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TechnoratiA Tale of Two Presidents
Exactly a decade ago Washington's social elites went into a pearl-clutching swoon over Bill Clinton lying to the nation -- and, far less forgivably, to themselves -- about the details of his sex life.
The comedic climax of the whole absurd business was reached when Sally Quinn published a long article in The Washington Post, explaining why the whole town, meaning Sally Quinn and her friends, was so unutterably appalled by the president's behavior, when most of the rest of the nation frankly didn't give a damn.
It was, Quinn explained, because, quoting her colleague David Broder, "he came here and trashed the place, and it's not his place."
Here's my favorite passage from Quinn's unintentionally hilarious essay (the whole thing has to be read to be believed): "Muffie Cabot, who as Muffie Brandon served as social secretary to President and Nancy Reagan, regards the scene with despair. 'This is a demoralized little village,' she says. 'People have come from all over the country to serve a higher calling and look what happened. They're so disillusioned. The emperor has no clothes. Watergate was pretty scary, but it wasn't quite as sordid as this.' "
Justice demands it be noted this stern sermon on sexual ethics was delivered by a journalist whose own floundering career was revived when -- to put it as delicately as possible -- she struck up a warm friendship with her employer, who at that time was married to another woman.
Still, 10 years is a long time, and all of us have said and done regrettable things, and one really should let bygones be bygones, if not for the following remarkable fact: A decade after Sally Quinn and David Broder and so many others found it unendurable that Bill Clinton had lied (under oath, we were reminded again and again) about his sex life, the presidency is occupied by George W. Bush.
In just the last week, President Bush has achieved the following milestones.
* Maj. Gen. Anthony Taguba accused the president of the United States of committing war crimes. Taguba is the man the Pentagon appointed to carry out an investigation into what he discovered was the systematic torture of prisoners by the U.S. military, on direct orders from the Bush administration.
Here is his judgment: "The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account. The commander in chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture."
A United States Army major general has concluded the president is a war criminal. Taguba's quoted statement refers specifically to the cases of 11 Guantanamo detainees who were tortured before they were finally released, without ever having charges filed against them, or indeed being told why they were "detained" in the first place.
Shortly after completing his investigation, Taguba's superiors forced him to retire.
* Meanwhile, Congress is in the process of passing a bill that will legalize felonies committed by the Bush administration, by placing the warrantless wiretapping the administration undertook in direct violation of federal law beyond the reach of the judicial system.
As law professor Jonathan Turley puts it, it's the kind of thing that "any criminal would love to do."
But the Bush administration isn't run by just any criminal. Even after getting a bill passed that makes the felonies they were committing legal, a Bush administration spokesman made it clear that the administration reserves the right to ignore this new law, if the president believes doing so is necessary to keep the nation "safe."
And what do Sally Quinn and David Broder and the rest of the Washington elites who 10 summers ago were shouting to the heavens that Bill Clinton was unfit to remain president have to say about any of this? The answer seems to be: exactly nothing.
Paul Campos is a professor of law at the University of Colorado. He can be reached at paul.campos@colorado.edu.
© 2008 The E.W. Scripps Co.
14 Comments so far
Show AllHe's probably gotten many, but he's a Republican and a Bush, so a mere Oval Office blowjob or two isn't enough to impeach him.
Notice the normally sex-obsessed US Big Media doesn't seem the slightest bit curious as to who was bypassing security procedures and letting fake journalist and male prostitute Jeff Gannon in and out of the White House late at night on those days when there was no press conference scheduled. Had it been Clinton, they would have been all over it, specualting endlessly over What It Really Means. But, since it's a Bush, zip down the Memory Hole, just like those stories of Poppy's Bush's adultery with Jennifer Fitzgerald. Since he is a wealthy blueblooded Bush, of course there was nothing to them, or so said our BM, who ignored the relationship once Bush the Elder refused to 'dignify' the allegations with a denial and said 'shame on you' to the press corps.
Would someone please give President Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him?
WTF [June 25th, 2008 7:12 pm] -- I'm aspiring to shine his shoes.
See how nasty the Neo-Cons got with Bill Clinton? And he was generally liked by most Republicans and corporate America. Could you imagine if we elected someone who actually represented the average American? When it comes to Obama, don't hold your breath.
Uh-oh! I'm agreeing with RichM 2:42 pm
LOL @ RSJ. You channeling George?
I was having a few good laughs today reading George Carlin lines, but Muffie Cabot's dimwitted boobery, "People have come from all over the country to serve a higher calling and look what happened. They're so disillusioned. The emperor has no clothes. Watergate was pretty scary, but it wasn't quite as sordid as this," is nearly the unintentional comic equal of Carlin.
She should have said it the way George might have: "Barely human creatures who run on money and ego assemble in a cleared swamp on the Potomac River that has become a national cesspool for selfish, greedy assholes who don't give a rip about the country or the 'little people' who inhabit it, unless they need votes, maid service or landscaping done. These jerks were only disillusioned to the extent that Arky-Boy Clinton was dumb enough to get caught, and he wouldn't deny access to the media to save himself, as a good Republican would have. Actually, the emperor was fully clothed in the Oval Office when he was being sucked off by Ms. Lewinsky. I think what really bothered Muffie and her ilk is that he wasted an expensive cigar on an intern's vagina. 'You could have used a friggin' White Owl, Bill, she would have never known the difference!' Watergate never bothered this elite crowd until their noses were forced to smell the stench it left in its wake. Nixon's Watergate bullshit were par for the course for this country club crowd; trailer park President Bubba letting a fling with Monica Slutsky bring bring him down was a big scandal. Washington, the only town in America where most of the people in government are self-trained proctologists constantly in the process of examining themselves."
If the M$M had supported impeachment, Bush and Cheney would be gone already.
The comment of cmdrmsLvr (12:29 pm) cannot really be improved upon. Succinct, & to-the-point.
Watergate was pretty scary, but it wasn't quite as sordid as this.'
So, Richard Milhouse Nixon burning the constitution at 3 A.M. down in the basement of La Casa Blanca is merely sordid. But getting a blow job from a woman who just had a couple of Altoids on her tongue is the absolute ruin of the nation. Actually, it wasn't the hummer . . .it was the Altoids that so upset poor little Muffie Cabot. And what kind of sorry-ass loser has a name like Muffie Cabot?
How American can you get. Nearly impeach a president for lying about a blow job, do nothing when a president lies us into a war which results in the death of thousands. Now if we can get something about Bush beating off while considering the war we would have grounds for impeachment..
What torture? Rough handling is not the same as torture. Dick Bush...
How many media clowns have we heard parroting this line?
For the TAIL of one Prez, a morally feigned nightmarish rump through useless and wasteful impeachment -- which failed.
For the TRAIL of another "prez" ( who wasn't ever really elected, so he cannot really meet that title -- officially ), thieving trillion$ of "missing" and misdirected public monies for himself & his corporate goons, mass murdering perhaps millions, invading sovereign countries many ways, destruction of Constitution, acts of wanton terror and propaganda upon Americans themselves, and numerous felonies and war crimes near impossible to count …
… and outrageously, impeachment is "off the table" -- because it might fail ? ? ? ?
Namaste
Sally Quinn and David Broder are scum.