Wake Up, You 'Poltroons'

Pasadena Star-News, 8 January 1998



Patricia Dunlap answered my letter ("Leave the dead alone", 27 Dec) by suggesting that I read a book titled "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton" and search the internet for newspapers that presumably tell the truth about our president. I have already listened to Rush Limbaugh's drivel for years and don't need more of the same to understand that the purpose of the "Get Clinton" people is not to disseminate information, but to bring down the president. Their quest has taken on aspects of a religion, in which "the answer" is known a priori, and facts are accessories to be accepted or rejected solely on the basis of whether they support that answer or not. Their tactics include innuendo, half-truths, distortion, and propaganda. Because they are a small percentage of the population, they could be dismissed as fanatics except that they have become the de facto spokespeople for conservatism and the Republican party. I hope moderate Republicans will wake up soon, take back their party, and re-turn it toward constructive ends so that we can argue the issues again, rather than religion. I have little hope for that, however -- Rush Limbaugh has called moderate Republicans poltroons, and perhaps he is right.

*****