Over the past week or so, as Bill Clinton has dug himself deeper into the democratic presidential race, I've spent a good deal of time trying to figure out why his new role in the campaign bothers me so much. Some of my displeasure certainly stems from the fact that I'm supporting Obama in this election, but by itself that just isn't enough to explain my anger. But then I read this post over at DKos (and via Sullivan), and suddenly it all became clear:
Where the hell has this red-faced, angry, combative Bill Clinton been for the last eight years?Did Bill get angry and demand that wrongs be righted after the Florida miscount? After Bush v. Gore? After Bush, Cheney, and Rice blew off his concerns about terrorism for 8 months? After Bush's unpreparedness for, inadequate and incomplete response to, and unconscionable exploitation of 9/11? After the unfair media and GOP attacks on Al Gore, Howard Dean, and John Kerry? After Katrina? Plame? The US Attorneys? The "lost" emails? The countless other mistakes and malfeasances of the Bush administration?
Sorry, Bill -- by remaining silent in the face of so many grave catastrophes, you forfeited your right to attack Obama. You forfeited your right to be taken seriously as someone concerned about defending the principles of the Democratic Party -- or of the Constitution, for that matter. You, more than anyone on the entire planet (with perhaps the exception of Colin Powell, who's beholden to neither the Democratic Party nor Hillary Clinton) acquiesced in the American disaster that is the Bush administration by your silence. By your lack of outrage. You could have spoken when it mattered. But you didn't.
And now, by speaking out against Obama, you implicitly argue that he is a greater threat to the Republic and the Democratic Party than anything or anyone over the last 8 years.
So shut the fuck up, Bill.
As the only former president elected from the Democratic Party in the last quarter century, the man has an obligation to more than himself and his family. He has an obligation to his party, and even more importantly, to his country. But for the past 8 years, despite everything that has happened, he remained silent. But now, after everything else, he has decided that this is the moment he must reemerge? Everything else, everything until now, has demanded silence? Are you kidding me?
Ex-presidents may not have a legal obligation to serve both the nation and their party, but I do believe they have a moral one. I thought Bill Clinton understood that, but apparently not. And as much as I hate to say it, this really is causing me to reconsider my long-standing defense of him and his administration. My respect for him came grudgingly, but over time it had grown. Perhaps its time to dig back into the details and reconsider if that respect had been misplaced.
UPDATE: Good to see that this may be creating a big problem for the Clinton campaign. At this point they deserve it.
UPDATE II: More here.
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