KISSING UP TO THE CLINTONS THE KISS OF DEATH
Fuji
By: John LeBoutillier
It has really gotten out of hand.
First, President GW Bush praises Bill Clinton to the hilt in the White
House when unveiling the official White House portrait of the 42nd
president.
Then the scene is repeated last November when the entire Bush Family
journeyed to Little Rock for the opening of the Clinton Presidential
Library. The praise from both President Bushes for Bill Clinton was
effusive.
Then Bush 41 and former President Bill Clinton join forces for Tsunami
Relief - a worthy cause - and travel the world to raise money. They
appear at this year's Super Bowl together and seem to be having a
blast together.
Before you know it they declare their friendship; we learn they talk on
the phone often, play golf together and are just plain 'pals.'
Then the White House does a fancy two-step to tick off former President
Jimmy Carter and thus take only Bill Clinton to Rome for Pope John Paul
II's funeral. During this trip, we learn subsequently, GW Bush asked
Mr. Clinton to "sit in" on his morning CIA intel briefing and asked
his opinions.
He also talked to Mr. Clinton about Social Security Reform, this
president's key second-term initiative.
In many recent interviews the Bushes and Clintons declare their
'friendship' and go out of their way to make nice to each other.
All of this after Bill Clinton's disgusting Oval Office behavior and
Hillary Clinton's history of lies and scandals.
Whatever happened to GW Bush's 2000 campaign slogan: "I will
restore honor and dignity to the Oval Office"?
Why is this happening?
Because these two families - who want to retain control of their
respective political parties - are using each other to 'soften'
their disapproval in the opposite party.
GW Bush, floundering on Social Security reform, cleverly leaks out his
praise for Bill Clinton's own Social Security plan. Why? To try to
garner some Democratic support for his plan.
Bill Clinton - who loves media adulation even more than he loves
members of the opposite sex - happily appears with the Bushes. Plus, it
makes Hillary appear more 'mainstream.'
Now we have this scene being replayed: former Speaker of the House Newt
Gingrich and Hillary Clinton are all lovey-dovey as they announce
support for a new bill to enable online medical record sharing.
Newt and Hillary.
What is going on here?
It is simple - and it is awful:
A) Politically, both ends of the spectrum are using each other to
'moderate' their own extremist images.
Newt, who is running a futile race for the presidential nomination in
2008 and who has an insatiable ego, thinks he can look a little more
mainstream by appearing with Hillary.
Hillary, who already has the 2008 Democratic nomination in her handbag,
thinks she can appear more 'centrist' by always cozying up with
right-wingers, pro-lifers and the Bushes.
B) In real terms, these folks are all the same: political prostitutes
who will do anything for attention.
Newt Gingrich is and was a smart operator who got too big for his
britches and began talking about himself in the third person and
comparing himself to Winston Churchill. He betrayed two wives and
became a serial philanderer just like Bill Clinton.
Newt admitted that he got 'seduced' by Bill Clinton during those
now-infamous 1995 budget negotiations which were the downfall of
Newt's leadership in the House - and enabled a damaged Clinton to
'tri-angulate' and get himself re-elected in 1996.
Now Newt thinks it is clever to hang around with Hillary and to brag
about how they talk at least once a week.
He is nuttier than ever.
All of these folks - the Bushes, the Clintons and Newt - have degraded
American politics to a new low.
They all lie like mad - about their scandals, about their cheating,
about WMD - and have not one principle they believe in.
In a mere twenty years we have gone from giants of principle like
Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher to overly
ambitious pygmies who just want power for power's sake.
Nothing the Clintons do should surprise any of us. They are what they
are.
But when so-called conservatives and Republicans repeatedly reach out
to the Clintons, then something is egregiously wrong.
They will soon learn a lesson:
Kissing up to the Clintons isn't smart; it is the Kiss of (political)
Death.
John LeBoutillier is a former U.S. Congressman and a nationally
recognized political commentator. He has been a frequent guest on many
national talk show programs and is author of the book Harvard Hates
America. He is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.
John LeBoutillier can be reached at: johnl...@johnlebout.com
He keeps an archive of his articles at: JohnLeBout.com
Published in the May 18, 2005 issue of Ether Zone.
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