One of the big disappointments of the GOP convention was the cancellation of an address by a hologram of Ronald Reagan. Those who saw it said it was eerily real, so much so that the head honchos squelched it at the last moment. There was the fear that some of the evangelicals might take it as a sign of the Rapture and strip off their clothes as they wait to be carried off to heaven. They also worried that the image of the dear departed leader might diminish the message of this year’s chosen nominee.
The Democrats aren’t as superstitious and trotted out ex-prez Bill Clinton to seal the deal for Obama. Clinton is truly amazing. Part P.T. Barnum, part Elmer Gantry, he was tailor made for the media, perhaps even better than The Great Communicator himself. Even Republicans shower him with adoration when it suits their purpose, and Bubba reciprocates with tales of the bi-partisan accomplishments he forged with Congress.
And he should love Republicans. It was two Republican Senators from Maine that saved his ass from getting impeached all those years ago. The rest of them wanted to hoist him on his own petard, so to speak. Their thirst for blood turned off many voters in the ’98 midterms, resulting in election losses and the demise of Speaker Gingrich and Bob Livingston, his chosen successor. (Both ended up admitting to the same indiscretions as Slick Willy.)
No one talks about those trying times now. Big Bill is touted as the only living President to oversee a booming economy and a foreign war without any casualties. He raised taxes and balanced the budget and is the only Democrat to win two terms since Harry Truman. Monica who?
Clinton laid out the Obama record as one that still inspires hope, but just needs four more years to work out the kinks and make up for the losses caused by Bill’s friends the Republicans. (You know, the ones he bargained with for free trade and less bank regulation.)
Backstage, Obama watched anxiously. It’s not easy to let an old geezer like Bill steal your thunder, but he needs to sell voters on the idea that those golden Clinton years are coming back soon. Real soon.
And thunder has become a problem for Barack. The one embarassing moment of the otherwise perfectly scripted evening came when Obama insisted on restoring one mention of God in the Democratic platform. The crowd booed and in pure Roman fashion gave the Christians the thumbs down, but were overruled by the visibly flustered mayor of Los Angeles. Republicans immediately posted it on Youtube.
Obama, as it turns out, is superstitious. With storm clouds approaching, he canceled Thursday’s big outdoor speech for fear of being struck by lightning from above. You can only tempt fate so far.
If Bill Clinton had taken advice from Sandra Fluke about condoms history for him would be so much different.
I disagree. The real problem wasn’t hiding “evidence” it was the underhand hypocritical stupidity of the Republicans. Clinton was doing a good job and it befuddled their incorrect world view so all they could do was attack him in other ways.
I’m beginning to think, after watching the conventions, that the Democrats are stepping into the conservative shoes the Republicans have abandoned.
GZ, the judge in the Arkansas perjury case, a Clinton appointee, waited until after Clinton was impeached and after the Senate decided not to remove him from office in order to just set aside the criminal perjury issue because he’d suffered enough, and disbarred him. It’s a good bet that, had he been found guilty of lying under oath and disbarred before the Congressional proceedings, the impeachment would have been bipartisan and the Senate would have removed him from office.
Clinton’s ‘good job’ was the work of Speaker Gingrich, which got him rewarded the way Washington rewards folks who make real changes. The balanced budget was Gingrich, the welfare reform that Clinton was dragged to, kicking and screaming, was Gingrich. What wasn’t Gingrich was the booming economy, which was the internet and high tech but that was crashing even before the 2000 election.
“”Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it’s troubling.” – David Geffen on the Clintons.
Clinton and Gore at the time blamed the pre-election economic slowdown on the markets being worried that Bush was going to win. Bush II inherited a recession.
Maybe so to some extent but my point is that no one can withstand scrutiny and the scrutinizers are often the worst ones. If we can’t build on the good we are stuck with building on the bad.
Good speech Clinton gave, eh?
Great speech, GZ. Sincerity really is the key; once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.
Clinton’s a jerk. Disliked him from day 1.
But I do understand his role, purpose, and attraction.
As George shrewdly noted over on his blog, this was Hillary’s 2016 campaign opening. We’re now starting the election season *before* the previous one has finished. Only in America.
I have no idea, despite your observations RL, why anyone would think Clinton is some hero. The evidence just isn’t there. I might be willing to say that he was lucky to preside over an economic upswing, but Clinton has blood on his hands like every other President. For starters, remember the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory bombing in Africa? How many [non-Americans] people died over due to drug shortages? The poor of Sudan ring a bell? Ah heck! they died due to sectarian violence and an extreme lack of George Clooney aid, right?
The ridiculous, but tantalizing thought of the day: Now the 22nd Amendment doesn’t allow for Bill to run again. But it says nothing about him being Vice President. Nor does it say anything about him potentially becoming (the 22nd says nothing about serving again, it says you can not be elected again) President again if Hillary doesn’t finish his term.
Your point is duly noted, Ryan. And though Clinton was too quick on the trigger finger with the aspirin factory, his reluctance to shoot Bin Laden out of the sky led to…well, we all know how that turned out.
The bombed aspirin factory did distract the Beltway punditry from the search for the blue dress with the dash of Arkansauce. Mission accomplished.
The big winner if Bill Clinton is on center stage for the next four years will be late night comic Craig Ferguson, who does a great Clinton.
Greg, the factory produced anti-malarial drugs too, which is why the after attack death estimates are in the 10s of thousands. We’ll never know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shifa_pharmaceutical_factory
But you’re right about the reasons: Clinton needed to look Presidential for a day. What a cretin. This event was certainly the tail wagging the dog scenario. We were all busy watching Friends, me included.
Thanks RL.
How about this: if Clinton gets credit for his boom, then Reagan should get credit for his.
That should draw the partisan non-sense out quickly like poison from a rattlesnake bite.
I do remember the Reagan boom well. The first year I attended the San Diego Comic-con, before it became a commercial for the movie studios, there was a huge buzz over a small-run black & white comic book called “Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles”. It was a self-published parody of all the different comic genres rolled into one, and comic fans ate it up. Pretty soon, there were dozens of little start up publishers looking for TNMT knock-offs to cash in on the fad. Comic collectors were buying up Number One issues of every new title and double bagging them so they’d be pristine when they sold for a million dollars in a few years. It spread to the majors soon after. DC Comics published one issue of Batman with four different color covers, so that rabid speculators would have to buy all four and push up sales. It was great, and everybody was working.
Of course, the whole thing dissolved in a puddle of red ink, leaving many in debt with rooms full of worthless comic books. It was my first experience with the “bubble” effect.
R.L. Crabb, another insightful look into the comedy of human errors. The G word always gets the true lefties’ panties in a bunch. Probably did not want to offend our peace loving Muslim brothers and sisters, so remove God from the arena. Noticed they also removed any critisim of Hamas and Hamas managed to stay out of the contentious platform and limelight. No use forcing them back in, for God’s sake. Reminds me of the old Will Rogers quote. “I would never be part of an organized party. I am a Democrat.”
Religion and politics only mix only when votes are desperately needed. I’m also reminded of the 0ld saying, “Religion is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
Good one, TD. Yep, religion and Democrat Conventions are strange bedfellows. Lets see how many scoundrels evoke the Big Guy upstairs by the time they start sweeping up the floors and turning off the lights.
TD. You are right! ww.youtube.com/watch?v=mNQuT2worqc&feature=youtu.be
Actually TD, that would be “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”, a quote by Samuel Johnson.
Perhaps you were thinking of the quote by Karl Marx that, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”
A final nitpick, RL. Clinton *was* impeached, which is the action by the House, the formal bringing of charges. One count of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice. The Senate voted to acquit him of the charges, and only then was Clinton disbarred for the perjury, without a criminal or civil dismissal of the charge, back in his home state of Arkansas.
Hi, idea time, how about a traditional organ grinding jack in the box with the lid flipped and at the top of the springy thing, Paul Ryan’s head. “Pop goes the weasel.” Please send me a copy, or at least a message, if you do it, thanks, Doug Keachie