Liberal Values Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought

It would sure be great if Obama could manage to do well enough in Pennsylvania to knock the Clintons out of the race. They are beyond the point where Clinton can both win and retain enough Democratic support to be a viable general election candidate. At this point they are just an embarrassment.

One problem is that by keeping a pointless nomination battle alive the Democrats are losing valuable time which should be spent going after McCain. Even worse, as a result of the Clintons, the Democrats have lost the high moral ground. In recent years I’ve been tempted to vote Democratic even in cases where I didn’t necessarily agree with the candidate due to the dishonest tactics utilized by the right wing noise machine. Now the Clintons have emulated all their tactics, making the Democrats appear no better than the Republicans.

There’s also the fact that they are looking increasingly ridiculous. Today we got another example. Earlier in the race the Clintons tried using race baiting to go after Obama. Providing another example of how the Clintons have often accused Obama of doing what they are actually doing, Bill Clinton was caught on tape claiming Obama was playing the race card on him:

INTERVIEWER (RE: Jackson comment): “Do you think that was a mistake, and would you do that again?”

CLINTON: “No. I think that they played the race card on me. And we now know, from memos from the campaign and everything, that they planned to do it along.

When asked about this interview, Clinton denied what he had said:

NBC/NJ: “Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?”

CLINTON: “When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?”

NBC/NJ: “On WHYY radio yesterday”

CLINTON: “No, no, no. That’s not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I’m not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day.”

NBC/NJ: “Respectfully sir, though, you did say …”

CLINTON: “Have a nice day.” [continues shaking hands with supporters]. I said what I said, you can go and look at the interview. And if you’ll be real honest, you’ll also report what the question was and what the answer was.”

NBC/NJ: “They asked you if you regretted your comparing Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama on the day after the South Carolina primary.”

CLINTON: “And I pointed out that I did not do that, and that I complimented them both. And that Jesse Jackson took no offense. And I called him myself, I said, ‘Did you find that offensive?’ And he said no.

Certainly it was ridiculous for Clinton to claim that it was Obama who had been playing the race card, but it doesn’t help to simply pretend he didn’t say something that was recorded. He didn’t get away with it when he claimed he didn’t “have sex with that woman” and it is even harder to get away with denying something that has been recorded. Does Clinton have any idea of the difference between reality and fiction, or between telling the truth and lying?