Frankly I don't think the Clinton's had malicious motive in their latest "untruth" if you wish to call it that.
Here's the larger issue, and it really does matter: We need ALL of our politicians to read the stuff they agree to. Like the Patriot Act.
More over the jump
Frankly I don't think there is any way a piece of legislation like the Patriot Act would get through so easily had it been thoroughly vetted, or there would have been more serious dissent at the very least.
If we need to riot on the streets about one thing, its about our own partisan political leaders not doing due diligence in thoroughly checking out bills that become the law of the land. These are not 3rd party, he said, she said stories. These are printed and available to every member of the Senate.
Frankly, I'm tired of a politician bemoaning a bill after the fact. Read the thing. If its the right thing to do, based on the principles of your party, vote for it. If not, vote against it. Period.
Now... the Patriot Act is a special case. It had been drafted in secret, was especially long and arcane and dumped on the congress at a whole with a very short lead time, at a very sensitive time.
It also, by design had a name to evoke patriotism, when ironically it is against some of the very principles of patriotism. You can't vote against something patriotic without having an alternative. The right thing for Democratic members to do would be to vote for this, trying to amend the most egregious passages, but to work towards an alternative bill that fulfills our principles, when the bill comes up for a vote again.
From a logistics viewpoint, a lot of legislation has just a lot of material, and little time to do check it. If this really is an issue... ever... then Senators should have an extra staffer each, someone capable of reading technical or arcane material. A lawyer perhaps.
There should also be a minimum lead time from a bills introduction to its passage to give everyone an opportunity to vote on full information.
Thoughts? Comments?