-Caveat Lector-
More casualties of the Clinton era
DANA D. KELLEY
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
December 3, 2000
Here in Arkansas, most everybody knows somebody whose life was
either disrupted or destroyed as a result of the investigations
surrounding the Clinton machine.
The aura of excitement which seemed initially to permeate Clinton
supporters steadily dulled into dread as we watched subpoenas
rain down on the just and unjust, the good and the bad.
Not only were flesh-and-blood Ar-kansans sacrificed in the name
of Bill Clinton, but so were time-honored principles. The
now-infamous smear tactics were perfected to silence "bimbo
eruptions" and other critics. Lying became an accepted, even
preferred, method of garnering headlines and manipulating public
opinion under the guise of "spin." Integrity went from being a
hard-earned virtue to a relative measure.
Even as the Clinton administration wanes, it continues to claim
casualties. The latest and perhaps most unexpected include Al
Gore and Joe Lieberman.
Gore's promise not to take legal action if he lost the recount in
Florida now bears a striking resemblance to Clinton's finger
wagging that he did not have "sexual relations with that woman."
And if anybody thought Gore had a penchant for fibbing during the
campaign, his latest round of whoppers is proof that no matter
how bad something is, it can always get worse. "This is America,"
a chortling Gore asserted last week. "When votes are cast, we
count them."
Like many great Clintonisms, that sounds good but simply isn't
true. Not all votes are counted, or can be. Current estimates
are that up to 3 million votes nationally weren't tallied for a
variety of reasons. (All the Florida votes were "counted" twice
by machines, but untallied votes did not register a presidential
selection.)
The only untallied votes Gore wants to count are those that will
give him the win in Florida. It's intellectually dishonest to
disenfranchise 3 million untallied ballots--far more than enough
to change not only the popular vote, but also the electoral
vote--by applying partisan scrutiny to a few thousand votes in
Florida.
The lamest argument of all has become the media-repeated mantra
that George W. Bush would be doing the same thing if the tables
were turned.
We can't know what Bush would have done if he had lost the
original count and the mandated recount by 500 votes. But if he
had acted dishonorably and attempted to subvert an unbiased if
imperfect election process in the courts, I would be criticizing
him with equal fervor and disdain.
And what about Lieberman? Who knows what possessed him to follow
Florida's certification with his scorched-earth, defiant
denouncement of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris after
she followed the state Supreme Court's ruling to the letter.
His reputation as a well-reasoned senator was obliterated as he
tried to paint a picture of Republican "intimidation" in
Miami-Dade County after the canvassing board voted to stop hand
recounting, even as the Democratic board chairman denied that
Republican protests had anything to do with its decision. Those
who have been watching closely will recall that Miami-Dade didn't
want to hand recount in the first place, after a sample showed no
variation from the machine recount. Only after an intimidating
lawsuit was threatened by the Gore campaign did the board
capitulate.
On principle, I disagreed often with the position of candidate
Gore, but I believed him to be morally superior to his boss.
After witnessing recent events unfold under his watch, from the
personal trashing of Harris to the ridiculously staged
conference-call photo-op (talk about looking like bad wax figures
from Madame Tussaud's) to the revelation that his lawyers
submitted a false affidavit about the Illinois case involving
dimples before Florida's Supreme Court, I can only conclude that
his philosophy has become exactly that of Clinton's--win at any
and all costs.
Bill Clinton will live forever in history books as an impeached
president. In his shadow, Al Gore has solidified his historical
footnote as the only candidate to contest a certified
presidential election. That no other losing candidate has ever
behaved in such a way speaks tellingly about the man who would do
it now.
Throughout the campaign, Gore's variation on John F. Kennedy's
famous speech seemed to be "ask not what you can do for your
country; ask what a Gore administration can do for you." It's
clear now that not only will this man say anything to be
president, he'll also do anything.
Dana D. Kelley is a free-lance writer from Jonesboro.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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