Joan Swirsky
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004

We freedom-loving people managed to escape the tyranny of King George's England in the late 1700s because we were desperate for leaders who wanted our government to work for the people and not the other way around.

But the competition to lead has been and continues to be fierce, including the "negative campaigning" that, from the beginning, has allowed opposing sides to "smear" each other.

In 1884, Republican candidate James G. Blaine exposed the premarital affair of his Democratic opponent, Grover Cleveland. The Democrats chanted: "Blaine! Blaine, James G. Blaine, Continental liar from the state of Maine!" and "Ma, Ma, where is Pa? Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!" Cleveland owned up to the affair, and his candor captured the public and won him the election. The union survived!

Skipping a century, in 1992 and 1996 Republican candidates exposed the numerous affairs and perjury of Democrat Bill Clinton, but succeeded only in getting him heavily fined and disbarred. While the former Arkansas governor bit his lip, pointed his finger, lied to the public and – it is now clear – compromised national security during his lengthy sexual and legal entanglements, the union still survived!

And so it goes, with Democratic contenders for the presidency now venting their spleens about President Bush's "failure" to … what?

Confront the terrorism that incinerated 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11 in their workplaces or as their plane plummeted to the ground?

Obviously, this is a go-nowhere strategy, as most Americans appear to be quite satisfied that President Bush – in less than two years! – rose heroically to this devastating event by immediately and for the first time in history

• declaring war on all terrorists, worldwide;

• establishing a Department of Homeland Security;

• revamping an intelligence system that for the first time put the CIA, FBI, Justice Department et al. in sync with one another;

• attacking and just about annihilating al-Qaeda in its home base of Afghanistan;

• attacking Saddam Hussein, the scourge of the Middle East, freeing his country from decades of tyranny and capturing the tyrant himself.

Still, the smears continue, with accusations that the president has larded his own and his staff's coffers by taxing the poor at the expense of the rich, a canard that is 180 degrees opposite from the truth.

In fact, just recently, Sen. Joseph Lieberman told an evening cable TV talk show host that if Howard Dean, one of his opponents in the race for president, kept his promise and rolled back all of the Bush tax cuts, it would hurt the middle class the most. Significantly, his statement never made it into the liberal mainstream media.

Dang if the facts don't get in the way of liberals, including that most people have benefited by the tax cuts and that all economic indices point to an upsurge in consumer spending and an increase in jobs.

After all, President Bush never met with Enron's chairman in the Oval Office, never accepted nearly half a million dollars from him for his party or $100,000 for his inauguration festivities, never allowed him to stay at the White House 11 times, never gave him access to the Commerce and State departments and never subsidized Enron for more than $600 million through the Export-Import Bank.

Bill Clinton did all of these things! But empirical, verifiable facts are simply pesky gnats to Democrats who, underneath their "goodness" and "integrity," have such patronizing contempt for the American public that they think nothing of lying when confronted with the hard data that expose their duplicity.

Interestingly, reliable polls indicate that Americans are more concerned with health care than with war. So, what do you know? The new buzz on the campaign circuit is health care!

Which brings us back to the lip-biter in chief, Clinton, and his "co-president," Ms. Hillary, who failed to make even a millimeter of progress in eight years in office toward Medicare or prescription-drug reform.

But in less than four years, President Bush has addressed these issues with concrete legislation!

The deficit? Find me one American citizen who worries about this or the probability that it will not come down significantly in the near future. This is NOT what Americans worry about.

What they worry about is losing their way of life. If there is anything that Americans can claim as their unique hallmark, it is their willingness to sacrifice even life itself in fighting the enemies of freedom and democracy.

As the Democratic nominee for president becomes apparent, it will not be long before Republicans – in historical tradition – start their counterattack.

If it is Kerry, they will cite his far-left voting record, give-our-enemies-credence pronouncements and contradictory stances on just about every issue, but they'll probably stay away from his Botox makeover!

If it is Dean, they'll have a field day.

If it is John Edwards, the subject, appropriately, will be astounding inexperience.

And if it is Gen. Wesley Clark ... well, that's a stretch at this point.

As for preacher Al Sharpton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, they have always been variations on the tired theme of all leftist Democrats – including Kerry – who believe that everyone in America is a victim deserving of reparations!

And then there is Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the sunny moderate who never had a chance among the socialists who have shared debating platforms with him.

As the ferocious contest for president heats up, you will see interviews on TV with ordinary citizens saying "I hate all candidates," "I'm fed up with all of them" and "They're all a bunch of liars."

This is a sure sign that our powerful, unparalleled system of Democracy is intact and that our system of government continues to work magnificently!

Joan Swirsky is a New York-based journalist and author who can be reached at joansharon@aol.com

Editor's note:
Al Sharpton vows revenge against Hillary: Click here now