Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Criminal Sexuality

Author:Barry Campbell
Posted:12/15/1998; 10:59:49 AM
Topic:DaveNet comments
Msg #:1243 (In response to 1213)
Prev/Next:1242 / 1244

Interesting piece, Dave. I can't help wondering whether you are exagerrating your frustration with Clinton's lies for rhetorical effect, though... like Claude Rains in "Casablanca," it seems to me that you are shocked, shocked, to find that Clinton has been lying to us so ruthlessly and for so long.

Alan Coren once observed (I'm paraphrasing) that democracy is that form of government in which we choose our dictators after listening to them tell us what we want to hear.

That's basically what we've done with Clinton, and it's a little late to complain about it now.

As someone who has been a professional politician for most of his adult life, Clinton is a liar by definition and of necessity; it is next to impossible to build a constituency in this country via a rational discussion of actual issues.

The last President who tried this tactic, and who also tried to be basically honest with the American people in matters political and personal, was Jimmy Carter--probably because he followed Nixon's disgusting performance and Ford's brief, bumbling coda.

Carter was easily the least effective President in modern American history. Reagan certainly noticed this. So did Bush. And so did Clinton.

Here's what they noticed: honesty gets you retired. Quickly.

In an era of electronic media, it pays to talk in soundbites and say nothing of substance unless it's already been tested in a couple of focus groups. Like it or not (and I don't particularly like it), this is the strategy that pays off, over and over again. People with real ambitions would be fools to try anything else.

You make some interesting points about sexual harrassment law, but so far, not a single instance of sexual harrassment has provably occurred. The ugly truth is that we're about to attempt to remove a President from office because he lied about a series of sexual escapades between consenting adults, and *not* because he has committed "high crimes" or conducted treasonous activities. Another ugly truth: this is an issue that is tailor-made to play to religious conservatives, and the GOP has made a devil's bargain with this constituency; from time to time, it must be served.

American politics as practiced at the turn of the 20th century is a rigged game being sold to a credulous audience. Happily, government is less relevant to the lives of most Americans than ever before in our country's history.

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