Why is Bill Clinton speaking at our convention in Denver? He had nothing good to say about Barack Obama during the primary season and shot several nasty broadsides at him which, if not downright racist in nature, were certainly interpeted as such by many.
The rationalization appearing every day of the week on this blog site is he is a former President and as such,common courtesy dictates that he be invited. Others say we must invite him out of respect for the office he once held. But lest we forget, Bill Clinton was one of only two Presidents impeached for misconduct while serving in that office.
Dick Nixon resigned before he could be impeached on August 8,1974.had he not resigned he most definitely would have been impeached and we would today have three former Presidents carrying the stigma of impeachment.The difference between Nixon and Bill Clinton is that Nixon never again spoke at a National Convention after leaving office and we Democrats feel obligated to invite Bill Clinton every 4 years.
So why do we have this recurring need to honor those who dishoner our party?
Oh you say "it was just sex, no one was killed." Besides, many of you rationalize, if we don't invite him we will lose Hillary's supporters. That argument would hold water if we snubbed Hillary as a speaker. but she is speaking Tuesday night. This diary is not about Hillary Clinton. We do have to invite her. I personally did not like the way she campaigned but 18 million did. Being prudent and pragmatic we should have her speaking.
The same reasoning does not apply to former President William Jefferson Clinton
Here is a summary of Bill's conduct during a decade of philandering as recorded in Wikipedia:
For alleged misconduct during his governorship Paula Jones brought a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton while he was president. However, Jones did not have any clear evidence to support her allegations.[98] On April 2, 1998, Jones' lawsuit was dismissed.[99] After which, Jones tried to file for an appeal[99]
In May of 1998, Jones refiled her lawsuit with the US Court of Appeals and alleged Clinton both sexual harassed her and defamed her character.[100]
During the depositions for this lawsuit, Clinton denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky — a denial that became the basis for the impeachment charge of perjury.
On November 18, 1998, Clinton agreed to an out-of-court settlement, and agreed to pay Jones and her attorneys a sum of $850,000.00.[101] Clinton, however, still offereded no apology to Jones and still denied ever engaging in an a sexual affair with her.[101]
Gennifer Flowers,Sally Perdue and Dolly Kyle Browning – claimed to have had adulterous sexual relations with Clinton during or before his service as governor.
Sally Perdue alleged that she began her 1983 affair with while going through her second divorce,[104] but she did not file for divorce until the years after this alleged affair. In 1983, when Clinton was Governor of Arkansas, Perdue testified before a grand jury that she saw Clinton snuff cocaine, but there was no further evidence.[104]
Dolly Kyle Browning alleged that she and Clinton engaged in a long sexual affair between the years of 1959 and 1992.[105] In 1998, like Paula Jones had previously done, Browning sued Clinton for sexual harassment, but her lawsuit was eventually dismissed.]
If we compare Bill Clinton's personal indiscretions ,while in various government positions with those of John Edwards, as revealed a few days ago, rational people would agree that both men have little to be proud of.
So if we insist on inviting Bill Clinton to speak because of all the good he did outside of these indiscretions why should we not similarly celebrate John Edwards good works?
Why not invite John Edwards to speak just before Bill Clinton during the Wednesday evening program. What a great segue into the speech a few minutes later by our newly minted Vice-Presidential nominee (whoever he is)?
The ironic result of our gracious forgiving of all sins is we once again fail the values and morals test and risk losing another election as a result.
Sure the naysayers will point out the McCain alleged adultery but that is an action which is "alleged". Notwithstanding that caveat we always seem to come out of these values debates every 4 years as a loser.
Is it that, because we are known as the "bleeding hearts" party we are seen as forgiving everybody for anything, including the Willie Hortons et al.If you think the right wing extremists will not make political hay this year over Clinton speaking for Obama in Denver then, my friends, you have short memories. These people are not famous for comparing apples with apples;they will compare pineapples with tomatoes without blinking an eye.
We have a candidate this year who has inspired millions of us by promising a "new politics". Allowing Bill Clinton to speak for our candidate on Wednesday evening in Denver at the Democratic National Convention is "old politics".
Not only that. It is also bad politics.