In 20 words or less, why are the wingnuts so afraid of the Clintons?

[MrScorpio]

I could never figure this out.

Sure, I got some beef with a few of his policy decisions, i.e., NAFTA, ending the Fairness Doctrine and the haphazard way that welfare reform was accomplished, but I can't see anything that would engender the kind of hatred that I see out of the right wing camp.

The way that they go off on tangents based on hearsay and conjecture is utterly ridiculous: Bill's a raping machine, Hillary a lesbian, they've killed scores of people in their way, they eat white babies for lunch... Where do they get all of this shit?

Okay ya'll, cough up some answers.

[justinsb]

1. I don't know about Hillary but

Bill could make a million dollars selling freezers in the Yukon in January.

[MrScorpio]

3. Okay, Bill is charismatic (As if that's a problem)

But why does that make him evil incarnate to these people?

[justinsb]

9. Because Charisma is the rarest of political commodities

Intelligence, knowledge, eloquence are all common but someone who can really sway crowds just by his presence is very rare. Can you think of another US politician who has it? Obama maybe but I can't think of another.

[MrScorpio]

14. There was JFK

Then he was shot

Reagan had that kind of charisma for white American... Then he was shot

Maybe they hate him because he wasn't shot

[justinsb]

20. But I'm talking about people who are still alive

Reagan was one of them (and they love him beyond all rationality) and JFK is dead and no longer a threat (though many of them hate him too, even in death). Can you think of a living US politician who really has the magic?

[Cary]

2. Even after impeachment his popularity

was a full 25 percentage point higher than Bush's now. Bill was solid even after their very best smear job.

If all you had was smear, wouldn't you be pissed?

[MrScorpio]

8. So you're saying that they hate him today because he got away

Isn't that being overly vindictive?

He's out of office

[Cary]

16. Of course they're overly vindictive, and

yes he's been out of office for over 4 years. But they still hate him every bit as much to this day. If you want to provoke them just mention his name. Better yet, tell them you like him.

Are you suggesting they're irrational? You get no argument from me.

[Deep13]

4. They win.

They are a campaigning machine. Bill especially has his finger on America's pulse. He knows what people want. He has the folksy charm that people find comforting, but with a towering intellect behind it. Frankly they are the kind of Ds that make Rs very nervous.

[louis-t]

34. You make a good point.

I think *'s handlers have tried to model their 'boy' after Clinton, charm-wise that is, but as the old saying goes: "You can't polish a turd."

[norml]

5. Because they've done over a decade of behavioral conditioning

to generate this conditioned response. They play on our primal fears.

[norml]

36. 20 more words

They assign all negative personal characteristics to us, and all positive personal characteristics to themselves. It's the heart of propaganda.

[norml]

40. And here's 20 more.

By hammering on the names they've hammered on more than any others they make us all into Bill and Hillary.

[norml]

49. Finally they plan on building their 2006 campaign around the Saint Rudy

verses Hillary Senate race, taking it National.

[bemildred]

6. Hate is not fear. nt

[whosinpower]

7. They could not control him

Simple as that. Bush is easy - way easy to control. He is a mere puppet.

[handywork]

10. Because he represents 8 years where they couldn't push through

all their crazy bullshit agenda...oh and he holds the record for most forced late term abortions

[patricia92243]

11. He represents a "successful" Democrat -regardless of person peccadilloes

Any other successful Democrat would have/will have the same attacks. The only difference is that the Republican Party is now a bunch of vicious, rabid dogs now.

[Lecky]

48. BINGO

[Tim4319]

12. Because they look out for the little people!

Well, they do it on a whole larger scale than the Bushes!

[Toots]

13. Because they are successful.

It goes against everything the Conservatives stand for to have Liberal Policy be successful. the only thing Clinton was really a failure at was his sexual appetite. Granted he made some poor economical decisions for his family (Whitewater) but I think he did well by the American people and the Right can not have that. It suggests they do not have all the answers. He also did very well when he was Governor in Arkansas except in his Hallmark, Education. I am at a loss as to why that is.

[Vyan]

15. Because they'll WIN!! n/t

[Gunit_Sangh]

17. re: Where do they get all of this shit?

God's messenger on earth ... Jerry Falwell ...

In the mid-90's I was channel surfing and briefly landed on a religous channel with God's main main Jerry on it. Normally I would have hit NEXT CHANNEL before two words were spoken, but he was holding a video tape with the Big Dawg's picture on it so I watched it for a few minutes.

No Kidding ... the video tape he was hawking had all those allegations including the fact that Clinton secretly had Vince Foster murdered after finding out he was having an affair with Hillary.

As to why? He trounced their main man papa Bush and Bob Dole and he was able to continually out spin them. That's an unforgivable sin.

[louis-t]

37. "Allegations" is right.

There was never a shred of evidence except for some wild theory about a woman who screamed and someone called 911 and how did the body get across the parking lot and someone knew before the woman screamed and Hillary was seen cleaning out Foster's office and they told the police not to go in there and..........lunatic ravings.

[KG]

18. because he kept co-opting their causes?

[louis-t]

39. Remember the great Republican whine of the '90's

"He's stealing our thunder!"

[geniph]

19. The Great and Powerful Clenis?

Damned if I know. I guess it's because they haven't anyone with charisma since St. Ronnie the Raygun went to his eternal dirt nap, and there's nothing they fear like a Democrat with charisma who co-opts Republican economic policy.

Look at the Democrats they most vilify - FDR, JFK, WJC - men with charisma. They know that most of the population is basically in line with Democratic beliefs and principles, and that they will unify behind a Democratic leader who can inspire them. That terrifies the robber barons that run the Republican party from behind the scenes; the last thing they want is an empowered population. The rabble must be suppressed and convinced to be quiet and watch their TV and buy their SUVs.

[liberal N proud]

21. Bill Clinton did not come from the elite class and therefor

is not worthy of the honor bestowed him.
He is a black eye to the common filthy rich person in America.
He earned it, vs. inheriting it.

[GiovanniC]

22. Because They're Outsiders

They aren't part of the BFEE's circle of control... a poor boy from Arkansas "stole" away the power that these evil fucks have weilded for decades.

[Inland]

23. Same reason so many on DU smack them around: they win, are popular

eom

[Beaverhausen]

24. Wingnuts don't like strong, intelligent women or the men who love them.

[louis-t]

42. Another good point

I've been saying this for a long time. Rethugs think classy women sit around with their hands folded in their lap and a Prozac induced gaze like Laura. Because Hillary speaks her mind, they hate her. Funny, I had a very Republican aunt (recently died) who I loved very much. She was a lot more like Hillary than Laura, yet she hated Hillary. She was very successful, outspoken (all of my Dad's sisters are) and very intelligent. However, she always fell back into repub spin, talking points, rhetoric, and then would talk about logic. "Republicans make logical decisions, they listen to all sides and then make logical choices, Hillary has no class because she wears pantsuits" etc. I'm just sad that she died before I could convince her that these people are not what they seem, not what they pretend to be (hopefully, she knows now). Before she got sick (cancer) the last e-mail I sent her was very vicious (toward b*sh). It was long and detailed about b*sh crimes, and I closed by saying he is a phony and a fraud. We never spoke politics again. Thanks, I needed that.

[Yavin4]

25. The Clintons Are Hated Because They Embody The 60s

For cultural conservatives, they are the embodiment of the 1960s. From Bill's open embrace of African-Americans to Hillary's career-minded, intelligent feminism, these are the very things that cultural conservatives hate the most.

Cultural Conservatives are largely ignorant people who believe that the evil 60s killed the glorious 50s, wherein a White male with a high school education or less could be a the sole bread winner for a middle class family. What these ignorant people don't understand is that their 1950s prosperity was a direct result of FDR's New Deal philosophy of the 1930s and 1940s and our global dominance of the world's economy which was due to the fact that we were one of the few super-powers left intact following WWII.

By the end of the 1960s, our economic dominance of the world economy faded as our competitors recovered. Japanese and German industries were grabbing a larger and larger share of consumer products in autos and electronics. No longer was the White male with a high school education or less could be the sole bread winner for a middle class family.

The propaganda arm of the conservative movement seized on this White male economic insecurity and blamed the 1960s cultural movements in Civil Rights, Feminism, and other Liberal movements as the cause. IOW, you lost your middle class factory job because of Affirmative Action. Your wife has to go to work because of feminism, not because of wage suppression due to international competition, etc.

To the ignorant cultural conservatives, Bill and Hillary are the poster children for the 1960s cultural movements, and when they cannot find direct evidence to support their hysterical hatred, they fabricate it. Ignorance and hate don't need facts or evidence.


ON EDIT: Sorry. It wasn't 20 words or less.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. You must have lived in a different '60s than I did.

Well, you did qualify it by saying, "To the ignorant cultural conservatives, Bill and Hillary are the poster children for the 1960s cultural movements..."

They're about as anti-establishment as Scoop Jackson was.

[Yavin4]

41. That's Why They Have To Invent Stuff About Them

Because Bill's and Hillary's policies in office DO NOT even come close to really reflecting the 60s cultural movements. Hillary voted for the Iraq war, and one of the biggest 60s movements was against the Vietnam war, another war of choice.

So, because their policies don't jibe with their 60s-phobias, they have to make stuff up about them. Hillary is a Lesbian. Bill is a rapist, a murderer, a drug dealer, whatever.

[louis-t]

44. Great post, though.

[Politicub]

26. It's easy

Because Bill Clinton can govern effectively. That pisses them off. So instead of enjoying the prosperity, they would rather make personal attacks.

I don't know where the Hillary hate comes from. It must be pathological. The GOP hates strong women who don't know tow to alpha males.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

27. Because they hate Moderate Republicans like the Clintons.

They spent a long time wresting the Republican Party away from moderates and they fear a resurgence. If Hillary was as smart as she reputed to be, she would run as Republican and probably win.

Thankfully, she isn't nearly as smart as reputed, and won't even get the nomination as a faux Democrat.

[geek tragedy]

28. Because the Clintons are WINNERS.

They've been kicking Republican ass for decades.

[Endangered Specie]

29. Because the Clintons kicked their asses!

[dogday]

30. Clintons Remind them you don't always have to be the Elite to

obtain power and wealth.

[ComerPerro]

31. He's a boogeyman

Whose bad reputaton was founded on nothing but right-wing lies, and the idiots fear the myth.


That's the best I can do in 20 words or less.

[DinahMoeHum]

32. They are meritocracy personified.

You have to be born a George Bush.
Anybody can be a Bill or Hillary Clinton.


:kick:

[Catherine Vincent]

35. Because the people love them!

[wildeyed]

38. Culture wars maybe?

Clinton was cool and he was marginally counter culture in the 60's. Plus he was popular, many of his policies were successful and he beat the crap out of their candidates.

It is true, they really do begin to foam at the mouth when you mention the big dog. I have finally come to regard Clinton hating as a personality disorder.

[geniph]

43. Same reason most of us hate cuckoobananas

because he won, despite being antithetical to everything they claim to believe in.

[Catherine Vincent]

45. That is not why Shrubnuts is hated (although it's not hate).

The hatred was there for Clinton before he became president. Bush's policies is why people dislike him.

[MrScorpio]

50. I don't hate because he won

I hate his ass because he stole TWO elections, he panders to the Saudis who supplied the terraists, he started an illegal and immoral war, he's incompetent, malfeasant, arrogant, ignorant and cruel.

He ruining the country and it'll take us decades to recover.

Now, if he had won fair and square that's one thing.

It's just not why I hate his ratfucking ass.

[Lilith Velkor]

53. I hate him because he's trying to kill me

That's the main reason. All the other people he's trying to kill are the other reasons. It's that simple.

[louis-t]

46. So it appears there are a multitude of reasons

that Repugs hate the Clintons. And every reason is born of socio-pathological mental disorders.

[Ksec]

47. They fear losing . nt

[JHB]

51. Engineered, Misdirected Hippy-Hate

In 1992, Clinton was the LEAST liberal of the Democratic contenders. He was pro-free trade, from a "right-to-work" state, and was running as someone who was NOT an "old-style liberal".

He was the one candidate that if Bush used the standard "bash the tax-and-spend liberal" playbook his attacks would have bounced right off -- and Clinton was too charismatic to be done in by a "looking goofy in a tank" photo op.

Therefore, the Bush team decided to dispense entirely with fighting the real Clinton and proceeded to make one up: dope-smokin', Commie-lovin' ultraliberal Hippy Bill, and made him (and Hillary) into the personification of every negative liberal stereotype that ever irked anyone in the country off. And once they got a whiff of Darth Bubba, plenty of people inhaled, waaaaay too deep.

[MetaTrope]

52. He's the mirror that shows them the evil they have sold out to

They don't want to be aware that they're the instruments of the destruction of American democracy, they just want their "team" to win, even if it's been hijacked by mobsters and closet satanists. They resent Clinton for showing by example what they are destroying.