Every now and then, when I get completely depressed about the world as it is today, I take the time to imagine another world. A world the should have been. A world with President Al Gore, no Iraq war, no September 11, an amazing Government response to a storm which might not have done as much damage to New Orleans, and a Constitution treated as something more than just an old piece of paper.
And then I think about all of the different reasons why the world is not as it should be.
Bill Clinton's role in this was most pathetic.
I can almost remember him getting huffy and puffy about the illegitimacy of W's Presidency and the lack of a mandate for ultra-Conservative policy.
I almost got my hopes up that Bill could save us, at least in terms of PR, and minimize the damage inflicted upon us by a stolen administration.
And then the Marc Rich bomb got dropped.
Bill Clinton pardoned a very wealthy arch-criminal who was on the run from American law enforcement.
Then Bill Clinton's face on TV talking about Bush stealing the election was replaced by Republicans talking about making big, big legal trouble for Bill over Marc Rich, while telling all of us that a stolen election was just something that we should all just GET OVER already.
Imagine the blind audacity of telling voters to get over something like that. It's so Republican.
Then Republicans made the point in public, everywhere: Shut up about this stolen election, Bill Clinton, and then we'll leave you alone about your shitty pardon of Marc Rich. Just Go AWAY.
And off Bill Clinton ran, with his tail between his legs, into a heart-attack.
So we lost our greatest public advocate when we really needed him the most. Because our President cared more about money donations to his library than what was good and right. And they scared him away.
And now Bill Clinton and his buddies are telling every voter in the Democratic primaries that their votes are second-class, and our primary contests are probably going to be reversed at our convention by better people.
We should GET OVER IT.
Party insiders know better than us about what's good for us. Votes are inconsequential. They were in 2000, after all.
Imagine the blind audacity of telling voters to get over something like that. It's so Clinton.