Dear editor:
David Brock, in his book "Killing the Messenger: The Right Wing Plot to Derail Hillary and Hijack Your Government," says, "Republicans would never be able to point to actual evidence of wrongdoing on Hillary's part ... But they wouldn't need to if they could create the appearance of scandal by confusing the public about what actually happened before, during, and after the attack ... This is how false narratives are born -- how Al Gore becomes a serial liar and an elitist, how John Kerry turns from a hero into a coward and a traitor. ... "
Brock should know. Recruited by the right wing out of college, Brock did hatchet jobs on Anita Hill, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. But Brock developed a conscience, didn't do quite the mean job on Mrs. Clinton that he was supposed to do, and was fired.
The right-wing attacks on the Clintons and the Caucus Room plot to deny President Obama any Republican cooperation are some of the most recent manifestations of the right wing ability to conduct witch trials and Kabuki Theater. Possible purpose: to virtually nullify winning votes of the American majority so the right wing wins. Useless but cruel Kabuki: For the millions spent on the Joe McCarthy and the HUAC hearings, many counterespionage agents could have been hired, and real Russian spies could have been found. Also, the recent right wing vitriolic diatribes against Pope Francis handicap a rational debate on crucial middle- and poor-class needs.
One real objective of the right wing members from the time of Franklin Roosevelt's death was to claw back the power and money that they lost through the New Deal. They want to eliminate: Social Security, unions, good wages for American workers, etc. A new goal: to use public funds to protect their money and interests. So we have a nearly trillion-dollar-a-year spent on the military industrial and prison complex, trillions spent on the unnecessary Iraq War, and billions devoted to corporate subsidies/welfare and tax breaks. The interests of the middle class and poor are ignored.
It made very little sense to me at first why the right-wingers did a 24/7 demolition job on the Clintons since President Clinton had been a good governor and was basically a conservative Southerner with only a few moderate leanings. The subsequent 24/7 attack on Obama is evidence that it doesn't matter who the Democratic president is. They will try to destroy him or her.
The enemy within has long been the billionaire right-wingers. By claiming tax-exemption for their think tanks and front organizations, they have forced Americans to buy their own arsenic and to pay for the administration of that poison. The right-wingers have created a shadow government with highly skilled propagandists and a small but effective cadre of X-people: former FBI, CIA and army personnel -- all trained on the taxpayer dollar. When a dedicated group can openly conspire against a sitting president with a complicated, premeditated plot such as the Clinton perjury trap, our democracy is in trouble.
Linda Woodbury
Hot Springs
Editorial on 09/30/2015