The Victory In Defeat
by Steve Farrell (Nevada)
It’s been a few weeks now, and one can’t help but notice the
groundswell of dismay and disgust among conservatives forced to intake a
daily news diet which features Bill Clinton still smug and secure atop
his iniquitous throne.
Yet, while, frustration and anger are expected givens, there are some
less appropriate responses to acquittal arrayed before us which
seem improper, unwise, and unmanly. Chief among them: retreat,
withdrawal, and despair.
We would do well to avoid such handcuffed and blindfolded thinking.
Holy Writ warns that “despair cometh of iniquity,” and even
FDR, had something intelligent to say about fear. Certainly,
liberals and socialists have been patient, intelligent, and committed
enough to see victory in defeat, to press on in discouragement, and to
move forward toward a fixed goal over a course of years, decades, and
even centuries
Yet, despite this less than cheerful fact of political life, it is
clear that we too have had many steadily pulling the oars against the
current - in favor of liberty. If it were not so, we would have
washed over the falls into tyranny long ago. But we have not. Could it
be, then, that we fail to perceive the triumphs and miracles which
surround us despite presumed losses?
How many of us, for instance, believed President Clinton would be
impeached at all? Two years ago, nearly every leading conservative
scoffed at the idea. Impeachment, to them, was a code-word among
fanatics not mainstreamers. Yet, remarkably, despite overwhelming
opposition from both parties, the persistent efforts of a determined few
uncovered a host of serious problems, generated much public debate, and
finally got the battle going hot against the President.
And lo and behold, those unheard of and unheralded underdogs, those
previously derided extremists, were leading the charge,
grabbing the headlines, and reaching the unreachable dream - of
impeachment - the first impeachment of a President in this century.
Hence the felon was hauled before a tribunal, shamed before his
fellows, his family, and the world - and despite his acquittal, made to
feel the brunt of the dissatisfaction of his countrymen.
That was a miracle, indeed, a gargantuan good that a stubborn and
sturdy few could humiliate the most powerful man on earth, and force,
finally, some sense of accountability or check upon an edict prone
President. But there were other goods too.
*First and foremost, there was a significant segment of our
population who cracked open a copy of the Constitution and explored its
original intent either for the first time or for the first time in a
long time. Amazingly, a broad spectrum of newspaper writers, educators,
lawyers, and congressmen joined the citizenry in this oft neglected
task.
*Second, there were millions of American citizens who read in bold
print something their dumbed down state school boards long ago outlawed
from the classroom; it is this: “private morality matters.” For side
by side with stories of one man’s out of control lust and disrespect
for women they saw exposed an analogous lust for power and
contempt for law.
*Third, for the first time since the days of Richard
Nixon, the dangerous ascendancy of executive power in this country was
thoroughly explored. Writers and congressmen unabashedly referred to the
gathering tyranny proceeding forth from our “Imperial Presidency.”
Opened to the public eyes were substantiated and detailed reports of
political use by the President of the IRS and the FBI, the frightful and
totalitarian expansion of executive police powers, the unconstitutional
and concealed use of radical Presidential Directives, the frequent
usurpation by the President of Congressional checks on his power, the
treasonous reception of bribes by the President from foreign enemy
states, the political and self-serving use of war, and the monarchial
employment of obstruction of justice, witness harassment, and inequality
before the law.
*Fourth, as the battle lines gathered, and opposing camps fired their
furious volleys upon each other, it became quite clear how many
teachers, leaders, and opinion molders were willing to wantonly pit
themselves against “truth, justice, and the American way.” While we
likewise discovered, how many cowards, traitors, sympathizers, and
shallow Puritans there were among supposedly ‘friendly’ and
‘moral’ forces in the ‘conservative’ political party. This was,
for some, a rude awakening.
*Fifth, this President and future Presidents found out that Congress,
and conservative grass roots organizations do have teeth after all, and
perhaps they had better tread more lightly in their company rather than
brazenly trample all over them.
*Finally, a new and healthy distrust in men and governments has
resulted, which can, if we are willing to work for it, be a launching
ground for an educational movement which will inspire a majority of
Americans to rediscover the difference between license and liberty,
democracies and republics, inequality and equality, unlimited and
limited power.
And so, here is the victory in defeat - that while clowns and fools
did serious injury to morality and the rule of law, millions of
other Americans became educated in the dangers of the present and the
legacy of our past. President Clinton’s acquittal, thus represents
both a looming threat to liberty, but also, a lingering opportunity to
get the word out.
Who cares then - that the Republican Party leadership has sheepishly
retreated back into their mainstream self-serving comfort zone. Our
strategy must now be, as it was before, to make that position less and
less comfortable, by avoiding retreat and enthusiastically utilizing the
deferral of the President’s judgment day to reawaken the sleeping
Giant of conservatism.
