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A Return to the Noble Art of Political Debate
By Frank Salvato
June 17, 2004
Former President Bill Clinton gave a short speech during the unveiling of his official portrait at the White House. He did it with the usual Clinton flare and to be complimentary to both President Clinton and his host, President Bush, from the way they talked about each other it would have been hard to tell there was any partisan animosity existing in Washington today. But it was what Bill Clinton said that made my eyes widen, and they widened in a good way.
As Clinton thanked President Bush for his warmth and kindness in receiving him, his wife the Senator and a select group of former Clinton staffers to the White House for the unveiling of the portrait, he stopped to touch on politics in America today. He expressed a desire to see the American political forum return to the days where the art of eloquent, thoughtful and statesman-like debate ruled and the current practice of blindly declaring someone good or hatefully declaring someone evil became a thing of the past.
Okay, everyone get ready. What you are about to hear may shock you but I wholeheartedly agree with Bill Clinton on this matter. That admission may come as a bolt from the blue to those of you who haven't really taken the time to understand what I have written in the past but the fact is, unlike many of my counterparts on the liberal-left, I do not harbor hate. Well, maybe for the likes of Ted Rall and Islamic fundamentalists who want to kill us all but not toward those I find in political opposition to my thoughts or beliefs and who hold dear the open mind.
The atmosphere of political hate in this country has gone so overboard that it has become a threat to our political system's well-being. Never before has such a vile attitude existed on both sides of the spectrum. It has become commonplace to see young, supposedly educated Americans, ideologically liberal in their youth, toting signs equating President Bush to Adolph Hitler. They further equate the War on Terror to the genocide committed by that narcissistic madman. Anyone who possesses any rational thought process immediately dismisses their contentions as radical; they have to. This is especially true for those of use who had parents who served in World War II. Nevertheless the hate rolls on.
One can say that this dark and twisted mentality exposed its ugly head during the Clinton impeachment process. To be sure, there was an air of vindictiveness that teetered on hate but it didn't come anywhere near what we are seeing today. Were there those who hated President Clinton? I am sure there were. But to the extent of those who now march in the streets of our country demanding that President Bush be tried for war crimes? I think not.
I could address the hypocrisy of these Bush-haters by pointing out verifiable and proven facts about Bill Clinton's performance during his White House years. It wouldn't be out-of-bounds to mention that he went into Kosovo without a UN resolution, that many of his military actions caused civilian deaths, that his intelligence was so flawed the US bombed the Chinese embassy during the Kosovo campaign, that the intelligence used in Somalia created the "Blackhawk Down" incident and that the intelligence problems of today should be laid heavily, but not completely at his feet. But that only fuels the fire. It keeps the dark and malicious circle of hate alive. For the record, I harbor no hate toward Bill Clinton. I don't care for his politics, his ethics or his idea of morals but I don't hate the man.
Bush-haters don't care about the wrongs of the past when it comes to those they supported and most often they will not admit to them. Many times when trying to debate someone who has planted him or herself firmly on the left - or firmly on the right for that matter - the tactic of justification comes into play. I can't tell you how many times I have been involved in a conversation where I have made a valid point and my opponent simply countered it with a factoid that is completely irrelevant to the conversation at hand yet points out a wishfully similar flaw in someone I support. While my first desire is to say, "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China," I usually look them right in the eyes and say, "Didn't your mother ever teach you that two wrongs don't make a right?" It is then that I usually wince and remember that the person I am talking to may have been the victim of our educational system's love of political correctness and multiculturalism. In any case I am usually answered with, "Well..." and they trail off into another subject all together in an effort to win the debate at hand.
Therein lays the major flaw of the extremists on both sides; they only want to argue ideology in an effort to win at all costs. While ideology is a very important part of the political thought process it seldom ever works in total when employed in reality. Those who embrace extremist ideologies on both sides who are unwilling to embrace compromise and inclusion are failing to realize that while their ideology may have merit in theory, many times theory, or many aspects of it, has to remain just that. Many times theory doesn't work when the human element is injected. It is the extremist ideologue who refuses to accept this reality that develops and falls prey to the emotion of hate.
Yes, Bill Clinton has the right idea when he speaks of his desire to see Americans in the political arena getting back to debate instead of the cycle of hate-filled finger-pointing we are mired in today, and I applaud him for saying so. To paraphrase the man, I think we all "feel his pain..."
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Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for TheRant.us. He served as an editor and is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch. He writes regularly for GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men's News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O'Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are periodically featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications. He can be contacted at oped@therant.us.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.
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