Eve Of Destruction
While a certain nameless blogger believes “Bill Clinton destroyed the Democratic Party,” and is not alone in his thinking, the difference in the way the old party mechanism structure was transformed is a far cry from the manner in which …
George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues. ~Peggy Noonan, WSJ (H.T. FDL)
Nooner gets the breath of Bush devastation right, the fact that Brand GOP is no longer a viable commodity. The rats leaving the sinking ship is further testament to Bush’s scorched earth policy.
Moreover, Bush is leaving the country, and not just his party a smoking ruin. Clinton did no such thing.
Interestingly enough however, is the style differences. Clinton’s “sin” was the triangulation, a willingness to adopt GOP framing and even co-opt their policy positions in order to conduct the people’s business when dealing with a Congress controlled by the other side. George W. Bush has grown even more petulant and stubborn when faced with even the tepid resistance offered by Pelosi/Reid — never considering any form of compromise.
Come on, the guy even vetoed health care for kids — one of those bipartisan thingies Broder and the rest of the Village Idiots so admire..
You don’t have to like Bill Clinton or his wife. But don’t sit there and tell me he “destroyed” the Democratic Party when you see the decimation Bush Rule has wrought on the GOP.
But think of all the hate
There is in red China.
Then take a look around
To Selma, Alabama.
You may leave here
For four days in space,
But when you return
It’s the same old place.
The poundin’ of the drums,
The pride and disgrace.
You can bury your dead,
But don’t leave a trace.
Hate your next door neighbor,
But don’t forget to say graceAnd tell me
Over and over and over and over again, my friend,
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction.
Ah, no, no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction. ~The Byrds
January 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Clinton seeks to smooth relations with Obama
(Reuters)
…
Reuters - Former President Bill Clinton said
he might have gone too far in attacking Barack Obama, …
January 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
A minor nit to pick, Barry McGuire had the hit, the Turtles also recorded it, the Byrds rejected it.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Mark, I agree with your assessment of Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party. However, I think Peggy Noonan’s assessment of George Bush destroying the GOP is off base. From my perspective, I think he simply stripped the sheep’s clothing off of a wolf that’s existed since FDR co-opted the positions of “The Party of Lincoln”, alienating the Southern Democrats.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I read the Kos interview.
WTF is he trying to say?
Bill Clinton may, in fact, have saved the Democratic party and done so without losing its far wings: the moderate Blue Dogs and the Left/Kucinich wings…cuz, you know, they’re still there and they never left, and you can’t argue that they were sitting there in 2000 or 2004 saying “See? We told you!”
Do we bicker? Sure. But so do most families, and when all is said and done, we get behind the people who are running for us…yes, EVEN John Kerry…and I think after eight years of Bush, we can appreciate the monumental job Clinton did in holding the nation together, even in the face of a hate-filled, spite-ridden right wing that saw him take their cherished bugbears and bogeymen and co-opt them and install Democratic and even to a degree, liberal spins and solutions to them.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Kos is Gen X’s BroderBot 2.0. Kumbayah in cyberspace. Give him 20 years, and he’ll be yelling GET OFF MY LAWN just like us aging hippies.
BTW, Lesson: Never single source ANYTHING.
Apologies to writer/guitarist P.F. Sloan.
The Byrds were just dumb for rejecting this song.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
it seems like the only one who learned the lessons of 2000 and 2004 is bill clinton. he looked in the eye of the rethug party and gave them a big fuck you. he didn’t scurry away and assume the fetal position as most of the dems are do now (yeah, i’m lookin’ at you, pelosi and reid!).
January 25th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
“I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat.”
Will Rogers
One more:
“On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.”
Will Rogers
January 26th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Bill Clinton did not destroy the Democratic party. That’s a very irresponsible thing to say. I am not impressed with everything he did, but he did accomplish some good things as well.
His legacy has proven to be not nearly as significant as he paints it, but if the past seven years have shown us anything, it’s been that a President who accomplish a few good things is a helluva lot better than a president who destroyed so many things in so many different ways.