Why Clinton Would Win A Third Term: Feelings Above Reason

by | Oct 2, 2000 | Elections

A comment I heard from a radio disc jockey sums up exactly what’s wrong with our country today. “Whatever you think of President Clinton, he sure is a charmer,” he said on the air. “Can I vote for him a third time?” The disc jockey is right. It’s sad, but true. A majority of Americans […]

A comment I heard from a radio disc jockey sums up exactly what’s wrong with our country today. “Whatever you think of President Clinton, he sure is a charmer,” he said on the air. “Can I vote for him a third time?”

The disc jockey is right. It’s sad, but true. A majority of Americans no longer look for a presidential candidate who will protect their freedoms above all else.

Instead, they merely want to feel good. They vote for someone who tells them what they want to hear, whether it’s true or not.

It doesn’t matter if President Clinton didn’t create the booming economy; entrepreneurs like Bill Gates did.

It doesn’t matter if the economy booms in spite of, and not because of, President Clinton’s tax increases, regulatory expansions, and attempts to nationalize health care.

Nor does it matter that this President lied repeatedly (not just about sex, either, which is the least of sins).

Bill Clinton lied when he said he would cut taxes, and then increased them.

Bill Clinton lied when he promised he would not start a war in Kosovo, and did so anyway.

Bill Clinton lied when he insisted he would let the courts decide the fate of Elian Gonzalez, and then had his ogres seize the child at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro. (No effort is made by Clinton to reunite the hundreds of children trapped in Cuba with their parents in the U.S. — Editor)

So long as he makes us feel good, most of us can forgive him. That’s why President Clinton would win a third term, if permitted. And probably a fourth one, too.

As a psychologist I find this state of affairs ironic, to say the least. Loving someone who treats you poorly is indicative of low self-esteem and neurosis. Letting people manipulate and exploit you, through saying what you want to hear, is unhealthy and sad. A good therapist urges individuals not to keep loving people who treat them poorly.

So what do we make of a country who cherishes a President it cannot and does not respect?

Dr. Michael Hurd is a psychotherapist, columnist and author of "Bad Therapy, Good Therapy (And How to Tell the Difference)" and "Grow Up America!" Visit his website at: www.DrHurd.com.

The views expressed above represent those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors and publishers of Capitalism Magazine. Capitalism Magazine sometimes publishes articles we disagree with because we think the article provides information, or a contrasting point of view, that may be of value to our readers.

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