I’ll talk about what I said yesterday I’d talk about today tomorrow. And if you followed that you’re doing better than I! Anyway, there’s something else I want to talk about today. Actually, someone.
Bill Clinton.
Some time ago I discussed my thoughts on Mr. Clinton:
Regardless of my opinion of him as a person, or of his political views, the man was President. He is owed the courtesy and respect inherent for anyone holding or having held the highest office in the land. Second, look at it from the viewpoint of being a Christian. Who am I to judge another? I too am but a sinner saved by grace. I don’t have a litmus test for people to read one of my blogs where if you believe differently or have done something I disapprove of I don’t want you reading what I write. Our God is God of the second chance, the fresh start. The believer is commanded to be a witness not only in word about Christ crucified and resurrected, but also to the redemptive power of salvation as exhibited by personal transformation. The believer is commanded to love even as they are loved, to extend the open hand, to without compromising their Christ-based beliefs and principles say to the world both individually and collectively here is the Way. How, then, could I justify turning down such an opportunity to respectfully be a witness in person to Bill Clinton? If others inferred from my meeting with him a tacit approval of his past or present beliefs and practices, so be it. You cannot control someone’s perception being their reality. All you can do is do what you know to be true while offering the truth to others who question you about it. And I know to be true that no one — no one — is outside the reach of God’s grace, so who am I to deny Him an opportunity to reach someone even though such a flawed vessel as myself?
Okay. Now, bear in mind how when Clinton was President he was routinely pilloried by the right with a level of vitriol that frankly was an embarrassment to most conservatives. The liberals have returned the favor with their attacks of first President Bush and now Sarah Palin. With this as a backdrop, consider what Clinton recently said in regard to Palin:
Bill Clinton said Monday the Democratic ticket should steer clear of launching personal attacks on Sarah Palin over her relatively thin resume, and instead acknowledge she was a “good choice” for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket.“Why say, ever, anything bad about a person? Why don’t we like them and celebrate them and be happy for her elevation to the ticket? And just say that she was a good choice for him and we disagree with them?” said Clinton, who faced repeated charges during the primary season he was overly negative toward Obama on the campaign trail.
Clinton’s comments appear to echo advice Karl Rove gave to Barack Obama in his regular Wall Street Journal column last week, when the former Bush strategist noted attacking the VP candidate has rarely proven to be an effective strategy.
In one of the former president’s few extended comments to date on Palin’s surprise VP candidacy, Clinton also told reporters in New York Monday he knows why the Alaska governor is attracting massive crowds on the campaign trail.
“I come from Arkansas, I get why she’s hot out there,” Clinton told reporters in New York, according to the Associated Press. “Why she’s doing well.”
“People look at her, and they say, ‘All those kids. Something that happens in everybody’s family I’m glad she loves her daughter and she’s not ashamed of her. Glad that girl’s going around with her boyfriend. Glad they’re going to get married,’” he said.
Referencing Palin’s 5-month old child who has Down Syndrome, Clinton also said voters will think, “I like that little Down syndrome kid — one of them lives down the street, they’re wonderful children.”
Earlier Monday, Clinton suggested his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, would have been a better political choice for the Democratic VP spot than Joe Biden.
“She would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support of the country,“ he said on the daytime talk show The View.
Several points to make. One is the delicious irony of Clinton making his comments about how Palin should not be attacked personally after an appearance on The View which has been a hotbed of naked disgust for all things Palin since she entered the spotlight. Second, while it can be argued what Clinton really wants this November is for Obama to lose so his wife will be in prime position to make another run at the presidency come 2012, can we maybe for once give the man credit for saying something decent without cynicism and/or snark?
If anyone in American politics has a right to do unto others as has been done unto him it’s Bill Clinton. He was unloaded on non-stop during his time in office. Yet he called out those attacking Palin on the basis of anything other than political differences. Sorry if this costs me brownie points among fellow members of the right wing — if in fact I have any now — but Clinton needs to be commended for his words. We all know how human he can be. We all know his flaws and failures. We all should know that we too are but human with our own flaws and failures. We cannot ask forgiveness for our sins without acknowledging the same option is available to others. Nor can we in good conscience dismiss the actions of another when those actions are for good. With this in mind, would it kill anyone to appreciate Clinton stepping up in a campaign that has become acidic in the extreme and saying enough is enough; let’s treat our ideological opponents with the same level of personal respect we demand for ourselves?
For whatever it may be worth, this single voice says thank you.
