Once again, hypocrisy gushes from the lips and pens of conservatives. The latest example is the comparisons between celebrity gubernatorial candidate
Arnold Schwarzenegger's penchant for groping women and former president Bill Clinton's peccadilloes. Phil Boas, in a
Arizona Republic editorial,
argues that "Clinton paved the way" for Arnold and that his accusers were more credible and that Arnold has not lied.
Mr. Boas, please unlodge your face from that conservative kaleidoscope you have strapped on too tightly that has severely warped your perception. First, Mr. Schwarzenegger has been less than forthcoming about his transgressions, and has peppered a vapid "I've behaved badly sometimes" while denying the specific allegations. Sorry, but that does not qualify as coming clean with the truth. His admission of "behaving badly" without acknowledging individual instances is akin to previous politicians laments that "mistakes were made". Both figures only issued vague apologies after discovery was made.
Next, by granting credibility to Clinton's accusers, Boas committs another grave error. Joe Conason and Gene Lyons have done yeoman work in exposing how ludicrous the nature many of President Clinton's accusers were and how many of those charges originated with white supremacist organizations, intent on bringing down a popular leader in an extremist right wing agenda, no matter the truth. If one takes the time to study the facts of these reports, instead of beguiled by the headlines, it is clear that credibility is deficient in just about all of the charges brought forth.
Most important, however, is that Boas and others of his ilk disregard an essential difference between Clinton's faux pas and Schwarzenegger's unwelcome touching of intimate parts. Clinton's adulterous affairs were completely consensual and in the most celebrated cases, initiated by the opposite sex. That's in stark contrast to an ogre engaging in unwanted and undesireable clutching and grasping. One deed may indeed be morally condemning, but the other is a brazen act of sexual assault.