Campaign watch: Kevin Drum batters Judicial Watch!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Gives mainstream "press corps" a pass:
Recently, we told you that Kevin Drum is our favorite blogger.

Oh wait! We said it earlier today. This afternoon, we're going to tell you the other side of the story.

The analysts screamed when Uncle Drum penned the complaint shown below about the latest scandal or pseudo-scandal surrounding Candidate Clinton. Truth to tell, the highlighted claim made the analysts writhe:
DRUM (2/24/16): This is all courtesy of Judicial Watch, the Scaife-funded outfit that brought us so much endless Clinton paranoia in the 90s. To this day, most people—including an awful lot of reporters who ought to know better—still don't realize just how deliberate and manufactured the effort to destroy Bill Clinton was back then. Despite thousands of hours and millions of dollars of investigation, virtually none of the "scandals" turned out to be real. They were just an extended effort to throw mud at the wall and see if something stuck. Ironically, the only one that did stick had nothing to do with any of the mud. It was just an old-fashioned sex scandal.
As always, Candidate Clinton is surrounded by scandals, alleged scandals or pseudo-scandals. As Drum notes, it has ever been thus.

The current batch of alleged scandals and alleged character flaws is extremely serious. Candidate Clinton has been badly damaged by the past two tears of scandal pursuit—scandal pursuit which has been met by the liberal world's standard refusal to push back or fight. This means that, if she is the nominee, Candidate Trump could win.

In that post, Drum makes a peculiar statement. He says "an awful lot of reporters who ought to know better still don't realize just how deliberate and manufactured the effort to destroy Bill Clinton was back then," meaning back in the 1990s.

Everything is possible, of course, as we frequently note. But on what basis are we supposed to assume that Drum's assessment is true?

Much of what happened in the 1990s tilted toward utterly phony. Starting in March 1999, the vicious attacks against Clinton and Clinton were seamlessly transferred to Candidate Gore, Bill Clinton's chosen successor.

Both here and at our companion site, we spent years producing material about the nature of those press corps attacks, the attacks which sent Bush to the White House. Are we supposed to believe that the nation's reporters don't know that their war against Gore was fake and phony, a press corps confection, a stampede of payback, a journalistic hoax which went one percent too far?

(You've never read a published account of Chris Matthews' astonishing conduct during the twenty months of Campaign 2000. Is that because "an awful lot of reporters who ought to know better" still don't know what Matthews did? Really? Can that possibly be what we're supposed to think?)

People like Drum have always refused to discuss this part of our recent history. He's joined in that decision by everyone who works at Mother Jones, a career journalist hive.

For that reason, many liberals don't understand the nature of that decade's attacks, first on Clinton and Clinton, then on Candidate Gore.

Liberal voters may be clueless about this basic history. Are we really supposed to believe that the nation's major reporters are clueless about it too? Just because Drum has typically chosen to duck these topics, are we supposed to think that he doesn't understand the scope of what occurred during that era?

In our last post, we mentioned the mainstream press corps' ubiquitous code of silence. A vast silence surrounds the press corps' conduct during the 1990s, including in the writing of Drum.

Drum's commenters don't seem to be mentioning that peculiar highlighted claim in their reactions to this new post. We the liberals are very gullible when it comes to the trust we place in our intellectual leaders.

Members of The Other Tribe have always unwisely believed in Rush. Relentlessly, we the liberals believe in our "leaders" too.

Congenitally, we seem unable to come to terms with the decade in question. We simply refuse to come to terms with the history of that era.

Al Gore said he invented the Internet! He gave us Willie Horton! He lied about the union lullaby! About the cost of his dog's arthritis pills! He said that he inspired Love Story, that he discovered Love Canal! Al Gore hired a woman to teach him how to be a man!

Do we still, in our pitiful way, think those repetitive claims by the nation's reporters were actually made in good faith? Do we think "an awful lot of reporters" still don't know better?

Can this possibly be what we still believe? If so, please don't ask who gave us Trump. Candidate Trump sprang full-blown from us, from our massive unparalleled tribal refusal to function.

A lot of reporters don't know any better! Would that include people like Mika and Joe? Is that what our team believes?

28 comments:

  1. Drum wrote: virtually none of the "scandals" turned out to be real.

    In spin-free English, this means, a few of the scandals did turn out to be real.

    In particular, the Clintons' two partners in Whitewater both served time in prison. It was never proved that Bill and Hillary committed crimes. However, it's hard to believe that they didn't know what their two partners were doing. Also, Susan McDougal went to prison, rather than testify against Bill Clinton. She must have known something pretty bad about him to choose to be imprisoned.

    And, obviously the Monica Lewinsky scandal was real, although we never would have known it was real without the semen stain on Monica's dress.

    Drum and Somerby seem to be applying an invalid principle of reasoning, which goes like this:
    Many of the Clinton scandals weren't real, therefore none of the Clinton scandals were real.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "It was never proved that Bill and Hillary committed crimes."

      Not even clever, David.

      Yes, Jim McDougal did spend time in prison. For crimes absolutely unrelated to Whitewater.

      So if your bum brother-in-law robs a bank, should you go to prison, too? After all, you must have known about it. That's how "guilt by association" works.

      And no, the Monica Lewinsky scandal wasn't "real." It was a laughing stock. Still is.

      Susan McDougal? She wouldn't perjure herself by reading the script Ken Starr handed her. He was really something about threatening people with jail time and prison if they wouldn't sing from his hymnal. He even threatened Monica's mother with it.

      And even held Monica against her will in a hotel room, even after she invoked her right to have an attorney present.

      The way Starr handled that whole thing should scare such a freedom-loving person as yourself.

      But then again, not a person so blinded by hatred of the Clintons that they would cheer Starr as he used the Constitution as Charmin.

      Delete
    2. A book was written about David. It is called Fools for Scandal. David's one of the fools.

      Delete
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      Delete
  2. David is getting a woody again.

    you say "a few" but are only able to reference one, the unauthorized blow job.

    The Book of Clinton Scandals:

    Chapter 1.

    Unauthorized blow job.

    End of Book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mm -- Yes, the blow job in the Oval Office was a horrific scandal. Any CEO of any organization would lose his job if he were caught doing that. And, getting oral sex while on the phone doing Presidential business shows a remarkable lack of seroiousness.

      According to feminists, sex with an underling is always a no-no, even if it's consenual, because of the power difference.

      But, add to that Clinton looking directly at us via TV) and lying to us. And, then he admitted that he committed perjury. Perjury is a pretty serious felony.

      Delete
    2. "Any CEO of any organization would lose his job if he was caught doing that." said the the little cartoon birdies circling David's head.

      Delete
    3. "And, getting oral sex while on the phone doing Presidential business shows a remarkable lack of seroiousness."

      Au contraire. It shows a remarkable ability to concentrate and multi-task.

      Delete
    4. "Perjury is a pretty serious felony."

      So prosecute him.

      Oh, that's right - Kenneth Starr spent 16 trillion dollars over 10 years to prosecute him. How'd that work out? We got Dubya and his war machine for 8 years.

      But it's a serious felony.

      Delete
    5. Uh, Anon 11:15, Clinton admitted that he committed perjury. He pleaded "guilty" to perjury. He got a deal where his only punishment was to voluntarily relinquish his license to practice law.

      Delete
    6. Uh, as usual, you're full of sh*t.

      From Wiki: "Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, on December 19, 1998. He was subsequently acquitted of these charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power, failed in the House.... In April 1999, about two months after being acquitted by the Senate, Clinton was cited by Federal District Judge Susan Webber Wright for civil contempt of court for his 'willful failure' to obey her repeated orders to testify truthfully in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. For this citation, Clinton was assessed a $90,000 fine, and the matter was referred to the Arkansas Supreme Court to see if disciplinary action would be appropriate."

      The derangement is very, very strong with you. Pity.

      Delete
    7. don't be too hard on David in Cal, he's a victim of Affirmative Action for Wingnuts and is now living in a bubble world unable to distinguish reality from the fantasies resulting from his brainwashing.

      hopefully, some day he will be able to break out of his prison and exclaim,

      For the world is hollow, and I have touched the sky.


      Delete
  3. Betty When You Call MeFebruary 24, 2016 at 5:08 PM

    Last I checked, Drum didn't mention Gore.

    Last I checked, nobody named Gore is running for President.

    Congenitally Bob changes the subject. Who do you think Bob brings up more often? Bill Clinton? Hillary Clinton? The Clintons collectively? Or Al Gore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't know about those people, but Bob sure is mentioning Uncle Drum a lot these days.

      Methinks Bob must have wandered over there and saw Drum getting hundreds of comments a day, while he's stuck at 15-20 from the same 5 people like me.

      So he's sucking up a bit to get Drum, the last blogger on earth who pays attention to Somerby, to throw him a mention and build up the old click count.

      Delete
    2. I like it when Bob pees on Uncle Drum's...er Mr. Chip's brogans.

      Delete
  4. Drum. Stuck in the silence of the golden guild hive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Close.

      Drum's stuck in a career journalist hive, according to this blogger who's stuck on the Turn of the Century and Chapter 7 of How He Got There, just as ALL of Drum's commenters are Liberals that are products of the soviet mind hive.

      Apparently, this blogger regrets not becoming a beekeeper.

      Delete
  5. Trolls 5:08, 5:19 and 6:07February 24, 2016 at 7:03 PM

    Our top liberals are either stupid or pretend to be. (You know which one it is.)

    Our problem, though, is always Bigger: That Awful Bob Somerby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, how awful for Bob to start a blog with a combox, so that you are presented with the awful truth that not everyone holds him in the same child-like, fawning esteem as you do.

      Delete
  6. Bob has often railed against the stupidity of our times, the great dumbing down.

    With his contention that Trump "sprang right from us", clearly, he has proved himself no slouch in this great falling down. Indeed, his reluctance to write about the really ugly aspects of Trump qualifies as cowardice.

    Such a contention could only be written by a thinker who looks far and deeply into our situation and declares "O"Reilly gets a pass!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. O'Reilly invented Love Canal and discovered the internet.

      Delete
    2. Dave the Guitar PlayerFebruary 25, 2016 at 12:29 PM

      Greg - I don't think your reaction to legitimate criticism should be that O'Reilly deserves criticism too. Are you denying that Trump "sprang right from us"? If so, then provide some argument intended to let me know that you have one.

      Delete
  7. "In particular, the Clintons' two partners in Whitewater both served time in prison." THE CLINTONS'?!?! PARTNERS?!?! IN WHITEWATER ?!? 'nuff said. Really! You have said enough, and I quote Fred G. Sanford, YOU BIG DUMMY, you ole fish eyed fool... for SCANDAL. I coined that myself, thank you very much. I WON'T be here all week. You will, Dave, that's why!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Be sure and put all the pieces back in the game box before you leave the day room.

      Delete
  8. "Drum's commenters don't seem to be mentioning that peculiar highlighted claim in their reactions to this new post."

    It is too bad Bob Somerby, a regular commenter over at Drum's place didn't seem to mention it either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder when Bob will get around to the whole post he promised last Monday on the comment box of "our own Mr. Chips."

      Delete
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