Masterful misrepresentations

Former President Clinton took center stage once more on Monday night, and memories of times past came flooding back. Mr. Clinton’s memories, though, misrepresent the facts.

Mr. Clinton: “I am honored to share [this night] with Al Gore, my friend and partner for eight years, who played such a large role in building the prosperity and peace that we left America in 2000.”

Reality: The Clinton-Gore bequest to America in January 2001 was something less than a country blessed with riches and free from war.

The recession officially began in March 2001(and some estimates even peg it at November 2000). The Bush-Cheney White House did not, as Mr. Clinton would have you believe, demolish eight years of hard work in a mere two months. The evidence rests in the fact that, as economists have confirmed, the stock market in 2000 was overvalued by almost 50 percent, the dollar by 30 percent, and the country was plagued by irrational exuberance and unsustainable growth.

Mr. Clinton’s vision of an America at peace during his years in office is another misrepresentation of the facts. In 1993, terrorists bombed the World Trade Center. In August 1998, terrorists linked to al Qaeda bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people. (Mr. Clinton, right around the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, lobbed a few missiles across the world, but did little else.) In December 1998, Saddam Hussein expelled U.N. weapons inspectors, and Mr. Clinton responded with a three-day bombing campaign. In October 2000, terrorists bombed the USS Cole near Yemen, killing 17 sailors. Mr. Clinton did not respond.

Mr. Clinton: “Now [Massachusetts]… has given us John Kerry, a good man, a great senator, a visionary leader.”

Reality: Mr. Kerry’s “visions” often contradict and undermine one another. He trumpets his plans for trillions of dollars in new federal spending, for example, while also promising to cut the deficit in half over four years. In 1991, the senator took both sides of the first Gulf War in separate letters to the same constituent, and he’s now reversed his position on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, flip-flopped on a Massachusetts constitutional amendment on marriage and criticized legislation that he voted for (e.g. the No Child Left Behind Act and the Patriot Act).

Mr. Clinton: “We all honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.”

Reality: John Kerry and John Edwards are two of the four Democrats (out of 254) who voted for the war in Iraq in October 2002 and then against the critical $87 billion to fund the troops 13 months later.

Mr. Clinton: “Since most Americans aren’t that far to the right, our friends have to portray us Democrats as simply unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America.”

Reality: Both candidates hope to spark class warfare. Mr. Edwards’ presidential campaign revolved around the “Two Americas” theme (now adopted by Mr. Kerry). One for the rich and powerful, and one for everybody else. In other words, the Clinton speech was a masterpiece of misrepresentation.