Posted on 04/13/2005 6:48:15 AM PDT by areafiftyone
When Bill Clinton starts talking politics, it usually pays to listen. But the only point he made with an outburst Monday was to prove that somebody ought to put a sock in the former First Mouth. In a cheap shot that set a new low for ex-Presidents, Clinton said a gay Republican strategist who recently married his male partner "may be blinded by self-loathing." Clinton's target was Arthur Finkelstein, a GOP operative who helped elect candidates from George Pataki to Jesse Helms. Last week it was reported the reclusive Finkelstein had quietly married his partner several months ago in Massachusetts, which permits same-sex marriage. The nuptial news came as Finkelstein is organizing an effort to defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton next year. Bill Clinton no doubt thought he was being clever by linking Finkelstein's private life to his political career and using the combo to bash the poor fellow over the head - all to Hillary's benefit. The bashing does remind Finkelstein and the rest of us of Rule No. 1 in ClintonWorld: Only Bill Clinton may humiliate his wife. You don't need a shrink's license to believe his fake chivalry is all about his own skirt-chasing guilt. In fact, the last thing Hillary Clinton needs is to look like she needs him to defend her. If she can't defend herself, she doesn't belong in the Senate and has no business running for President. In other words, buzz off, Bubba. But Bubba can't buzz off. It's always about him. What he says, what he wants, who he wants. Yet this one is a head-scratcher, because there is no obvious upside. Even in the cold calculus of politics, the Finkelstein smear smells like a clumsy mistake. First, Clinton must know that one of the most destructive stereotypes about minorities is that they are all expected to behave and believe one way. Black Republicans get this all the time - the charge they are "not authentic" blacks because most blacks are Democrats and believe in big government. That expectation played out in ugly fashion when Harry Belafonte, an entertainer, called Colin Powell - war hero, secretary of state - an "Uncle Tom" who did "his master's bidding." Belafonte's only standing to make such a charge was that he, like most black politicians, was against the Iraq war. Thus, "real" blacks should have been against the war. Clinton apparently now proposes a similar litmus test for gays - they must support only candidates who support gay marriage. But even that conflicts with Clinton's own shiftiness on gay marriage. As Newsweek reported, Clinton advised John Kerry last year to support the same-sex bans on the ballots in 11 states. Clinton thought Kerry could win those states by supporting the bans. Even Kerry, no stranger to flip-flopping, was shocked at the advice. "I'm not ever going to do that," he told his staff. So what is Bubba up to? Besides snuggling up to the Bushes whenever he gets a chance, campaigning for a Nobel Prize and hoping to be secretary general of the UN? Maybe nothing more. Maybe he's losing his touch. Sometimes smart people do stupid things. Or as Finkelstein friend Michael McKeon deftly put it: "It's really beneath a former President to comment on someone's personal life like that. After everything he has been through in his own life, you'd think he'd know better." Yes, you'd think.
When I saw that Mouth That Roared headline, I thought they were going to write about Chris Mouthphews of PMSNBC.
If Clinton wants to bash queers, maybe he should include his so-called wife -- equal treatment under the law, right??? My God, what loathsome people!
Hey! Even I like to snuggle up to a Bush once in a while.
LOL! All I can sit here and do is laugh. If anyone that thought Bill was going to really back Hillary in a run for President, then I have some swamp land for sale in Arizona. Never was going to happen. He will continue to find ways to undermine her IMHO which is great for our side.
With J.C. Superstar still kickin' around, that takes some doing.
I am blinded by Clinton-loathing.
I've never understood why the Clinton's are perceived as "brilliant". They sure seem to do and to say stupid things with great regularity.
I remember a time when Tony Blankley told Eleanor Clift that Bill Clinton could shoot a little old lady on the street and some people in the press would defend Clinton by saying that "the little old lady had to die sometime, anyway". Clinton will continue to make an ass of himself and the MSM will either ignore it or pooh-pooh it. The Fems didn't care about what he did. Pigs is Pigs, I guess.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/833678/posts
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Clinton can do no wrong, according to the liberals. Therefore, he gets a free pass on everything he says and does. Liberals hate this Republican gay man, because he is good at cleaning their clocks. So he is fair game for the scum, and they will back Clinton every time.
Ummm, the Daily News isn't the liberal rag, yer thinking of the Times.
This statement assumes that the person in question has some sense of morality and connection to other human beings, and understands that rushing to judgement is wrong because we have all sinned. Clinton, as the article points out, simply is too narcisstic. He can't see beyond his own needs.
In the first place Bill & Hill have told everyone constantly how intelligent they are and their sick-o-pants have repeated the theme ad nauseum to the point of kinetic overload of two blivets.
I cannot describe how much I loathe the Clintons and each and every one of their toadys.
The Klinton's can do and say just about anything and their defenders will love them all the more.
Don't think Clinton is going to get away with too much this time around. First of all Liberals hate gay bashing and that is exactly what Clinton did even if the gay person happens to be a Republican. Another thing NYers hate is the U.N. and Clinton sucking up for a post a the U.N. which most NYers would rather be rid of - does not make them very happy with him. Clinton will be sticking his foot in his mouth alot more often because he is pushing Hillary to run for president. Even though he says she is concentrating on her Senate run, they both know that she is going to win it without even having to bat an eye. The real prize is to get back in the White House.
Name it and Clinton is "beneath it."
I'm not so sure that any ex-president could go lower than Carter.
thanks for posting this article, areafiftyone. It warms my heart to know that what goes around, actually does come around.
I was kinda shocked that the NY Daily News would slam Clinton but it put a smile on my face to read it this morning!
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