Bypassing the Bridge

Bypassing the Bridge
by Robert Yoho

This week, I have been watching with fascination the festivities at the Democratic National Convention. I watched the president and Hillary speak to the delegates. I saw the liberal musings of former Sen. Bill Bradley and the bitter rantings of current Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

I must admit that I am a bit confused. President Clinton told us that everything was okay in America under his watch. He also said that he had already done all of the heavy lifting and had completed that glorious "bridge to the 21st Century."

Before the speech, the president was pictured walking down a long hallway all by himself. It looked like a scene from the WWF or the intro to an episode of Saturday Night Live. No doubt the image was a product of Clinton's wealthy Hollywood contributors.

The week's greatest moment of vanity had to be the moment when Clinton said, "Whenever you think of me, keep putting people first, keep building those bridges, and don't stop thinking about tomorrow." Whenever you think of me--you have to love it! Bill Clinton is so self-absorbed that cannot imagine a world where he is not the center of attention. He cannot visualize a scenario where his words do not dominate the arena of political debate. He cannot imagine a world stage upon which Bill Clinton is not directly in the spotlight.

The president's speech was a masterful bit of political theater. Always a dynamic speaker, Clinton is great at reading words and acting like he means them. The man can always be counted upon to firmly clinch his jaw or to produce a tear in his eye at a moment's notice. He took credit for nearly everything good that happened in America the past eight years; he took none of the blame for anything bad that happened during that same period of time.

At the convention, the Democrats also told us the worst about America. They eagerly paraded the homeless before us to tell their stories. They have shown us the people who have no health insurance. They have told us horror stories about dirty air and polluted water. They have lectured us on the decrepit state of our inner city schools and students who cannot read their own diplomas.

I just wonder if they first cleared these images with their party's greatest bridge builder, President Bill Clinton. He is the man who has been president the last seven and a half years. If our elderly are suffering, if our people are still homeless, if the great majority of our children are illiterate and uninsured, then it is largely the fault of the Clinton-Gore administration. These things occurred under their watch.

We also heard speaker after speaker lecture us that the elderly are often forced to choose between the purchase of food or medicine.

Therefore, I must ask if the supposedly compassionate Democrats have any compassion for the elderly ones in their own families. Don't liberal Democrats care as much for their aged relatives as conservative Republicans? Are they too greedy? Are they more concerned about the status of their 401Ks? Why do liberal Democrats force their loved ones to die, instead of reaching into their own pockets to provide for their relatives' needs?

Conservatives do not make our parents and grandparents choose between food and medicine. We provide for them. We liberally reach in our pocket and make sure that their needs are adequately met. Evidently, liberals not only eat their own; they also let them starve.

Clinton proudly stated that he and Al Gore already built that bridge to the 21st Century. So, if the Democrats are right about people still drowning out there, it must be that they are simply too lazy to use the bridge.