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NEWSMAX.COM***One of the legacies of the Clinton years will be a degradation of standards for selecting political leaders. The bar is now so low that just about anyone could slither over it on the way to a run for the presidency of the United States.
It should be noted that Clinton did not start, but merely completed, the process of defining-down expectations of politicians. Over the years, we have gradually come to accept that they lie about what they have done, and make promises they do not intend to keep. We have decided that corruption is simply the nature of the political beast, and there is nothing we can do about it.
One might think this understanding would make us more vigilant about how these people handle their jobs, considering that they have the power to get us into wars and take control of our lives and property. But a large majority of us remain profoundly uninterested in matters of state and governance. We turn over the management of our nation to people we believe cannot be trusted, and then, turn our backs on what they are doing.
Perhaps this indifference is founded on a perception that the Constitution will limit the damage; that a check and balance of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government will shield us; that the adversarial nature of two major parties will keep us centered; and that the news media will be diligent in deterring wrongdoing by shining a light on it.
However, if these are the reasons underlying public detachment, one might expect to see a renewal of citizen interest based on the growing perception that the Constitution is largely ignored and selectively interpreted to serve social activism; that the checks and balances of government have become lopsidedly weighted toward executive power; that the two major parties are distinguishable only by rhetoric and not by action; and that the news media have sold out to an ideological agenda and become partisan political players.
But these negative observations about the workings of government have not led to a greater involvement of the people, but to a greater withdrawal into cynicism. This has created a moral vacuum into which opportunists have moved.
Commenting upon the series of school shootings, including one in Texas, presidential aspirant George W. Bush said "there is a wave of evil" spreading across America. A few weeks later, he scolded his party for being too negative by holding a view that America is "slouching towards Gomorrah."
Are we slouching towards Gomorrah? Have we lowered standards not only for our leaders but for ourselves as well? My inclination to say yes is founded, not entirely, but for the most part, upon the growing influence of members of the irreligious left on our government and our culture.
They are succeeding in their mission to impose their twisted views upon America's people and institutions, and to savage those who resist. In its mildest form, this self-righteous authoritarianism is illustrated by the reaction of British journalist Martyn Harris: "Pull out a Monte Cristo at a dinner party, and the political liberal turns into the nicotine fascist."
In its more advanced stages, we see a group of people who will go to obscene extremes to impose their "values" upon others, including the use of guns, rockets and bombs to get it done in Kosovo; and chemical gas, tanks and helicopters to get it done in Waco.
In a recent article that appeared in Solon Magazine, Camille Paglia, a radically brilliant thinker and writer, had a few scorching things to say about a painting that appeared in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The painting was entitled "The Holy Virgin Mary," and featured a distorted version of Mary, splattered with elephant dung, against a background of dozens of pictures of female sexual parts.
Paglia wrote: "And I'm just as sick of 'Catholic bashing' as Giuliani. ... I resent the double standard that protects Jewish and African-American symbols and icons but allows Catholicism to be routinely trashed by supercilious liberals and ranting gay activists. ...That a Jewish collector and a Jewish museum director had no compunction about selecting a parodic image of the Madonna ... shows either stupidity or malice. The Brooklyn show has fomented hatred in this country ..."
When members of the irreligious left go on crusades to wipe out bigotry, and when they preach the need for tolerance that does not judge and inclusiveness that has no borders, they have
If they knowingly practice exclusion, intolerance and bigotry against those who oppose them, they are dangerous hypocrites; if they do not have insight into their destructive hypocrisy, they are delusional, and even more dangerous. They must be identified and called out as a negative force in America.
COPYRIGHT 1999 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
"Are we slouching towards Gomorrah? Have we lowered standards not only for our leaders but for ourselves as well?"
Yep. Clinton spawned the wrong kind of celebrities. Listening to Rush today reminded me of Monica's New Song
I saw a feature on TV this weekend the theme of which was that couples are more tolerant of infidelity now then a few years ago. I think this will be one of the cornerstones of the Clinton legacy. He has taught us you can fool around with no consequences and still be popular. The most corrupt president in US history.
Bill Clinton is really the ONLY truly and thoroughly corrupt president in U.S. history. Other presidents such as Harding and Grant presided over administrations that were troubled by corruption, but they were NOT personally corrupt and did not participate in illegal activities.
Name me ONE other president who was, himself, PERSONALLY corrupt and who PERSONALLY and deliberately brought corruption into the federal government. You can't!
Certainly, the Clintons are absolutely the ONLY corrupt COUPLE to occupy the now sadly degraded White House. I defy ANYONE to name me ONE other personally corrupt first lady in U.S. history.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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