I Miss Bubba
I always liked Bill Clinton. When he was in the process of being brought down, his carcass torn to pieces by the screeching vulturous right, I wondered why there was so much noise about what amounted to a personal misstep. I thought he was a dumb shit for allowing the Lewinsky thing to happen, but he certainly wasn't alone in the ranks of marital infidels. His fatal error was that he was an intelligent, charming, popular democratic president with the astonishing ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between north and south, liberal and conservative. Through my leftist lens, Clinton always seemed a bit right-wing, but never so much that he veered anywhere near wingnut territory. That was his magic. In a country where northern liberals and southern conservatives sometimes seem like denizens of different lands, he was effortlessly bilingual. So he had to be brought down -- a true uniter couldn't be tolerated by those who exploit the politics of divisiveness.
Watching Clinton on the Daily Show the other night was a reminder of just how much America has lost -- the moderate voice, the intelligent, considerate response, the humour and down-to-earth calm. Imagine how George W would have responded on the Daily Show's "Seat of Heat"; the incoherent shrieking and whining about terra-terra-terra, or carefully scripted recitations of his speechwriters' screeds about ideological struggles and hard, hard work. Watch, compare and contrast. UPDATE: Either U-Tube or Blogger isn't cooperating and the videos aren't available. ARRRRGH! Okay, here it be.
Watching Clinton on the Daily Show the other night was a reminder of just how much America has lost -- the moderate voice, the intelligent, considerate response, the humour and down-to-earth calm. Imagine how George W would have responded on the Daily Show's "Seat of Heat"; the incoherent shrieking and whining about terra-terra-terra, or carefully scripted recitations of his speechwriters' screeds about ideological struggles and hard, hard work. Watch, compare and contrast. UPDATE: Either U-Tube or Blogger isn't cooperating and the videos aren't available. ARRRRGH! Okay, here it be.
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