Dear Mr. Clinton
Callahan, Sidney
OF SEVERAL MINDS SIDNEY CALLAHAN DEAR MR. CLINTON I'm returning your veto I am a prolife Democrat who's going to defect from my party. Come November, I plan to vote for Bob Dole. And how, pray...
...There's no way this hand's going to push a lever to help elect this fellow a second time...
...With Dole at least I can get one important piece of my consistent ethic-of-life agenda championed;the unborn may have a bit more chance for some protection...
...Nor is he likely to become any less gung ho for capital punishment or suddenly vow to renounce violent military interventions around the world...
...Once in office he ought to have enough clout to control the mean-spirited fanatics in his own party...
...I actually thought McGovern could win since everyone I knew voted for him...
...But can welfare mothers and the poor children Clinton's abandoning in another part of the forest manage to defend themselves...
...That's it," I said, "I've had it...
...Right now it's taking enough energy for me to cast a heretofore unthinkable Republican vote in November...
...Cynical...
...Mostly yes, I'd say, but occasionally not...
...Moral rhetoric alone won't deliver the self-discipline and principled practice necessary to achieve virtue...
...Opportunistic...
...Yes, I'm a feminist pro-lifer who's for gay rights and in favor of same-sex marriage, but I don't have space here to argue this one...
...Other habitual choices in life determine your moral character...
...Even my admiration for Hillary is dissolving fast...
...In his eye-on-the-main-chance mode of operation whatever seems to fly will be adopted...
...It's not only Whitewater but the fact that after Bill's veto she was photographed smiling happily at a luncheon thrown for her by her friends at Emily's List, which raises funds for women political candidates (but only if they're prochoice...
...In a desperate act of protest I'm ready to cast my first vote for a Republican presidential candidate...
...Unfortunately, to sentimentally aspire to goodness, wisdom, and greatness is not the same thing as actually becoming wise and good...
...And obviously to possess Dole's particular World War II formative experiences you have to be old...
...Does it take a whole village to save these spin doctors from themselves?I am also affronted by Clinton's cavalier rejection of the gay community in announcing he will sign the Defense of Marriage Act...
...Of course, Dole may lose by a landslide...
...I'm afraid that in the moral virtue department the Clintons may be in for more embarrassments...
...Well, who knows how this particular end-of-the-millennium drama is going to play itself out...
...Comedy, tragedy, farce...
...Certainly abuse by powerful men of their privilege in the pursuit of sexual pleasure morally stinks...
...Or another sincere but tone-deaf judgment call...
...Enough already...
...On balance I admire Done's generation and the cultural forces that shaped his era more than I like the confusion and self-indulgence that produced the sixties reformers...
...And whatever groups (or old friends) or principles that have to be abandoned along the way will be sacrificed with dispatch...
...making exceptions for one's self and cutting corners become addictive...
...Finally I suppose when facing the choice between Clinton and Dole there's no avoiding the age-cum-character question...
...When Clinton vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban, something in me snapped...
...Then again Dole might win and have enough legislative skill and party strength to get a few moderate government reforms effected...
...Why should America be hell-bent (literally) on returning to the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest...
...I'm no longer going to be held captive by the home team...
...My multiple disillusionments with Bill Clinton have boiled over...
...the home team...
...Moral self-deception in our leaders present the gravest dangers for the rest of us in the country...
...So then there's the old question to be faced of whether private sexual indiscretions produce enough toxic waste to taint a person's public political performance...
...Contrary to superstitious belief, my hand will not fall off...
...In Clinton's current efforts to pander to the prevailing winds and out-tough the macho-Republicans there appears little hope that he will reverse course...
...True, you may have more energy when you're young but at any period of life the crucial issue becomes how you focus your energy...
...Health comes from healthy habits...
...Who am I to predict political elections...
...And how, pray tell, does an unreconstructed Humphrey-McGovern "pinko," "socialist," "big government," "bleeding heart," "peacenik" Democrat in favor of a preferential option for the poor, come to such a pass...
...Through about of moral indignation, that's how...
...Soon thereafter the country was treated to Hillary's musings over various new baby-adoption options...
...At least gays, unlike the unborn, can lobby for their own potential futures...
...In any event, if enough distressed people (Catholics and others united for the separation of infanticide and the state) engage in a protest vote maybe the next Democratic candidate will be more receptive to the prolife message...
...I hope Americans will be aware of the damage done by ageism and not judge the candidates by age alone...
Vol. 123 • August 1996 • No. 14
