Imagine, if you will, that back in the 1990s, a man had come forward, claiming in an Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal he had overheard Hillary Clinton give the order to have Vince Foster killed. We’ll call him Bob Spaulding. Bob even had a witness who (he claimed) could corroborate the conversation. You see, shortly after the deputy White House Counsel had committed suicide in 1993, some on the right speculated Hillary had ordered her former law partner killed to prevent him from talking and revealing the “truth” about this or that nefarious Clinton scheme.
That Foster was murdered was a favorite theory of many conservatives whom the media dubbed “Clinton-haters.”
In making his claim, Spaulding would become a folk hero in the conservative media — and to conservative activists, delighting right-wing conspiracy theorists. Given what Ken Starr found, however, we know Foster did indeed kill himself. So, in investigating Foster’s death, the panel would have looked into Spaulding’s claims and found them false. Perhaps, when Bob was in the room with the then-First Lady, she was actually talking about killing the plans to have Foster work on some project. Or to transfer him to another post.
Even Spaulding’s corroborating witness acknowledged that Clinton had clearly said “kill the plans” not “kill the man.” Spaulding would go from folk hero of the right to crank. To be sure, A few conspiracy-minded individuals might still cite him (as some web-sites still contend today that Foster had been murdered at the Clintons’ behest), but the serious conservative media would acknowledge that they had been duped and then ignore him.
As Spaulding (in my hypothetical) emerged to confirm a conservative theory, so did Joe Wilson emerge in 2003 to confirm a liberal theory that George W. Bush and his “cabal” lied us into Iraq. But, just as in my hypothetical, an investigation (bipartisan in this case) dismissed his claims. And while John Kerry removed that dishonest Democrat from his campaign, Wilson has not disappeared from the scene.
He keeps popping up again, but not only at far-left fora. He appeared alongside another Democrat with credibility problems in Philadelphia recently. He was even featured in a documentary on the Iraq War.
Can you imagine, a Republican presidential candidate appearing alongside the hypothetical Mr. Spaulding? Do you think newspapers would reference his dishonest editorial while ignoring the fact that it had been found to be false (as they do readily with Mr. Wilson)?
I realize this is a hypothetical, but I imagined it to show how absurd it is that Joe Wilson, long since discredited, continues to enjoy a degree of prominence in mainstream Democratic and media circles. And wonder yet again what conservative whose main claim to fame has been exposed as a lie has ever been held in such high esteem.
But, I guess the issue for the left is not the truth of the allegation, but the intent of the one making it. And when you intend to show that George W. Bush is a horrible, no good, very bad, dishonest man, well, anything goes.
But, I guess the issue for the left is not the truth of the allegation, but the intent of the one making it.
That’s pretty much it. They know he lied and they know he exposed his wife. Doesn’t matter. The liberals set them up as victims, and even though they play the part miserably, the lie has to continue.
If you lie often enough, eventually it will become true. Kevin thinks so.
The deaf and blind of the Washington press have chosen to not address the fact that Joe Wilson is one of the most inflated egoes in DC.
That his wife, was a Langley Prep Coed was no secret in the circles. He even touted the fact as a shtick.
It created, he believed a sense of awe that he played upon neighbors and others they met.
Nobody wants to raise the issue that he was double-dipping with his ‘assignment’.
But, let’s face the reality. The CIA became a hackerama that only a Massachusetts public works department would rival.
If you’re a committed lefty, facts literally don’t matter. It’s hard to grasp that anyone could be that depraved, which is why I have to keep repeating it (to myself and others). But it’s true. For the committed lefty, his or her beliefs, feelings, and Party’s acquisition of power, are all that matters. Evan Sayet has explained it so well that I am thrilled his book is coming out in a few months.
Here’s an example. The core belief of the lefty is that nothing is worth fighting or dying for, because nothing is authentically good or authentically evil. Notice an immediate corollary or consequence, that nothing is authentically true or authentically false. Hence, facts literally don’t matter. But I digress. Main point: Since the lefty *knows* that nothing is or ever can be authentically better than anything else, it *must* be true that anyone who has achieved success or power did it with some sort of chicanery or unfairness, and it *must* be true that anyone who fails is a victim. Similarly, it *must* be true that any intervention by the powerful to achieve some stated good – a la the Iraq war – is a tricksy, deceitful victimization of the powerless by the powerful. It *must* be. It’s simply a question of looking and looking until the right stoned is overturned to uncover the false, evil conspiracy of the powerful. People like Joe Wilson are helpful stepping stones along the way. Even if their claims are ultimately untrue, their run in the spotlight helps confuse the issues and set the terms of the debate in the "right" (i.e., lefty) way. Hence, they always deserve honor. Even if Joe Wilson is a total liar and fraud, it doesn’t matter; he was useful and helpful in shaping the correct ‘narrative’, the one that the lefty "knows" is the ultimate and eventual truth.
P.S. Google is fast; I was wondering if Bob Spaulding is a real guy, so I just googled "bob spaulding clinton foster", and this GayPatriot article is the top hit.
ILC, that’s too much. Wonder if it’ll catch on.
I knew Bob Spaulding and Joe Wilson is no Bob Spaulding. . . . . Oh, wait, I knew Bob Wilson and Joe Spaulding is no Robert Mugabe. . . . or was it Osama bin Wright. ….. what was the topic?
You guys have explained quite well why reality doesn’t matter to most leftists. Thanks. So today we learned that the Poor hicks from Hope made $110 million the past 6 years. Is this a great country or what?
#4
You’re on the right track except you need to clarify that it depends on whether a person is a Republican or a liberal.
Such as:
There’s no good or evil, however, Bush and Cheney are evil.
There’s no right or wrong, unless you’re talking about Joe Wilson who’s right and Scooter Libby who’s wrong.
If Gore had initiated the Iraq Theater, it would be the most noble expedition man has ever undertaken since the "War on Poverty". You wouldn’t have heard a peep about torture. Abu Ghraib, if reported at all, would have been a one weekend wonder with a bored, second string press covering it. Etc.
1: Â Interesting that I never commented on this post at all, but you saw fit to attack me. Â Why exactly is that?
1: Â Interesting that I never commented on this post at all, but you saw fit to attack me. Â Why exactly is that?
I confused you with Ian’s sock puppet who kept hoping the stories from the soldier who fabricated stories for The (Commie) Nation. For that, I apologize. However, you’re pretty adept at spinning B.S.
I’m sorry. Color me confused, but what did Bush tell the truth about?
[Do you want to provide an example of a Bush lie. If he lied so much, it should be easy. Provide the president’s statement and show how he at the time he made it knew it to be false. Thanks. –Dan]
Now this–"The core belief of the lefty is that nothing is worth fighting or dying for, because nothing is authentically good or authentically evil."–is the kind of silly  nonsense that makes this blog so fun to read.  iTunes now has college and university courses that might help you make some basic distinctions between nihilists, postmoderns, and leftists (and then the various distinctions within those categories).  It could really help your thinking out, but probably destroy the dense population of straw men in your universe.
#9. "If Gore had initiated the Iraq Theater, it would be the most noble expedition man has ever undertaken since the "War on Poverty". You wouldn’t have heard a peep about torture." Probably. Because it would have been more successful and less callous.  And it isn’t a "theater"; it’s a war.  (And some of you talk about newspeak…lol.)
You’re both right. It is a war. It’s also a theater in the much larger global war on terror which is being fought across the globe. "Newspeak" is when you liberals redefine "rebate" to mean welfare or a pregnant "man" to mean a hairy lesbian who had her breasts cut off…or any of the countless lies you perpetuate.
Oh, I’ll take this one! I love this one. The answer is very simple. Bush has told the truth about everything.
For example, the bipartisan Senate Select Intelligence Committee Report on pre-war intelligence unanimously confirmed that no one in the Bush administration lied, no one mislead, no one "cooked the books" about WMD. But the same bipartisan committee unanimously found that Joe Wilson lied his ass off.
The only lies President Bush has told during his presidency have been the times he has said the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary, etc are essentially good people. Other than that, every lie told during the Bush presidency has been told by Democrats. And I can document it all. So bring it on! 🙂
Oh, btw, the same senate select intelligence committee most likely would have also concluded that Bill, Hillary, Albright, Berger, etc were lying their asses off as well, but as we all know Berger crammed the national security documents down his pants, stole them from the American people and destroyed them precisely so the committee couldn’t prove anything.
Damn, I love when we get to talk about who’s lying and who’s telling the truth!
iTunes now has college and university courses that might help you make some basic distinctions between nihilists, postmoderns, and leftists (and then the various distinctions within those categories).
So we should listen to lectures of liberals spinning how they’re not really liberals, but "progressives" (Newspeak) which is the "PC" way of saying Neo-Socialist. I’ll take a pass on the bluster. My space on iTunes is too precious for the likes of that.
Indeed. Here is the single best book about the distinctions between nihilists, postmoderns and the various other species of leftist, including Nazis (National Socialists) or fascists, communists, etc.
A nihilist is ultimately just a leftist who takes it to another level. The average hippie or New Age leftist thinks nothing is worth fighting for, like "Hey, man, it’s not worth it… So don’t join the Army man, it’s psycho". The nihilist also thinks nothing is worth fighting for, but more literally: that we should indeed fight, in order to bring about the "nothing" also known as "destruction".
(i.e. that nothingNESS is worth fighting for)
Bush 43 told the truth when he said all intellegence services in the free world thought Sadaam had WMD. That doesn’t include the telepathic Sen Obama who "knew" Iraq and Sadaam didn’t have WMD, but Barack didn’t know his preacher was a raving racist.
And isn’t it fun that the demented
jimmygilkeoghKYKidIan is back? 🙂