November 11, 2011
THE MORE SERIOUS THE CHARGE THE MORE CREDIBLE HE BECOMES FOR THE RIGHT:
Booing the Character Issue (Mona Charen, 11/11/11, National Review)As someone who was well-disposed toward Herman Cain as a public figure (if not as a potential president), I cannot help recalling the response of Democrats to revelations about Bill Clinton. "We know all about it," one exasperated reader wrote to Newsweek magazine, "and WE DON'T CARE." In fact, the majority of Americans did not care -- and it was not our finest moment as a nation. Liberals, who professed to be appalled by the one accusation against Clarence Thomas (just one non-contemporaneous accusation -- not four or five), dismissed Bill Clinton's behavior as no big deal. Stuart Taylor noted at the time that even if everything Anita Hill said about Clarence Thomas were true, it would not be nearly as serious as the allegations against Bill Clinton. Conservatives argued at the time that character mattered. Liberals replied, in effect, that it didn't.
But liberal hypocrisy, however malodorous, shouldn't justify our own. The booing, and some of the commentary among conservatives, can be interpreted to mean not only that we disbelieve the accusations, but that they wouldn't trouble us even if they were true. Alternatively, one gets the sense among some conservatives who are circling the wagons around Mr. Cain that the accusations are the reason to support him -- despite his weaknesses on policy, experience, and crisis management.
They hate the media more than they value the truth.
Posted by oj at November 11, 2011 6:28 AM
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