Liberal? Conservative? Moderate? Political Brouhaha!
Liberal? Conservative? Moderate? Political Brouhaha!
[ 06-19-2001: Message edited by: Anatres ]
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fable
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I'd like to make one observation about Bill Clinton right now, since I haven't much time. And it's really not about Clinton, in a sense. It's about one of the major spears fashioned to kill him in public: his private life.
The whole question is irrelevant, as far as I'm concerned. As long as his private business didn't affect public matters--and even his worst opponents could find no evidence of this, despite spending a fortune in the tens of millions of dollars to locate it--I'm not concerned. Why should I be? US President Warren G Harding presided over a cabinet and personal agenda so corrupt that his administration actually funded a whorehouse for the private use of its members. Kennedy had numerous affairs in office. Eisenhower kept a mistress during WWII. FDR constantly slept around on Eleanor. Reagan said there wasn't a single person in the United States who couldn't get a job and live well if they tried, even as two homeless people froze to death that evening within less than a block of the White House. Nixon, perhaps the most morally bankrupt of the lot, was actually caught on tape planning with Henry Kissinger to delay the Vietnam peace talks in order to keep the war going past the 1972 election so that he might get reelected on a promise of "ending the conflict."
And while we're on the subject, the US isn't alone in any of this. Just as one example, David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister in the late teens and twenties, kept a second household with a mistress and several illegitimate children. Nor was his marriage "loveless." He just simply spread it around, so to speak.
Nor should we forget that some of Clinton's most sanctimonious political opponents looked morally damaged when their own backgrounds were examined. Knute Gingrich, former Republican Whip of the House of Representatives, who constantly criticized Clinton's morality, was discovered to have authored a book and claimed its expenses as part of his government work. A former leader of the Senate publically criticized Clinton's "shocking immorality at having an affair behind his wife's back"--only to resign from office when it was discovered, a week later, that he had an illicit affair himself a few years back which nearly broke up his own marriage.
All of which only shows, to me, that the ability to handle the job has literally nothing to do with the private character of the man in office. Some of the sneakiest, most nasty bastards have been the best heads of state. Others--like Jimmy Carter, a truly moral and well-intentioned human being in the best sense of the word--proved to be relative disasters in the highest office of their land. That's not to say you have to be corrupt to rule; but I see no reason to condemn the man in office for what the same man does under the bedsheets.
This isn't a defense of Clinton. I just don't think that Bush's drug use, or Clinton's drug use, or the alcohol problems of Barbara Bush or Dubbyah's daughter, or any of all that mess, has any relevancy to the office.
The whole question is irrelevant, as far as I'm concerned. As long as his private business didn't affect public matters--and even his worst opponents could find no evidence of this, despite spending a fortune in the tens of millions of dollars to locate it--I'm not concerned. Why should I be? US President Warren G Harding presided over a cabinet and personal agenda so corrupt that his administration actually funded a whorehouse for the private use of its members. Kennedy had numerous affairs in office. Eisenhower kept a mistress during WWII. FDR constantly slept around on Eleanor. Reagan said there wasn't a single person in the United States who couldn't get a job and live well if they tried, even as two homeless people froze to death that evening within less than a block of the White House. Nixon, perhaps the most morally bankrupt of the lot, was actually caught on tape planning with Henry Kissinger to delay the Vietnam peace talks in order to keep the war going past the 1972 election so that he might get reelected on a promise of "ending the conflict."
And while we're on the subject, the US isn't alone in any of this. Just as one example, David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister in the late teens and twenties, kept a second household with a mistress and several illegitimate children. Nor was his marriage "loveless." He just simply spread it around, so to speak.
Nor should we forget that some of Clinton's most sanctimonious political opponents looked morally damaged when their own backgrounds were examined. Knute Gingrich, former Republican Whip of the House of Representatives, who constantly criticized Clinton's morality, was discovered to have authored a book and claimed its expenses as part of his government work. A former leader of the Senate publically criticized Clinton's "shocking immorality at having an affair behind his wife's back"--only to resign from office when it was discovered, a week later, that he had an illicit affair himself a few years back which nearly broke up his own marriage.
All of which only shows, to me, that the ability to handle the job has literally nothing to do with the private character of the man in office. Some of the sneakiest, most nasty bastards have been the best heads of state. Others--like Jimmy Carter, a truly moral and well-intentioned human being in the best sense of the word--proved to be relative disasters in the highest office of their land. That's not to say you have to be corrupt to rule; but I see no reason to condemn the man in office for what the same man does under the bedsheets.
This isn't a defense of Clinton. I just don't think that Bush's drug use, or Clinton's drug use, or the alcohol problems of Barbara Bush or Dubbyah's daughter, or any of all that mess, has any relevancy to the office.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
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fable
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Amen, Brother.Anatres writes:
I'm sick to death of the whole 'American Political Experience' anyway.
Our political system is a plutocracy controlled by wealthy lawyers, and it has all the ethical depth of lawyers, too.I don't agree with you about the environment, for what my opinion's worth. I think there has been more than enough evidence produced to show that we do need to take serious steps at this time to deal with global warming, urban pollution, and similar issues. The Kyoto Protocols aren't perfect--as I recall, India didn't sign on, for one thing--but that's no excuse for the #1 world polluter to abrogate its responsibility. And when that move away from environmental responsibility (as I see it) is made by an oil-based multi-millionaire whose campaign was heavily financed by the heavy fuels industry, and who has placed heavy fuels businesspeople in the top ranks of the government, it does give more than cause for a whisper of "hypocrisy."
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
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KidD01
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What's that sonny ?? Libero ? Convertible ? Modern Talking ?
Oh yes ! Yes ! I remember Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini those best liberos of Italy.
Convertible....let's see I can only give you compile....I think it's somethingrelated with Bill Gates !
Modern Talking ? Yes that's one good disco group on those 80's
You really make miss those days sonny !
Oh yes ! Yes ! I remember Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini those best liberos of Italy.
Convertible....let's see I can only give you compile....I think it's somethingrelated with Bill Gates !
Modern Talking ? Yes that's one good disco group on those 80's
You really make miss those days sonny !
I'm not dead yet