Misdirection

Have you ever noticed that when someone starts complaining about George W, his defenders don't actually defend him? Instead they generally do one of two things: they talk about what an asshole Bill Clinton was or they call the complainer unpatriotic.

Patriotism can take many forms. I believe in the concept of the loyal opposition. The adversary system, whether in law or government, keeps people honest (to a point). That's what checks and balances are--opposing forces keeping an eye on everyone. To call a dissenter unpatriotic is a cheap shot at best. At worst, when the accused knuckles under, you can run a country that way. The Democrats over the last eight years have been a sorry excuse for a loyal opposition. They have only risen to the challenge once they figured out public opinion was turning against George W. Having said that, however, I can understand some of their fear. After all, McCarthyism was based on nothing but fear and accusation. All you need is a guy like Roy Cohn. Or, say, Dick Cheney.

As for Bill Clinton, the worst thing he did was get a blow job and lie about it. Sometimes rightwingers will say that he didn't prepare the country for the possibility of terrorism on American shores.

Well, that's all well and good, but 9/11 happened long after the Bush administration was up and running. Transition teams were in the White House shortly after the election in November 2000, almost a year before the attacks. They knew what Clinton knew long before the inauguration. Beyond that, no matter how you slice it, Clinton is not the guy who started a war in a country to make his dad proud, ran up the deficit higher than Reagan did, and spent any good will the USA had after 9/11 by bullying the rest of the world and ignoring real threats like North Korea.

And this from a guy who was raised Republican in Indiana.