,
at least this side of the Third Reich. The Clintons are as
amoral as it gets, this side of any bank in Switzerland. You
want us to pretend to be liberals? Fine, we’ll do that. You want
us to play conservative? No problem. We’ll do whatever it takes,
just give us the White House. We have no more policy principles
than did our cat, Socks. We have no other politics than
ourselves. The ideology of the Clintons is the Clintons.
There’s one hell of a lot of clean-up that needs to be done in
America, and that includes some serious payback to the criminals
(read Republicans) and their enablers (read Democrats) who have
looted the country blind. That’s hardly news, but it was
altogether too much to hope – after a quarter century of utter
darkness in the country formerly known as the United States –
that it could all come together in the 2008 election. One could
imagine that the present perfect storm of perfect storms could
finally wrest the White House out of the hands of the Republican
Party, though history teaches us that even that would be foolish
to assume. Democrats never miss an opportunity to miss an
opportunity. And, besides, even if they could finally prevail,
what would it mean? Last time they held the White House it was
full-on corporate rape, just at a slightly slower pace than when
the GOP unzips.
Only in a hallucination fueled by the finest collection of
controlled substances – and plenty of them – could the mind
imagine not only the demise of the worst criminals of our time,
but also some tasty payback to all their accomplices who’ve
facilitated the plundering of America these last years, starting
with Hillary Clinton being denied the nomination for the
presidency she obviously feels entitled to, and the scourge of
Clintonism being purged forever from American politics, right
along with Bushism.
Now, all of a sudden, all of this looks like a possibility. This
week, Hillary got absolutely shellacked in South Carolina,
losing to Obama by more than two to one. And this, crucially,
after the desperate HillBillies had made a trip to the outhouse
to fetch their most vile weapons for purposes of derailing the
Obama freight train. But when the dust had cleared, Obama had
stomped them, and they were left standing there, stinking of
racism, deceit, hypocrisy, desperation and cheap Rovian
politics. And all for naught. At least when Rove or Lee Atwater
did it, they won. Poor Bill Clinton. Now even his faux ‘legacy’
is toast. Not that there was ever anything to it, anyhow. As far
as history is concerned, the best thing that ever happened to
Wild Bill’s presidency was to have a Bush before it and a Bush
after it.
I like – if that’s the right word – seeing Democrats show that
they can get down in the gutter and throw a political punch or
two. That’s been all too necessary these last decades, and all
too absent. But what Hillary seems to have forgotten is that
such behavior is only admirable on the defensive. The invasion
and destruction of Germany last century was a good thing only
because Germany had already invaded and destroyed everybody
else. That’s not a small distinction. If you do it first, you’re
a scumbag. And the Clinton’s are scumbags. From The Cry That
Saved New Hampshire, to the uncontrolled rage of Bill’s
“fairytale” fairytale about Obama being inconsistent on the Iraq
war (and even if he was, could anyone possibly have been more so
than Hillary?), to suing in Nevada to block voting at casinos in
order to disenfranchise black and union voters, to twisting into
absurdity Obama’s Ronald Reagan comment, to using a complete
non-sequitur in response to a reporter’s question as a vehicle
for morphing Obama into Jesse Jackson – in all these ways, the
Clintons have shown their willingness to do nearly anything to
win the presidency again. Spell it with me now: s-c-u-m-b-a-g-s.
This should hardly be a surprise to anyone. Just ask Ricky Ray
Rector. He’ll tell you. Or he would if he wasn’t dead. He’s the
poor SOB whom Clinton Bill flew home to execute during the 1992
campaign in order to show frightened Americans that Republicans
aren’t the only viciously ambitious politicians who can pander
to their fears, by golly. So what if poor Ricky Ray was so
mentally impaired that he asked to have the dessert from his
last meal saved so he could eat it later? What did one less
retarded kid matter when there were so many electoral votes at
stake?
Anybody paying the remotest bit of attention could have figured
out a long time ago what William Jefferson Clinton was all
about. And you have to laugh at all those nice ladies six long
years later clucking about how could Hillary stay with a guy who
betrayed her by messing around with other women? Were they
joking? My question is how do you sleep with a guy who fries
somebody with the IQ of a gifted tuber in order to get into the
White House? How do you stay with a guy who turns millions of
welfare mothers out onto the street in order to pick up a second
term that he already had in the bag anyhow?
No, man, make no mistake – this is nothing new for the Clintons.
But the thing is, it isn’t working so well anymore. Indeed,
there is good evidence to suggest that it is backfiring. People
really do seem to want something new and something better than
this dreck. I used to have some small measure of sympathy for
the Clintons, for the way they were incessantly hammered by the
right clear across the length of their presidency. Not a lot,
mind you – because they were fundamentally putzes, and because
they were dumb enough not to fight back all through that time –
but some. But watching Bill go all Rove on Obama, including the
race-baiting, in order jam Hillary (oh, and a certain other
individual) back into the White House was the complete end of
the line for me. Seeing her now claiming Florida as a victory
and vowing to fight to seat those delegates after previously
trashing the state for scheduling its primary early back when
she was campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire was just more of
the same. This is just nauseating.
But what to do now? I suspect Clintonism may be a spent force,
and not a moment too soon. It’s bad enough that she’s the one
hope that Republicans have of winning the White House for yet
another term. (What a great idea to nominate that candidate,
eh?!) But it’s worse the degree to which they degrade American
politics and taint progressivism, even by their remotest
proximity to it (being a Democrat doesn’t make any or all of
your policies liberal – just ask the hundreds of thousands of
Vietnamese babies Lyndon Johnson napalmed). I really don’t know
what cards they can play now, other than their money. Bill being
Bill not only didn’t help, but hurt their campaign in South
Carolina and nationally. What else can they do? Have Hill be
Hill? Is there even any such thing inside the robot? And,
besides, she already pulled out her hanky and tried that one in
New Hampshire. How many times can you do that? It feels a lot
like the presidential ship might have sailed for 2008 and
they’re left standing on the dock. Bummer, eh?
At the same time that the last shard of non-antagonism that I
ever felt toward the Clintons has disappeared, I must admit that
I’ve warmed up to Barack Obama a bit over the last week. I very
much appreciate that he fought back against the Clintons. He’ll
never get my endorsement unless he shows that he can, because
he’ll most assuredly need to should he win the nomination. I’m
about as interested in having another Kerry or Dukakis as the
Democratic nominee as I am in contracting a nasty dose of the
clap. Thanks, but no – I’ll pass.
I’m also liking Obama better the more I see him because I think
he is pretty authentic, at the end of the day. That ain’t hard
to pull off when you’re standing next to John Edwards and
Hillary Clinton, mind you, the latter of whom is the Mitt Romney
of the Democratic Party. (I try not to envision the concept of
the two of them having sex – fortunately, I can’t imagine it
wouldn’t last long – but I can’t help thinking that their love
child would look an awful lot like a stick of margarine. And
would be about as yummy.) But Obama has a non-pandering
seriousness of purpose that I do find authentic and therefore
attractive. Watch him on stage before and during the delivery of
a speech. He doesn’t do that plastic smile bit that other
candidates do, or – worse – the ubiquitous and dreaded pointing
gleefully at some member of the audience trick and mouthing some
faux insider message. And his speeches are serious, not rah-rah.
I still find them a bit airy, though on closer inspection he
really does say a lot of the right things. I just wish he’d
emphasize more the fight we’re in, and the depravity of the
enemy, d.b.a. the Republican Party. This country and this world
are in disastrous condition. It’s crucial now to name names, if
for no other reason than to make sure we don’t come back this
way again.
The other wild thing is that a lot of Republicans actually like
Obama, from what I can tell. That totally spooks me, and makes
me wonder what I’m missing. But, truthfully, I don’t think he’s
that much different than Hillary ideologically, and I do think
he’d make a much stronger candidate against anyone they tossed
up there, so I suspect it may be a genuine affection. Maybe
Obama really could drag the country back together again. And I
do think they’d have to be very careful how they went after
candidate or president Obama, otherwise risking a boomerang of
sympathy, the phenomenon henceforth to be known after last week
as the “Bill Clinton effect”.
Anyhow, there’s a party in deep trouble if ever you’ve seen one.
Their only candidate who can win is hated by the kleptocratic
establishment for only being willing to rip off three-fourths of
the national wealth on behalf of the ruling class, rather than
all of it. It’s truly delightful to see the likes of Rush
Limbaugh and Ann Coulter foaming at the mouth when considering
the prospect of McCain getting the nomination. The guy loves
Clarence Thomas, loves the war, wants more of both, is down for
making the tax cuts permanent, and opposes abortion across the
board. But he is, alas, not conservative enough for this lot.
Can you imagine? If you were ever inclined not to be afraid,
very afraid, about the right in America, that notion ought to
reorient your head just a bit.
Their other choice is the real deal – Morphing Mitt himself –
the true conservative, the man who never met a voter whom he
couldn’t find a way to slobber all over. This guy’s a one-man
pander-fest. Even Republicans hate him (but the money people, of
course, never let sentiment get in the way of a healthy profit
margin). What a looney, too. Did you see him riffing in his
speech after losing (again) in Florida? About all the things
America asked their government in Washington to do, and it
didn’t. No doubt that’s because we’ve had a Democrat in the
White House for 20 of the last 28 years! Right?! Er, wait a
minute – did I get that backwards...?
What a week it’s been in presidential politics. Hillary has
become unglued. Obama is now imbued. McCain is back from the
dead, while Giuliani and Edwards have gone off life-support.
Even Kucinich is no more. And the only thing more frightening
than the prospect of a Mitt Romney presidency – the actual
current president – gave his state of the onion address this
week, a pathetic yawner notable only for its sheer lack of
ambition and a recounting of the distance we’ve fallen. All that
remains now is the petulance. At least that hasn’t changed. Just
the same, what the hell is with the Democrats giving this guy
the warm treatment in the halls of Congress? This is not just
some president who should be respected because of his office.
This is a home-wrecker. This is a destroyer of the same
Constitution that created the very Congress hosting him. This is
a guy who has spent seven years turning Congress (with a lot of
their own help) into the equivalent of the human appendix. You
might as well give standing ovations to George III, you know?
Both are equally anathema to American constitutional democracy.
But now we’re down to four, and perhaps even less after
Super-Duper Tuesday right around the corner. The bad news is
that it looks a lot like McCain for the GOP. He is clearly their
best chance at the White House. If the Dems are stupid enough to
go with Hillary, I have a hard time seeing McCain losing. Only
Democrats could find a way to fumble in 2008, when everything
imaginable is going their way (everything except that they’re
Democrats, of course). Maybe if George Washington himself came
back and stumped for the Democratic nominee they could possibly
have more going for them than they do now. Maybe. Maybe if Jesus
showed up and ID’d Cheney as the anti-Christ might the Democrats
have slightly better conditions for winning this year. Not
necessarily, though. And yet still there’s something of a chance
that they would blow it, and probably every chance they would if
they pick Clinton as their standard-bearer.
Progressives can hope that Romney pulls it out and buys his
party’s nomination, which is still the best bet for Democrats
locking it up. Short of that, it’s time to start thinking about
the shape of these potential White Houses. Hillary is the most
predictable of the three. She’ll be the epitome of safeness,
moderation and poll-driven nickel-and-dime politics. Four years
later, not a damn thing would have changed. McCain, on the other
hand, could actually be a bit interesting as president. I see
him as far less the captain of his party than its long-suffering
captive. Given that he could put together a fat popular and
governing coalition of independents and Democrats whilst taming
elements of his own party, he could actually achieve some
unexpected results, and he’d be in a hurry to do so, too. He’d
be Unchained McCain, to be sure, and the DeLays and Limbaughs of
this world would be crushed when they got in his way. No doubt
he would make some horrendous choices for the federal courts,
but otherwise – even on Iraq – I don’t think we know exactly
what McCain would actually do, other than not sit still. Some of
it could even be quite progressive. This could be an ‘only Nixon
could go to China’ moment, times three or four.
That leaves Obama, the obvious choice – though, unfortunately,
for me still as much by default as the lesser of evils than on
his own merits. I’m afraid my expectations for what he might do
would be for something well less than bold initiatives,
progressive or otherwise. The constant comparison to JFK may be
more instructive than people realize or intend. The 35th
American president to this day – especially today – was a lot
longer on symbolism than real substance, especially of the
progressive kind. My guess is that Obama would likely be the
same, in both respects: Lots of aren’t-we-all-together-now
rhetoric, little substantive change.
It sure is true that we could do a lot better than that. But we
also know that we could do one heck of a lot worse.
Because we are.
David Michael Green is a professor of political science at
Hofstra University in New York. He is delighted to receive
readers' reactions to his articles (dmg@regressiveantidote.net),
but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to
respond. More of his work can be found at his website,
www.regressiveantidote.net .
Click on "comments" below to read or post comments
Comment Guidelines
Be succinct, constructive and
relevant to the story.
We encourage engaging, diverse
and meaningful commentary. Do not include
personal information such as names, addresses,
phone numbers and emails. Comments falling
outside our guidelines – those including
personal attacks and profanity – are not
permitted.
See our complete
Comment Policy
and
use this link to notify us if you have concerns
about a comment.
We’ll promptly review and remove any
inappropriate postings.
Send Page To a Friend
In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
