When Clinton lied v when Bush lied

The following is a journal entry for my pop culture university studies class. And, like most things I do for classes, it is somewhat deliberately controversial. Then again, truly narrow minded people annoy me.


On my drive to school I saw a bumper sticker that said, “When Clinton lied, nobody died”. It struck me as highly amusing. Bumper stickers of that nature have become such a part of Americana it is almost impossible to get away from them.
The sticker assumes several things are known by everyone who sees it. They assume people KNOW that Clinton lied and also believe Bush lied about reasons for going into Iraq. Furthermore, it is assumed that Clinton’s lie had no effect on the general populace while the reasoning goes that Bush has caused deaths, pain, and heartbreak. It is one of the most ignorant, uninformed bumper stickers around.
For starters, Clinton lied to get his war in Bosnia. Many people died both when the United States went into Bosnia…and after the U.S. soldiers left. Clinton put in power people who murdered on scales unimagined by the people purported to have been engaging in “ethnic cleansing.” Despite all the rhetoric Clinton used to start the war, the only mass graves found were of the victims he put into power. On a global scale it cannot be said Clinton was responsible for any less deaths than Bush. His lie cost thousands of lies.
Second, a pretty good case can be made that Vince Foster died at someone else’s hand. The official story was that he committed suicide. Numerous factoids make that story rather implausible. It seems likely his knowledge that would have implicated the President or her husband certainly contributed to his untimely demise regardless of who pulled the trigger.
The reason people ignore things like these are the media slant that implies anyone with a religious bent is automatically suspect. FOX news is often, and rightly, criticized for having an agenda. It is unfortunate the other major news networks do not receive this same criticism because they are slanted just as heavily the opposite direction. Thus stories such as the truth about the murders in Bosnia by the people we put in power, the nature of Foster’s death, and similar things are squashed while Bush is criticized at every turn.
His alleged lie is one of the biggest con jobs in history. It is interesting to note that while Clinton was in office Democrats were saying Hussein already had “weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and they needed to get Hussein out of power. It is quite illuminating to discover John Kerry was one of the loudest voices for an immediate removal of Hussein.
Bush no doubt made very poor choices in choosing to invade when he did, although had he done so soon after 9-11, the world community was in support at the time and likely would have not objected. That is a far cry from a lie. It is poor judgment. But once an idea is shouted loud enough and long enough, people believe it.
Maybe I should make my own bumper sticker. When ignorant, bigoted idiots bray, the intelligent have no say.