Meredith Oakley - Oct. 4 1991 - His word is dirt: Basking in Clinton's false and empty light

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | October 4, 1991 | Meredith Oakley

[HAL9000]

Today is the 11th anniversary of the best article ever written about Bill Clinton, by Meredith Oakley of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. It was published on the date of Clinton's announcement of his candidacy for president of the United States on October 4, 1991 -

Taking Bill Clinton at his word: Basking in a false and empty light

His word is dirt.

Not a statesman is he, but a common, run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen politician.

A mere opportunist.

A man whose word is fallow ground not because it is unwanted but because it is barren, bereft of the clean-smelling goodness that nurtures wholesome things.

Those of us who cling to the precepts of another age, a time in which a man's word was his bond, and, morally, bailing out was not an option, cannot join the madding crowd in celebrating what is for some Bill Clinton's finest hour.

We cannot rejoice in treachery.

The bleaters who care more for celebrity than veracity are basking in a false and empty light. They trumpet the basest form of political expediency, for they revel amid the debris of a broken promise.

Clinton will never accept that assessment of his actions or his following. He subscribes to the credo that the anointed must rule the empire, and he has anointed himself. In his ambition-blinded eyes, one released from a promise has not broken any promise.

He ignores the fact that he granted his own pardon.

Clinton announced in late summer that he would take a three-week tour of the state to see whether Arkansans wanted to release him from the promise, made in October 1990, not to seek the presidency if re-elected governor.

Actually, he was on the road only about three days, and he later confessed that he hadn't even bothered to ask those with whom he spoke whether they would release him from the promise.

That is of little consequence, perhaps, for he was meeting with sycophants who would have told him, had he asked, that his bulbous nose was tiny and, in fact, would grace the face of Helen of Troy.

His delusion, therefore, is not entirely self-induced. The strains of Camelot's anthem have followed him for 15 years because he has been able to inspire the young and the beautiful to visions of political grandeur while reassuring their elders that chivalry is not dead.

They who will never be great would settle for a seat, however briefly held, at the foot of greatness. They would pardon any sin--indeed, deny its very existence--for a moment spent basking in the false and empty light of the anointed.

In their adoring minds, Bill Clinton wants to be president; therefore, Bill Clinton should be president.

Clinton has never been known for keeping his word. There is a Scottish proverb that fits his particular code of honor: He never lies but when the holly is green.

If there remained any doubt about that--rather, if there remained any hope that even Clinton would not betray a pledge made before a statewide television audience--it gulped its last breath at the moment those fateful words of wishdom rang through the trees of the Old State House.

"Will you guarantee all of us," asked newsman Craig Cannon on Oct. 15, 1990, "that if re-elected, there is absolutely, positively no way that you'll run for any other political office and that you'll serve out your term in full?"

"You bet," Clinton declared. "I told you when I announced for governor I intended to run, and that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna serve four years. I made that decision when I decided to run. I'm being considered for as a candidate for governor. That's the job I want. That's the job I'll do for the next four years."

Contrary to his very public declaration, Clinton does not want to be governor of Arkansas. Neither does he intend to perform that job--although he is perfectly willing to draw a governor's salary, to accumulate a governor's pension credits and to keep a change of clothing at the Governor's Mansion while he traverses the country making other statements he does not mean and other promises he will not keep.

Copyright © 1991, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Mo1]

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[Mudboy Slim]

The Sheeple appear to be easily-schnookered...MUD

[buffyt]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS.....

I just got an email from a 21 year old male friend who said this, "You have to admit, though. Clinton pulled it off. 8 years of peace and prosperity. 8 years of hope for the average American. 8 years of reducing the deficit. The failed impeachment aside, his presidency on paper is the best of modern time. And he left office with a higher approval rating than Reagan. Lucky duck. Don't get me wrong, no one hates Clinton any more than I do, but I can't deny how good things went for him.

It would seem as though it's Bush's bad luck that all this crap came down when he became president. I can guarantee he won't be re-elected (mark my words on that). Not that Gore would have been any better.

Bryan.

I sent him a copy of this article that you posted. THANKS AGAIN!!!!! And I also wrote him a long email explaining why he is WRONG.

[x]

Your friend may not disagree with Oakley. Bill Clinton was a horrible sleaze and a disgraceful excuse for a human being, but he was far luckier than he had any right to be. The Internet bubble helped him, and he left before it broke. He may have cooked the books on labor statistics. Someone should investigate it. And the prosperity of the very late nineties casts a halo back over the troubled and uncertain early years of his administration. But if what your friend is saying is that Clinton was a very lucky b*st*rd, who can disagree with that?

[Scholastic]

Meredith Oakley and Mara Leveritt are two Arkansas class acts. Thanks for posting this!

[ilgipper]

It's not that times were so good, it is that the American people were told that times were so good by the media and the administration. Anytime I talk to people and hear about the foreign policy success of the Clinton administration, I lose my top. The intense pressure the media has given to questioning on Bush and Iraq was strangely absent during Clinton's follies in E. Europe, Iraq and elsewhere.

[Arkinsaw]

Meredith Oakley and Mara Leveritt are two Arkansas class acts. Thanks for posting this!

And we should not forget the late John Robert Starr of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who took so much abuse for warning over and over about Clinton.

[lepton]

And he left office with a higher approval rating than Reagan.

Only because Clinton's approval ratings were so bad, that they divided personal approval from job approval - just for him. He lost more than 20 points if polls were conducted where one wasn't allowed to condemn his personal behaviour before commenting on his job behaviour.

[Mudboy Slim]

"Meredith Oakley and Mara Leveritt are two Arkansas class acts."

Ms. Oakley sure had Slick Willie pegged, didn't she?!

LOL...MUD

[Jabba the Nutt]

"The failed impeachment aside,..."

Actually, it was a successful impeachment. Clinton was impeached. Trent Lott and the Senate failed to hold a real trial and failed to convict, but the impeachment stands.

[Mudboy Slim]

"His delusion, therefore, is not entirely self-induced. The strains of Camelot's anthem have followed him for 15 years because he has been able to inspire the young and the beautiful to visions of political grandeur while reassuring their elders that chivalry is not dead. They who will never be great would settle for a seat, however briefly held, at the foot of greatness. They would pardon any sin--indeed, deny its very existence--for a moment spent basking in the false and empty light of the anointed. In their adoring minds, Bill Clinton wants to be president; therefore, Bill Clinton should be president."

Bingo...MUD

[Cicero]

No amount of public adulation can remove the shame from bill clinton. All it can do is spread his slime onto his admirers.

It is honorable to praise honorable men. It is dishonorable to praise dishonorable men.

[Mudboy Slim]

"The House of the Vile Clinton!!"
(To be sung to Bob Dylan's acoustic version of "House of the Risin' Sun")

In our White House down in ol' DeeCee...
There lived the Vile Clinton!!
And he's been the hero of many Lib'rals...
But Slick's a Bag O' Scum!!

Bill Clinton is a TRAITOR...
He sold our nukes fer cheap!!
Our FReedoms are endangered, folks...
'Cuz good Sheeple sleep!!

Now, good folks, the thing Slick Willie needs...
Is fer his TREASON to be judged!!
'Cuz the only way we'll stop his lyin'...
Is when we string him up!!

Slick killed them lasses down in Texas...
He Torch'd that Waco Compound!!
Folks, the only pleasure Bill gets outta life...
Is when he's Abusin' his Power!!

I tell ya, Nation, listen...
We gotta do what must be done!!
Must show the Powers in ol' DeeCee...
That Justice is fer everyone!!

Folks, it's time to take on Left's Whore!!
Yes, we must remove Slick's stain!!
We're marchin' back to ol' DeeCee...
Let's put that boy in chains!!

We're a'marchin' back to ol' DeeCee...
Slick's place is in Prison!!
We're goin' back to force Congress...
To Re-Impeach Clinton!!

It's our White House in ol' DeeCee...
We shan't condone TREASON!!
Must sing this tune of Justice, dear Lord...
Yes, we'll DETHRONE CLINTON!!!!

Mudboy Slim

FReepers, we must...

RE-IMPEACH. CONVICT. DETHRONE.
DISBAR. DE-PENSION. DE-LEGITIMIZE.
INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DISCARD KEY.

Please join your fellow FReepers in Washington, DC on the 26th of October of 2002!!

WE SHALL DETHRONE THE TYRANT!!

FReegards...MUD

1 Posted on 07/08/2000 13:29:56 PDT by Mudboy Slim (Impeach@gain.harder!!)

[cricket]

Thanks for the step back into the past. Sadly, some things just do not change; thanks to 'some people'. . .

[Saundra Duffy]

And he's a rapist.

[YaYa123]

What in the world prompted this walk down memory lane? and thanks!!!

Meredith Oakley was a prophet of things to come...along with Paul Greenberg, both of the Ark Dem Gazette. Oakley's book, ON THE MAKE (The Rise of Bill Clinton)1994, really nailed the sorry bastard, unfortunately the mainstream media wasn't interested in Clinton's sorry past.

You'll never convince me Elizabeth Drew didn't sorta steal Oakley's title.
ON THE MAKE by Oakley described Clinton's Arkansas sleaze, Elizabeth Drew wrote her book about Clinton's first year as president. She named her book ON THE EDGE.

[Reactionary]

"Bill Clinton was a horrible sleaze and a disgraceful excuse for a human being, but he was far luckier than he had any right to be."

Luck had nothing to do with it. Clinton merely covered up the terrorist attacks that occured and invented a financial boom based upon hot air.

[stand watie]

exactly!

free dixie,sw

[Mudboy Slim]

"The strains of Camelot's anthem have followed him for 15 years because he has been able to inspire the young and the beautiful to visions of political grandeur while reassuring their elders that chivalry is not dead. They who will never be great would settle for a seat, however briefly held, at the foot of greatness."

Yep...the Political Disembowelment of Der SchleekMeister is Mandatory not only to Punish the WrongDoer, but also to make an example of Bill Clinton to all the would-be Tyrants who look to him as a Role Model!!

RE-IMPEACH. CONVICT. DETHRONE.
DISBAR. DE-PENSION. DE-LEGITIMIZE.
INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DISCARD KEY.

Quite Sincerely...MUD

[Howlin]

Do you happen to have a copy/link of her article, "I Told You So," the one where she went ballistic when he announced he WAS going to run for president after swearing not to? I lost mine!

[Mudboy Slim]

"What in the world prompted this walk down memory lane?"

Never EVER Forget!!

FReegards...MUD

[Howlin]

Oh, dear. Did he get THOSE talking points in a blast fax from the DNC?

[Howlin]

And he left office with a higher approval rating than Reagan.

And Bush's approval ratings are higher right now than Clinton's EVER were.

[ladyinred]

He subscribes to the credo that the anointed must rule the empire, and he has anointed himself. In his ambition-blinded eyes, one released from a promise has not broken any promise.

My God, and he is still anointed in his and so much of the world's minds. If only we had heeded this warning.

[Mudboy Slim]

"...he left office with a higher approval rating than Reagan."

Oh yeah, and Bob Rubin never cooked the books for the Department of Treasury...I contest those polls!!

FReegards...MUD

[HAL9000]

Do you happen to have a copy/link of her article, "I Told You So," the one where she went ballistic when he announced he WAS going to run for president after swearing not to?

It is the same article as above.

It was originally published on October 4, 1991 with the title "Taking Bill Clinton at his word: Basking in a false and empty light", then republished on September 13, 1998 with the title "I told you so".

[Howlin]

Of course you are right. And now I remember that I have asked you for this very same article on more than one occasion. This time, I'm saving for sure. Thanks AGAIN!

[stand watie]

well said!

free dixie NOW,sw

[Howlin]

FYI.

[poet]

"he left office with a higher approval rating than Reagan."

Yeah, the problem is only morons were polled!!!!

[Mudboy Slim]

"...only morons were polled!!!!"

Bet'cha DemMorons T-Mac and Slick are gonna git polled quite regularly once Justice catches up to them and they spend the rest of their lives on this planet in an 8'x10' concrete cell!!

Quite Sincerely...MUD

[Mudboy Slim]

Muchas gracias, mi amigo...MUD

[dread78645]

along with Paul Greenberg, both of the Ark Dem Gazette.

Paul Greenberg

"Does he have a vision or agenda that he pursues, does he have direction in which he is leading the country? I have never been able to detect any particular principal that Bill Clinton would not sacrifice in order to advance his political career."

"The question of his stand on the Gulf War came up .... he mentioned almost casually he had supported the use of force in that war. And that really threw me. Because I remembered that he had not. ... I remember feeling shaken, ... I sped down the 43 miles to the paper, looked up the clips, and of course he had not supported the war. He had issued a classic waffle that would allow him later to take whatever side looked popular whether we had won or lost that conflict. It was a very convoluted statement ... it had so many escape clauses he would have had a hard time not coming out on top no matter how the war came out. We have a term for those escape clauses in Arkansas. Those are called "Clinton Clauses." Seldom, if ever, will you catch Bill Clinton in anything so direct as a lie. There is always a premeditated quality to many of his statements that give him an out in case he decided to abandon a promise or betray an assertion. "

"So that Bill Clinton is very much a man of the '90's. Or maybe the '90's is very much a reflection of Bill Clinton. I'm not sure which. But I think we do live in a Clintonized culture. Just turn on your television set, or read your newspaper or try to find out what the latest spin is, and you can see what counts is the right sentimental expression, the right style rather than anything below the surface, rather than any kind of profound quality. Rather than any sense of pain or sacrifice that awaits us."

[YaYa123]

I didn't want any of you who had added to this thread to miss the brilliant Paul Greenberg column which dread78645 added. Wow!

[Mudboy Slim]

"...the '90's is very much a reflection of Bill Clinton. I'm not sure which. But I think we do live in a Clintonized culture."

Obviously, CorporategreedGate is a direct reflection of Bill Clinton's lawlessness while POTUS, but I disagree that a strong majority of Americans believe Fraud and Graft and Murder and Rape and Treason are unprosecutable fer the Effete Elite.

RE-IMPEACH.CONVICT.DETHRONE.
DISBAR.DE-PENSION.DE-LEGITIMIZE.
INDICT.CONVICT.IMPRISON.DISCARD KEY.

Quite Sincerely...MUD

[cricket]

"I didn't want any of you who had added to this thread to miss the brilliant Paul Greenberg column which dread78645 added. Wow!"

Thanks for 'heads up 'YaYa' on Greenberg. . .but which column do you mean re Greenberg? Could not find 'dread78645's' post. . .and there are so many by Paul. . .

. . .For sure, Paul Greenberg always has the nail and the hammer lined up perfectly!

[YaYa123]

Read Greenberg's column here, # 34....sorry I didn't include that in my heads up.

[stand watie]

de nada, companero.

free dixie,sw

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Mudboy Slim]

De nada, mi amiga...MUD

[aruanan]

A BUMP FOR REMEMBRANCE!!