| The Politics of Apathy by ZACK NGUYEN Friday, January 29, 1999 Voter apathy is a sword that cuts both ways. Having spent the last year assiduously courting voter indifference, Clinton is now reaping what he has sown as his case for impeachment is being heard before the U.S. Senate. With words like "I don't care what the President does in his private time" or "It's issues that matter, not morality" Clinton has helped ensure that America does not get worked up about perjury and obstruction of justice. He has also ensured that no one gets worked up about his possible departure. |
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Clinton's approval ratings are still high, I know, and are intimidating to Republicans. However, Clinton's approval is not visceral. No one intensely FEELS things about Clinton, unless you happen to be on a government subsidy, or a Marxist like Maxine Waters or Senator Tom Daschle. President Roosevelt had visceral support. People loved him, identified with his virtue, loved his leadership, and wept in the streets when he died. People loved him as a son loves a father. People merely enjoy Bill Clinton, and identify with his many flaws -- much as a college student enjoys a fraternity brother who is always in trouble but is just so much fun to have around. Clinton will never make anyone feel challenged, proud or exalted. People approve of Bill Clinton's job performance because they had enough money to buy Christmas presents, and their 401K's show steady growth. There will not be a civil war if Clinton is thrown out of office, as much as his supporters would desire one. And it would hardly matter if anyone did, as none of his supporters own guns anyway, because guns are evil. (Ha-ha) The Clintons, in addition to spreading voter apathy by simply telling people that breaking the law is not a big deal, practice a tried and true political technique known as "muddying the waters." What this entails is offering a defense to an accusation that any informed person knows to be ridiculous or completely untrue, yet there are so few informed citizens that the vast majority will not know whom to believe, and will therefore shrug their shoulders and cease to care. Case in point: "It's just about sex." This is outlandish. It is about perjury, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. Sex is just incidental. If it was just sex, the President would not be exposed to a conviction by the Senate for felonious behavior. Nevertheless, the White House repeats it, the Democrats parrot it obnoxiously, and the media broadcast it to the ends of the earth, so that eventually all those Americans out there who get their news from ABC or the New York Times are confused and do not know what to think. So they shrug and turn the channel. Another reason that people do not condemn Bill Clinton is a much more uncomfortable one to discuss. A belief in a singular morality that should govern human behavior, namely the Bible, is simply not believed by a great many Americans. Just as importantly, finding a Bible-believer in the mainstream media, the organ that seeks to control public opinion in this country, is almost impossible. Most Americans believe that adultery is wrong. Some Americans believe that lying is wrong, and a few understand that lying under oath, and seeking to obstruct an investigation is wrong as well. But above all else in society we now prize "tolerance." Condemning bad behavior in someone else would be risking "judgmentalism" and for goodness sake we can't judge anyone. It just wouldn't be right. We all make mistakes, after all. Wouldn't everyone lie about sex? If America is to continue as a republic, where individual liberty has value, where freedom is revered, then the citizenry must be of sound moral stock. If not, then the people will elect those without character or integrity, those for whom an oath means nothing. And consequently our freedom is placed in grave danger. The State of the Union speech was a vicious, obvious farce that has duped far too many Americans and members of the mainstream media. Like the Roman Empire of old, bread and circuses are used to distract the people from the decay within. Understand this: liberals in Congress and the Senate are quite willing to throw away the Constitution, the rule of law, and all that we hold dear, to save Bill Clinton. Most liberals hate conservatism, Republicans, and the case for unchangeable morality with such fervor that nothing else matters to them. Senator Tom Harkin, who raised his right hand and swore a sacred oath to be impartial, and signed his name to this oath, called the House case for impeachment "a pile of dung" before the trial even began. These are the stakes. A few months ago, I would not have guessed that we could have come this far, this close to doing what is right. Yet here we are, with justice and the fulfillment of the rule of law in our grasp. We must not fail. |
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