Destroying A President

Paul Krugman writes today that the real lesson from the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress was that in 1995 Republicans didn't do enough to destroy Clinton.

If you read the whole thing, what you get is that McConnell is taking a very different lesson from the events of 1995 than the one most pundits take, and expect Republicans to take. The whole attempt to bully Clinton into slashing Medicare by shutting down the federal government was a political failure for the GOP; but McConnell doesn’t see this as evidence that Republicans were too confrontational.

No, he sees it as evidence that they weren’t confrontational enough; they were too focused on their policy agenda, and neglected the necessary work of destroying Clinton:

And thus now, looking back, they realize they didn't do enough to stop a man they believed was destroying the very fabric of our nation. So in 2011, Republicans won't make the same mistake twice and will see to it that they take down this Democratic president or at least make him a one-termer.

There's a lot of validity to Krugman's words.  Though none of us have any clue what Republicans are thinking in the long term when it comes to the havoc they can wreak.  Underestimating their crazy is what put us in this predicament in the first place.  Justly, Krugman's post leaves out bringing down presidents they didn't vote for is what Republicans do, always.

As we all know, Clinton did not destroy America.  With no help from the GOP, he went on to become one of the most popular presidents in modern history.  He worked diligently to put America on a 21st century footing.  He had his mistakes, his flaws, his unnecessities, but one thing he was not was an enemy of this country.  We all know this now and millions knew it then.  Fortunately the GOP failed.  But will they twice?

Today we are faced yet again with a resurgent Republican minority telling us that our president, simply because he doesn't belong to their party, wants to destroy this country.  That if his agenda is allowed to carry on, we will succumb to a socialist style EU member floating numbingly through time.  The only way we can guarantee the survival of America and the tradition for future generations is to vote Republican.  That's how they view the entire world.

When Republicans weren't able to destroy Clinton or beat him at the ballot box what did they do?  They impeached him, because-- God forbid-- America be ruled by someone who is not Republican.  They utterly disdain a country that is not Republican.  And when they aren't in power, their mission is to paint whoever is as an anti-American zealot that must be stopped at all costs.

Seeing to it that President Obama doesn't win again is what opposition parties do. Campaigning on the element that the current president is un-American, bent on destroying our society, is racist and must be stopped are two totally different things. One is sane.  The other is deranged. Good night, and good luck.