I didn’t get tickets to President Clinton’s speech a couple weeks ago. A buddy offered an extra, but I told him I had more interesting things to accomplish, like lounging in the hot tub at the pool at Wilson High School in Tenleytown.
I don’t think I missed much, save for the typical liberal fawning over a man who carries the capital D. That could be taken a couple of different ways, but you know what I mean.
The Eagle’s twitter feed giddily streamed live snippets from the event, and many AU students gushed at Clinton’s charisma in the Twittersphere as well. Students clamored for tickets, hoping to catch a glimpse of the magnanimous NAFTA signatory.
Remember NAFTA, the agreement largely responsible for shipping manufacturing jobs overseas, the very agreement that continues to hamper employment in this country today?
Yeah, yeah, well at least he supported equal rights, you say.
President Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. Not like there’s anything abnormal about awarding the individual culpable for stymieing equal rights at perhaps the most LGBTQ-friendly university in the nation, right?
Students didn’t notice.
Hold on a minute, those were different times, you say. Equal rights weren’t trendy then — they’re not timeless virtues — they’re fashionable now, like UGG boots.
Naturally, The Eagle’s editorial was also seduced by Clinton’s “grace,” calling him “brilliant” and “inspiring,” while trying to “bask in the lingering glow.”
You could mop the floor with the obsequious drool.
I could continue, but let’s turn our attention to another orator who commands fellow Democrats into servile robocalls.
President Obama spoke to the nation last month as college Democrats gathered in Mary Graydon Center to applaud attentively.
Our constitutional scholar-in chief, who never met a civil liberty he didn’t want to dismantle, received copious admiration.
And what’s not to like? Nothing spells freedom like compulsory education, invading and bombing nations across the globe and mandatory private health insurance.
Wait, at least Obama is a stalwart for the lower- and middle-class, you say. Did I even listen to the speech, you ask?
As president, Obama extended President Bush’s tax cuts for millionaires. As senator, he voted to bail out the banks (TARP) with scarcely a stipulation. Obama is responsible for prosecuting petty drug offenses with alacrity that would make Pat Buchanan blush. He’s deported more illegal immigrants than any president. Ever.
Sounds like a freedom-supporting progressive to me.
And the answer is yes. I did watch the State of the Union with a liberal friend who said midway: “He’s just such a good-hearted man.”
Right. Hail to the chief. Wonder if she thought the same of Bush?
I’m unsure how to respond to this type of blind obedience, aside from losing all hope in humanity by drowning myself in bubbles at the hot tub.
Obama, not a liberal or a progressive, still garners affection from his gullible constituents.
It’s easy to understand how ruthless dictators won over the masses. Individuals need to believe in someone. They want so earnestly to believe; they ignore empirical evidence in favor of sound bites.
They’re great listeners, but not-so-great analysts.
Clinton and Obama mesmerize and bamboozle Democrats, while they simultaneously and deliberately unravel the very values Democrats supposedly represent. This must elicit quite a chuckle when the dupes vote and mail them checks.
Capitulation is an acquired skill cultivated by the average liberal or progressive. We witness it daily from President Hope-Change. We saw it under President Clinton. Yet their constituents cling onto their hero’s peroration, longing for promises to be morphed into reality.
Just listen to the man, you say. Can’t you tell he’s on our side?
Sure, totally.
Conor Shapiro is a graduate student in the School of International Service.
