Hopelessly Clouded Issues: The "Clinton Effect"
By Christopher Adamo (12/13/07)
It is disturbing to realize just how far the country has been dragged away from relevant campaign issues in recent weeks. Though on the run, militant Islamists have clearly not abandoned their plans for further attacks against our homeland. Ominous alliances are emerging among nations such as Russia and China, who share a common goal of achieving hegemony over the United States. As environmental extremists curtail domestic oil production, the increasing competition for foreign supplies drives U.S. energy costs through the roof.
Yet on what topics are the candidates flailing away at each other? In the cases of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton it is all about past relationships, and whose celebrity endorsement is more compelling than whose? America seems bewildered by the details of one sordid, albeit irrelevant presidential campaign “controversy” after another. Meanwhile, the real threats against our nation have not abated.
Clearly, the dominating subjects on the nightly news make both candidates appear positively buffoonish, a particularly dangerous omen in light of the serious issues on which America ought to be focused. Worse yet, these ludicrous discussions are clearly being kept at the forefront by design, in order to maintain a safe buffer between those who claim worthiness to lead, and the electorate that should be carefully considering the ramifications of being led by them.
In short, America is immersed once again in the Clinton version of how to do politics. It should be understood that the present situation, appalling as it may be, is merely the result of the Clinton influence during the past sixteen years. It is even safe to say that since the stench of Clinton politicking has so completely permeated the entire liberal/Democrat establishment, things might well be just as bad, were Hillary herself not in the race.
The damage was done during the 1990s when the Clintons regularly got away with outrageous behavior by a strategy of deception, stonewalling, or attacking any critical messenger whom they regarded as a liability. Having not been adequately recognized for what it was, and thus never corrected, this malignancy on the current system continues to grow and spread.
In 1992, the senior President Bush was essentially blindsided by the dexterity with which the Clintons bobbed and weaved their way past a recent, decisive victory in the Gulf War, a steady and only slightly stagnant economy, and an unrivaled era of international stability and perceived security in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Clinton response was simply to concoct a crisis (“The worst economy in the past fifty years”), and then follow by castigating any who dared to disagree with them (It’s the economy stupid!"). From that point forward, anything other than a bold effort to go on offense allowed the Clintons to frame the debate in a manner that would ensure their seeming moral and political supremacy. And of course, President Bush 41 was never known for boldness or going on offense.
Once in power, the Clintons time and again used similar tactics to dance away from scandals and destroy the reputations of critics or anyone who presented a political obstacle, essentially running roughshod over the entire political process and ultimately, the very rule of law itself.
As a result, “inconsequential” issues like national security were brushed aside, or mutated into forms that might advance the perverted philosophies of “political correctness.” What of it? America, it seemed, could continue down its path of careless disregard without ever fearing a “day of reckoning.” Yet that day did arrive.
Nevertheless, much of the rest of the political establishment, at least on the Democrat side of the aisle, enthusiastically adopted the characteristic behavior of the Clintons, and eventually, in 2006, was able to turn those sordid practices into an electoral victory. Thus did Senator George Allen (R.-VA) after a single careless use of the word “Macaca” find himself completely on the defensive throughout the entire remainder of the campaign season for making an ostensibly “racist” comment. In the end he lost his seat.
Similarly, the party of Chinese campaign “contributions,” cattle futures, perjury, misused FBI files, and a host of other illegal activities was able to smear Republicans with a label of the “culture of corruption.” So much for any realistic appraisal of wrongdoing inside the Beltway, or any real hope of ever correcting the situation.
Since then, the disease has come full circle. Not just the Clinton camp alone, but on many fronts, the entire political debate that ought to be taking place is completely overshadowed by absurdities such as former Ambassador Andrew Young’s contention that Bill Clinton is “more black” than Barack Obama, and Obama’s addition of that great statesman and foreign policy expert Oprah Winfrey to his campaign.
Still playing this same seditious game the Democrats, as a party, portray American efforts in Iraq “futility,” while engaging in “civil rights” crusades on behalf of terrorists who would unhesitatingly slaughter thousands of Americans, were they granted the “rights” Democrats seek for them. No less criminal is the Clintonization of the liberal/Democrat attack on the entire foreign surveillance program.
In the dark world of unbridled political gamesmanship, such actions supposedly have no risk of unintended consequences, at least from a political perspective. Last week’s lies are irrelevant to this week’s debate. Any who contend otherwise or demand accountability are either ignored or attacked and destroyed. Just ask former Congressman Curt Weldon.
This is why, among the intellectually honest, the latest “National Intelligence Estimate” (NIE), which insanely asserts that Iran has abandoned plans to develop nuclear weapons, is increasingly looked upon with great skepticism. Clearly, the NIE is no longer about national security, but about career politicians in key positions toying with national security for partisan gain.
Meanwhile, evil entities that are even more purposeful than the Clintons and the political class they have created, wait and watch. Having caught America unawares once, they inflicted horrendous death and horror on our nation. So they patiently and tirelessly look for the opportunity to exact an even greater toll this time around, unless America wises up and restores its political process to one that deals honestly with the critical issues at hand.
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