When the Democrats of the US Senate would not even walk across the street in 1998 to look at the evidence that Bill Clinton was a rapist, I vowed to myself “I will not vote for any Democrat for 20 years, unless they were too young or politically uninvolved at this moment. This level of dishonesty is a bridge too far.” I later learned that it was Trent Lott* who put the fix in, but that still didn’t absolve them in my eyes. I haven’t had many temptations in the last two decades. When one Republican governor was pretty seedy I just left that line blank. (I usually leave at least one line blank. I don’t have high standards – these are politicians we are talking about, let’s get real – but some people do fall beneath even my minimal requirements.) I actually had grudging approval of John Lynch by the end. It was amusing when people wondered in 2016 whether I disapproved enough of Trump to vote for Hillary. That would be a maximum level of irony that human brains cannot safely attempt.
The 20 years will be up after this election. I don’t think it changed things much on a practical level, but sometimes it’s nice to make promises to yourself and follow through on them just to remember what you were thinking then. It ties pieces of one’s life together.
*No theory I have heard seems convincing to me. Unwillingness to call out corruption to protect himself or others comes closest. The alt-history would then be that Gore likely wins in 2000, so the 2000-2002 recession falls in his lap, as does 9-11. Too many possible branchings after that, but it’s interesting.
4 comments:
What, specifically, happened in 1998? Are you referring to Juanita Broaddrick, or another woman? Christopher Hitchens wrote about her and two others, in his book,”No One Left to Lie To.”
The Senate voted on whether to remove Clinton from office based on the recommendation on the article of impeachment from the House. Evidence was submitted and hearings were held. The information alleged by Brodderick and others was on dprivate display across the street, and the Democrats as a group rather pointedly refused to even look at it.
Thanks. I didn’t know about the across the street display. I also think Clinton got a huge break on the Waco disaster. No Republican would have been re-elected with such a record. But no one talks about Waco anymore.
Or that Waco was Janet Reno's doing, deeply related to the witch hunts she made her name on in Florida, jailing people for day care and satanic ritual abuse that never happened. At least one is still in jail.
Post a Comment