POLITICS

Pity the poor Democrats. They stood by their man in 1998 and sold their souls in the process. OK, maybe they got away with it, but it was embarrassing to watch. And it’s embarrassing to remember. Still, the Democrats played their cards right, and Al Gore almost won the election. He even took the popular vote. Then disaster hit. Not just Florida and the Bush victory, but the slimy pardon scandals – which left even the most rabid Clintonoids drop-jawed. A devastating one-two punch. And if you add Jesse’s “love child” to the mix, it was just plain ugly. A knockout for sure. The Dems were down for the count. George W. Bush was the ascending prince. One Washington columnist called the transition practically biblical in proportions. With blinding speed, Bush’s enemies had been made his footstool. Yes, it was a dark winter for the Democrats. People were even canceling Clinton speaking engagements. Presidential gifts went missing. “White trash in the White House” wasn’t just a partisan slogan. It started to look like sober historical … Continue Reading

Ten years ago, Newsweek magazine shocked mainstream America with a cover story headlined “Thought Police,” a lengthy report on a new social /political movement developed on college campuses since the 1960s. Ironically, one year after the Berlin wall came down and one year before the fall of the Soviet Empire, Americans were being seriously warned that liberal academia had adopted a hybrid “Marxist” philosophy often called “PC.” This new “Politically Correct” creed was being espoused, according to Newsweek, at hundreds of colleges and universities as a result of the growing influence of “a generation of campus radicals.” If they no longer talk of taking to the streets, it is because they now are gaining access to the conventional weapons of campus politics: social pressure, academic perks (including tenure) and — when they have the administration on their side — outright coercion … where the PC reigns, one defies it at one’s peril. (Newsweek, Dec. 24, 1990) After that, PC attitudes were heavily criticized, and even mocked, by mainstream thinkers all around the country, liberal and … Continue Reading