The Senility Excuse for Diversity

I remember some time ago praising Ed Koch for an opinion he had voiced that was in keeping with my own. The liberal whom I was trying to sway on whatever the issue was, said something to the effect of, "Yes, well, he's getting senile" -- abruptly ending the discussion. (After all, what's left to say... "No he's not"? )

The extent to which the Left refuses to tolerate any diversity of opinion boggles the mind. If anyone steps out of ideological line, that's the absolute end of their relevance. No wonder mainstream pundits are confused that Republicans could have disagreed so vehemently during the primary race but then come together to back the eventual nominee. It's simply not done on their side. It's one way or the highway.

So here we are years later, being treated to a rerun of my blunted conversation about Ed Koch. Only now it's Bill Clinton who's "senile."  I kid you not.

Kathleen Parker writes in the WashPo:

.... In one television interview, Clinton praised Romney’s “sterling” business record, the same one Obama has been criticizing. In another, he said the Bush tax cuts may as well be extended since it isn’t likely that a large debt-reduction plan will be considered until after the election. This wasn’t exactly an endorsement of the tax cuts, but it wasn’t precisely on the same page as the president either.

In what is becoming a trend, the Obama campaign moved swiftly to explain and contain. In a cruel twist, the narrative has emerged that Ol’ Bill may be getting just a bit dotty. A Politico story quoted Clinton “associates” who asserted that the former president, while mentally sharp, is, you know, well, getting older.

 

 

Who would have ever thunk it, that liberal Democrat baby-boomers would throw Bill Clinton under the bus, no matter how old he is? The demand for mindless lockstep conformity is pretty remarkable. You'd think they'd be embarrassed to be seen recycling old excuses, but I guess not.

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

Sounds eerily like an old Soviet technique for dealing with dissenters. Hey! -- come to think of it, it IS the old Soviet technique: If someone disagrees with you about the party line, that's prima facie evidence that he or she is nuttier than a jar of macadamias. Of course, the Soviets went one step further: they threw their nutty dissenters into looney bins. Our progressives, being more civilized than their barbaric Soviet cousins, would never dream of going that far, would they? Or would they? Hmmm ...