A 'right-wing conspiracy' against Obama? Clinton says yes.
Bill Clinton said the same right-wing conspiracy that targeted him is targeting Obama. Across the political spectrum, conspiracy theories are everywhere these days.
Former President Bill Clinton looks towards the audience during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on September 25.
Chip East/Reuters
On Sunday, former President Bill Clinton reminded America that claims of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” did not begin with healthcare town halls and the Tea Party protests.
On “Meet the Press,” host David Gregory asked Mr. Clinton if the “right-wing conspiracy” that his wife famously said was undermining his presidency in 1998 was undermining the Obama presidency. [Editor's Note: .]
Without hesitation, Clinton smiled: “You bet.”
In 1998, then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton saw a conspiracy in the collection of political forces and shock jocks aligned to push for the impeachment of her husband for his affair with an intern.
The most ardent Democrats – perhaps the former president included – now see conspiracy in healthcare town halls where bad-tempered constituents are alleged to be the stooges of deep-pocketed organizers. Tea parties to protest huge government spending are the work of former Rep. Dick Armey and Fox News.
But Republicans are not the only targets. With flow charts so complicated that they would do Democrat healthcare reform-hawks proud, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck claims that President Obama is clearly a Communist. The president also was not born in the United States, making his presidency invalid.
Some of the claims might have more a ring of truth to them than others. But speaking more broadly, they suggest that both sides of the political spectrum, it seems, are increasingly unwilling to accept many of their opponents’ views as legitimate.
