OKC made it possible for Clinton to set the stage for tarring all Republicans with the stink of Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Anything that conflicted with that message or watered it down would be surpressed. Clinton was one scary dude.
That may be true, but you need to bear in mind he had plenty of help, from conservative talk-show hosts to elected Republican governors such as Oklahoma's Frank Keating, a former FBI special agent.
Recall, for example, that Rush Limbaugh immediately took the bait about "hate radio" and portayed himself as the victim of Clinton's spurious charges. It's obvious to everyone except the left-leaning media that Limbaugh had about as much use for a person like Timothy McVeigh as goal posts do in a baseball game.
What's ironic about all this is there really was "hate radio" -- and still is, I believe -- but it's broadcast on low-power stations scattered around the country (plus short awve), not over 50,000-watt clear-channel outlets where ideology takes a back seat to making tons of money. Its audience might total thousands on a good day, not even close to the millions reached by the likes of Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Reagan.
Americans who don't listen to talk radio could only conclude from the press reports that Limbaugh was exactly who Clinton was referring to, and Clinton, smart politician and consummate liar that he is, was not about to deny Limbaugh his place in the hot seat. If the shoe fits . . .
As for Republicans in deep denial about a conspiracy beyond the McVeigh-Nichols bomb-making team, note Frank Keating's remarks on the publication blurb last year of an book, Simple Truths: The Real Story of the Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation, written by two of the primary FBI cover-up artists investigators:
Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating calls a new book about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing "a closed book on the case" and "a book that needed to be written."Perpetuate? Yes, I guess so....
In Simple Truths, never before published photographs from FBI files document how McVeigh and Nichols planned the robbery of an Arkansas gun dealer to finance the operation, prove the theory that only the two men were involved in the purchase of materials to make the bomb, and rebut theories that others conspired with McVeigh and Nichols.
In the foreword, former Governor Keating says the FBI's role in bringing McVeigh and Nichols to justice was the agency's "finest hour." Agent Hersley said the book was written "to set the record straight about the FBI's investigation that resulted in the convictions of McVeigh and Nichols." Agent Tongate said, "We want to dispel myths and inaccuracies promulgated and endorsed by misguided individuals and/or groups based on loosely associated connections or events."
Co-author Burke, said, "It is our purpose to put to rest theories of any Middle Eastern connection or any other outside involvement in the bombing. The simple truth is that McVeigh and Nichols alone used their hatred of the federal government to perpetuate a horrible and senseless crime."
Keating, Limbaugh and other "right-wing Republicans" of prominence will continue to excuse the FBI and the cover-up, dismissing any and all who challenge the official story as "conspiracy theorists."