Letter: Republicans love to bash Clinton

Monday, April 17, 2000 | 9:23 a.m.

It is hard to believe that the American people could prefer Reagan's budget deficits and Bush's recessionary policies to Clinton's record, but that is what the GOP chatterers and self-righteous press keep telling us. The only difference between Clinton and GOP challengers is he got caught and they haven't (yet). Didn't former Reps. Bob Livingston and Newt Gingrich prove that?

So the best thing the chattering class in both parties and the scandal-mongering media can do is to quit probing into our leaders' private lives because both sides are equally fallible and equally guilty of personal foibles. As long as a president, senator or representative is not taking bribes or otherwise converting public money to his own use he should be allowed to do his job unmolested by rumor-mongering, dirt-digging character assassinating, self-righteous, sanctimonious hypocrites in and outside government. By the way, I was strongly opposed to what they did to former Sen. Bob Packwood, so I am nonpartisan in this position!

There are a few good Republican governors. George Ryan of Illinois is one! Dubya Bush isn't!

DAN OLIVIER

archive