If You Can’t Convince Them, We Can Still Force Them
Bubba has certainly been in the news a bunch lately between his go-between role in the Sestak non-job offer nonsense and stumping for Blanche Lincoln, insulting her progressive opposition just for sport.
I was reminded of his excuse to the Netroots Nation crowd in Pittsburgh back in ‘09 when he was interrupted/heckled by a LGBT activist about DADT:
“You want to talk about ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’?” Clinton said. “I’ll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn’t deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military.”
I know I’m not alone, not by a long shot — but I have to tell you I’m more than a bit weary of Bill Clinton wagging his finger at me as he throws bullshit my way. We’re trying to make Congress more progressive, just like he suggested. So why is he working so hard to keep right wing Democrats in power?
As with all politicians, it’s what they do, not what the say that counts. Here we have Bill working to get one the of most notorious obstacles to health care reform reelected, a woman whose opposition to the public option nearly sank the whole effort.
That and the Sestak thing. Admiral Sestak was running against a guy who was a Republican a year ago for Pete’s sake, and Bubba was trying to maneuver him out of the race. At least Arlen Specter hasn’t decided to pull a Lieberman.
The mind reels thinking about what things would be like — and how far along impeachment proceedings would be by now — had Bill Clinton been living in the White House as First Dude (no matter how extremely competent Hillary was at managing the country). Of course, if it was John McCain there with Evita Mooselini living down the street in the Naval Observatory I’ve no doubt we’d be in the middle of a full blown civil insurrection caused by a complete meltdown of what was left of the world’s economic systems, living in a diplomatically quarantined United States after officially being deemed a rogue nation by any decent governments left intact. So fanciful concerns like who Slick Willie would be playing hide-the-cigar with in the Executive Mansion seem quaint by comparison.
The good news is the David Broder/Brooks bipartisan fetishists and some of the other original Clinton Derangement Syndrome victims are finally seeing Bill Clinton’s support among the Democratic base dissolve. There will be fancy dress parties and celebratory feasts in The Village toasting his political downfall … again … just like the last six times they thought he was through. What happens if we ever see a real liberal in charge instead of the homogenized centrist who get painted as commie-fascists anyway?
