Missing Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton's meltdown on Fox News Sunday made me sentimental for the old guy. Clinton was elected during the halcyon days, and he was always good for entertainment value. Only Clinton could look a camera in the eye with a straight face and compare his eight years to fight terrorism with Bush's eight months and to claim a vast right-wing conspiracy in the media (this famously coined by his wife who blamed the conspiracy for making up the Lewinsky story). And I think he may actually believe it. Regardless of how one feels about Clinton's politics - I am not sure he actually believes anything - one has to admire his style and political acumen. He take your last dollar and have you thanking him for doing it.

What I also remember about Clinton were all the conspiracy kooks he created. There were all kinds of people writing all kinds of books about him: good, bad but never indifferent. I thought the crazy right-wingers were bad ... but they cannot carry the pants of the crazy left kooks that have been out in force since Bush took office. With blogs and the Internet, there are sites dedicated to proving Bush kills children and hates puppies.

It is sad how discourse has become so hyperbolic and mean during the Clinton and Bush years. People pick a side and then form their opinions based on their side ... folks, it is supposed to be the opposite: form your opinions based on facts and then pick the side that best fits you. The pendulum will swing back, but right now we must deal with the extreme, closed-minded, fact-fearing discourse from both sides of the aisle.