Good Times!

The Clinton Rules are Back!

All right, so Bush and Cheney both admit to war crimes and worse on national teevee during their "exit interviews" by the American MediaPlex, and their admissions are duly reported, but as soon as they are, the MediaPlex shifts its gears and goes after Blagojevich and Obama, lights in to Caroline Kennedy, and generally goes insane pursuing the irrelevant and mostly mythical "misdeeds" and "incompetence" of Democrats.

Ah, good times!

That's the way it was meant to be. Welcome back to 1999. They pick up where they left off. The Bush years haven't really happened, and the accusations against the press are over their lapdoggery on behalf of Obama. Bush? Bush who? Oh that guy who got the shoe thrown at him? So what?

Couplea things enter in to this consideration. One: the MediaPlex in this instance is primarily composed of cable teevee gasbags and bloviators who need something to do to justify their multi-million dollar salaries, and Democratic scandale is always appropriate for that. Republicans just don't do scandal well; they circle their wagons, defend one another, attack and insult the press, and they almost always get away with it. Democrats, on the other hand, run fleeing from any accusation, any accused, screaming, demanding immediate resignation and ostracism of the target, impeachment, jail time, whatever. They push each other out of the way to get in front of the teevee cameras to denouce one of their fellows, they accept accusations as fact hardly ever questioning them, and they allow the media and Republicans to set the terms of consideration, debate and discussion without a qualm.

Republicans don't let Democrats do that.

The other thing is that online "Progressives" are guaranteed to get hysterical about The Clinton Rules, throw themselves on their fainting couches, and practically have an aneurysm because... well, because!!!

Media criticism is basic to the online world; it's impossible to imagine a blogsphere that isn't fully engaged in tearing apart the "trad media" all the time. Left, right, center, it doesn't matter, the point of the 'osphere is to hammer the press relentlessly. And they do.

They've been predicting a return to Clinton Rules the minute a Democrat was elected to the White House, and sure enough, here we are. And they are in heaven! Yea! Expectations Realized! Whoo-hoo! We are the Champions!

One of the things that was striking about the Democratic Primary coverage on the "Progressive" blogs was how thoroughly most of them had internalized the Clinton Rules criticisms and accusations against The Clintons, to the point where most of them were being parrotted almost mindlessly, as if everything the media and the right wing noise machine made up about the Clintons back in the day was obviously... true.

The attacks on Hillary and Bill Clinton in the "Progressive" blogosphere were constant, relentless, and were often based on lies and innuendo from the hated media back when going after the Clintons was nearly the only thing media was interested in.

When this was pointed out, internet "Progressives" became even more hostile and contemptuous of the Clintons and anyone who defended them, taking on the Clinton Rules as their own, magnifying the tiniest fault into major Issues, and on and on and on.

It was amazing to witness it in real time.

And now to see the sudden "Progressive" fretting and hankie wringing over the Clinton Rules being applied to Obama... oh well! Pity.

The Clinton Rules are stupid no matter who is engaging in them, no matter the target, no matter the excuse.