I know, you and others will say Republicans have been/are guilty of this as well, and they are/have been, but Clinton and Hillary are beyond the pale when it comes to lying and embellishing to further their agendas. They completely distorted the Reagan/Bush administration's record during the '92 campaign and still do today whenever they get the chance.
You raise some good points. I think one very real problem is that politics encourages this kind of behavior, and the public tends to reward it. There was an interesting article in yesterday's Washington Post about what happens (usually not good stuff) to politicians who tell the truth. Unfortunately, the most successful pols are those who tell the people what they (collectively) want to hear. All of 'em do their best to dump on the record of the other party--and if distortion comes into play, well that's part of the game. That one isn't a Democratic speciality by any means.
And all politicians have agendas. Or they wouldn't bother. I don't doubt, for example, that the Clintons sincerely believed something had to be done about health care. They went about it the wrong way, but they weren't trying to fool anybody.
In the personal charm and good looks department, Reagan had at least as much going for him as Clinton. I, like you, don't think these qualities should be considered particularly important, but we seem to be in the minority. Read just the other day--where?: "When was the last time a really ugly person was elected to high political office in the States?" |
