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Jewish World Review Nov. 29, 2000 / 2 Kislev, 5761

David Limbaugh

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Defending the
smaller principles


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- AL GORE AND JOE LIEBERMAN say their motive in refusing to acknowledge their thrice-confirmed defeat is to defend the "larger principle" that every vote must count. I wonder if even one in four people believe them. If they keep this up, it won't be one in 10.

Rather, they are defending the "smaller principles" that every Gore vote must count at least once and that they must win at all costs.

What we are witnessing is an unparalleled demonstration of arrogance and self-indulgence. Do they really believe that their leadership is so important to the nation that all principles can be sacrificed?

I suppose that Gore and Lieberman think most of us in middle-America (flyover country) rode in on pumpkin trucks. But surely even imbeciles wouldn't have been fooled by that hokey televised conference call they staged with Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle. To call it sophomoric would be abundantly generous.

Isn't anyone in the Democratic Party getting embarrassed at their behavior yet? Isn't there some point beyond which rank-and-file Democrats will withdraw their support?

Try to imagine Gore and Lieberman as our children -- which isn't much of a stretch, actually -- and how, as parents, we would deal with them. When they initially lost the automatic recount wouldn't we -- in order to instill in them a firm moral foundation -- have told them to accept defeat graciously?

After promising that they would accept the result of the manual recount, they reneged when it didn't produce a victory for them. Just like class bullies -- they keep changing the goal posts.

It's bad enough when the class troublemaker throws a tantrum when he doesn't get his way, but we are talking about the vice president of the United States and his running mate. Gore learned well from the master. This isn't that different from Clinton's reaction when he was "caught with his pants down" with Monica Lewinsky.

Do you remember that little poll Dick Morris conducted at his own expense to trial balloon an apology speech he had written for Clinton to deliver to the American people? In it he had Clinton admitting that he'd had an affair with Monica and putting his fate in the hands of the people. To Morris' utter surprise, the people favored Clinton's resignation, 47 percent to 43 percent. What do you suppose Clinton thought of the vaunted "will of the people" then?

You guessed it. He told Morris to scrap the speech. Clinton said, "Well, we just have to win then." That little sentence became the rallying cry for the next year, during which Clinton would subordinate every principle, all people and the national interest itself to his singular obsession to stay in power. And stay in power he did.

Fast forward to late October 2000. Bill Clinton's would-be-successor, aware of the polls, believed that he was on the verge of losing the election and that his lifelong dream would soon be shattered. So what did he do? He assembled the Clinton-Gore war room veterans and told them, "Well, we just have to win then."

Don't fool yourself. Gore's objections to the election were not formulated after he observed fraud or anomalies in the Florida election. They were part of a pre-formulated strategy conceived in the war room to create the illusion of substantial irregularities to justify a post-election judicial coup.

What Gore didn't anticipate was that popular opinion would turn against him -- he is said to be stunned by Bush's post-election PR success. But this isn't about PR; not everything is spinnable. I have a renewed confidence in America as I watch the Clinton-Gore propaganda machine finally being checkmated by the scrutiny of an acutely engaged electorate.

Several months ago, I ridiculed the idea advanced by some conservatives that Bill Clinton intended to remain in office beyond January 2001. How ridiculous.

Well, how much different is that from what is going on? Like a spoiled brat who thinks America exists solely for his and Al Gore's pleasure and designs, Clinton has instructed the GSA not to turn over the keys and transition money to president-elect Bush. Listen to me Bill and Al: Those are not your keys, and it is not your money.

In the immortal words of Glenda, the good witch of the North, "Be gone, you have no power here."



JWR contributor David Limbaugh is an attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a political analyst and commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

WND

Up

11/27/00: Albert O'Gore and the little people
11/22/00: Doing 'anything to win'
11/15/00: Enough is enough, Mr. Gore
11/13/00: Al Gore: Thy country or thyself?
11/08/00: Bill and Al: Your time is up
11/06/00:The impending Bush mandate
11/01/00: Can't stop thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
10/30/00: George: Give Gore the ball back
10/25/00: Mr. Gore: A few more questions
10/23/00: It's the big government, stupid
10/18/00: Gore's down, so will he panic?
10/16/00: We're fresh out of new Al Gores
10/11/00: Gore: Fuzzy math = dirty politics
10/10/00:Gore: Renaissance man or unbalanced?
10/04/00: Where have you been, Albert Jr.?
10/02/00: Clinton’s fragmented presidency
09/27/00: Liberal media doth protest too much
09/25/00: AlGore: Turning dreams into nightmares
09/20/00: Something fishy's going on
09/18/00: It's the liberalism, stupid
09/13/00: An open letter to open-minded cynics
09/11/00: The virtues of going negative
09/06/00: On a mission for marriage
09/04/00: Al Gore's 'Trivial Pursuits'
08/30/00: Lieberman and the paradox of liberal 'tolerance'
08/28/00: A campaign divided against itself
08/23/00: Al Gore's trickle-down populism
08/21/00: Prosperity without a clue
08/16/00: AlGore can run but he can't hide
08/14/00: When hate speech is OK
08/09/00: Bush: The pundits' enigma
08/07/00: GOP convention: Live or Memorex?
08/02/00: The first attack dog
07/31/00: The Cheney taint?
07/26/00: The anti-gun bogeyman
07/24/00: The raging culture war
07/19/00: Is Hillary 'Good for the Jews'?
07/17/00: How dare you, George?
07/12/00: Jacoby's raw deal
07/10/00: The perplexities of liberalism
07/05/00: Big Al and big oil
07/03/00: Partial-birth and total death
06/28/00: Some questions for you, Mr. Gore
06/26/00: Supreme Court assaults religious freedom
06/21/00: Waco: We are the jury
06/19/00: "Outrage" just doesn't quite cut it anymore!
06/14/00: Al Gore: Government's best friend
06/12/00: Say goodbye to medical privacy
06/07/00: Elian: Whose hands were tied?
06/05/00: Who, which, what is the real Al Gore?
06/01/00: Legacy-building idea for Clinton
05/30/00: Clinton: Above the law or not?
05/24/00: Not so fast, Hillary
05/22/00: Gore's risky, fear-mongering schemes
05/17/00: Can Bush risk pro-choice running mate?
05/15/00: Right to privacy, Clinton-style
05/10/00: Patrick Kennedy and his suit-happy fiddlers
05/08/00: Don't shoot Eddie Eagle
05/03/00: Congress caves to Clinton, again?
05/01/00: The resurrection of outrage
04/28/00: A picture of Bill Clinton's America
04/19/00: President Clinton: Teaching children responsibility
04/17/00: Elian, Marx and parental rights
04/12/00: Elian, freedom deserve a hearing
04/10/00:The fraying of America
04/05/00: Noonan: End Clintonism now
04/03/00: Bush: On going for the gold
03/29/00: Phantasma-Gore-ia
03/27/00: Treaties, triggers, tobacco and tyrants
03/22/00: Media to Bush: Go left, young man
03/20/00: Stop the insanity
03/15/00: OK Al Gore: Let's go negative
03/13/00: Deifying of the center
03/08/00: The media, the establishment and the people
03/01/00: McCain's coalition-busting daggers in GOP's heart
02/28/00: Bush's silver lining in McMichigan
02/24/00: A conservative firewall, after all
02/22/00: Bush or four more of Clinton-Gore?
02/16/00: Substance trumps process
02/14/00: The campaign finance reform mirage
02/09/00: President McCain: End of the GOP as we know it?
02/07/00: From New Hampshire to South Carolina
02/02/00: SDI must fly
01/31/00: Veep gores Bradley
01/26/00: The issues gap
01/24/00: GOP: Exit, stage left
01/20/00: Nationalizing congressional elections
01/18/00: Do voters really prefer straight talk?
01/12/00: Media's McCain efforts may backfire
01/10/00: Conservative racism myth
01/05/00: Just one more year of Clintonian politics
01/03/00: McMedia?
12/27/99: Al Gore: Bullish on government
12/22/99: Bradley's full-court press
12/20/99: Bush: Rendering unto Caesar
12/15/99: Beltway media bias
12/13/99: White House ambulance chasing
12/08/99: Clinton's labor pains
12/06/99:The lust for power
12/01/99: In defense of liberty
11/29/99: Are Republicans obsolete?
11/24/99: Say you're sorry, Mr. President
11/22/99: Architects of victory
11/17/99: Trump's tax on freedom
11/15/99: GOP caves again
11/10/99: Triangulation and 'The Third Way'
11/08/99: Sticks and stones
11/03/99: Keyes vs. media lapdogs
11/01/99: Signs of the times
10/27/99: The false charge of isolationism
10/25/99: A matter of freedom
10/20/99: Clinton's mini-meltdown
10/18/99: Senate GOP shows statesmanship
10/13/99: Senate must reject nuclear treaty
10/11/99: Bush bites feeding hand
10/06/99: Jesse accidentally opens door for Pat
10/04/99: Clinton and his media enablers
09/29/99: Reagan: Big-tent conservatism
09/27/99: The Clinton/Gore taint?
09/22/99: Have gun (tragedy), will travel
09/20/99: Hillary's blunders and bloopers
09/15/99: GOP must remain conservative
09/13/99:Time for Bush to take charge, please
09/10/99: Bush's education plan: Dubya confounds again
09/07/99: Pat, savior or spoiler?
09/02/99: Character doesn't matter?
08/30/99: Should we judge?
08/25/99: Dubyah's drug question: Not a hill to die on
08/23/99: Should Dubyah start buying soap ... for all that mud?
08/16/99: 'W' stands for 'winner'
08/11/99: The truth about tax cuts
08/09/99: Hillary: Threading the needle
08/04/99: What would you do?
08/02/99: No appeasement for China
07/30/99: Hate Crimes Bill: Cynical Symbolism
07/26/99: It’s the 'moderates', stupid
07/21/99: JFK Jr. and Diana: the pain of privilege
07/19/99: Smith, Bush and the GOP
07/14/99: GOP must be a party of ideas
07/12/99: Gore's gender gap
07/08/99: Clinton’s faustian bargain: our justice
07/06/99: The key to Bush's $36 million
06/30/99: Gore: a soda in every fountain
06/28/99: 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier?
06/23/99: GOP must lead in foreign policy
06/21/99: Crumbs of compassion
06/16/99: Compassionate conservatism: face-lift or body transplant?
06/10/99: Victory in Kosovo? Now What?

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