It's Not a 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy,' Mr. Clinton, Just Honest Disagreement

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Bill Clinton had a tendency to trust the media too easily when he was in office and that unfortunate tendency has continued unabated into his post-presidential period. Yesterday, he caved into a phraseology he should have avoided like crazy. From ABC News:

Former President Bill Clinton says the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency now is after President Obama.

When asked whether the "vast right-wing conspiracy" is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, "Oh you bet."

Are there a lot of conservatives out there trying to do in Clinton's reputation? And trying to do in some of President Obama's programs? Of course! Is it a "vast conspiracy?" Somehow conspiracy feels like the wrong word.

There are a lot of moderate and conservative Americans who legitimately disagree with some Obama initiatives, including his as-yet-unknown version of healthcare reform. Are they all "conspiring" with each other? No more than liberals whom right-wingers might refer to as a "vast left-wing conspiracy."

I do agree with former President Clinton, however, that some of the so-called leaders of the Right wing, Limbaugh, Beck, et al, have gotten out of control. They are spewing venom in a way that makes public displays of intense anger acceptable to people. Some mentally ill followers (and there are mentally ill activists on all sides of every issue) interpret that as tacit permission to commit violence, even murder. To wit, the murders of Ob-gyn doctors. For that, the angry wing of the conservative movement is dead on responsible.

But a vast right-wing conspiracy? Don't think so.

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