Was the right this rabid under Clinton?

[TigerHunter]

I was born in 1991, so I wasn't really paying attention to politics until Bush was in the Oval Office. Since he left, I've noticed that right-wingers (at least, those that make the main page) regard Obama's presidency as nothing short of apocalyptic. Even putting aside the rumors that he's a muslim, or wasn't born in this country, which can easily be attributed to his race, a number of them seem convinced that not only is he incompetent, he is malicious and actively trying to run America into the ground. I know that there were rumors about Clinton too - that he'd ordered people killed and such - but was he regarded in the same light, or is the right's venomous hatred a new phenomenon?

[Kit Walker]

Yes and no. The main problem today is that there is just so much more information (true or false, for good or ill) and more connection available today. Both the internet and the 24-hour news cycle were in their relative infancy under Clinton - both Fox News and MSNBC launched in 1996, neither with the reach nor content they would have even by 2004. Now the internet has created echo chambers of extreme political thought and cable news stations need to fill 24/7/365 with content. It's not necessarily that the feelings are different, it's that they're amplified.

[kefkaownsall]

It varies.  So far the Republicans have not moved for impeachment

[Saturn500]

Of course, Clinton did commit adultery, and doing something illegal is grounds for impeachment, so at least with Clinton, they were kinda justified.

[davedan]

When did adultery become illegal?

[Saturn500]

I thought it was.

[nickiknack]

1. The right wasn't this crazy, yes there were crazy conspiracy theory shit like the "Clinton Chronicles"(which was a whole lot of funny), and the whole impeachment(is it sad that I remember watching the vote as me and my family decorated the Christmas tree that year??). But in my opinion the right wing have amped up the crazy to about 15 on a scale from 1 to 10 under Obama.
2. Clinton was impeached because he lied under oath not because her cheated on Hilliary. If he would've just admitted to it, we would've avoided the whole BS. What really makes me sick, is that the assholes who made a big shit over it, were cheating on their spouses, so they really didn't have the moral high ground to begin with.

Oh yeah, and thanks for making me feel old.

[TigerHunter]

Oh yeah, and thanks for making me feel old.

You're welcome 

[KZN02]

Speaking of 1991, which I was born in also, I found a book of political cartoons for that year and stumbled upon one about George Bush Sr. having no backbone to the Democrats.

[Canadian Mojo]

1. The right wasn't this crazy, yes there were crazy conspiracy theory shit like the "Clinton Chronicles"(which was a whole lot of funny), and the whole impeachment(is it sad that I remember watching the vote as me and my family decorated the Christmas tree that year??). But in my opinion the right wing have amped up the crazy to about 15 on a scale from 1 to 10 under Obama.
2. Clinton was impeached because he lied under oath not because her cheated on Hilliary. If he would've just admitted to it, we would've avoided the whole BS. What really makes me sick, is that the assholes who made a big shit over it, were cheating on their spouses, so they really didn't have the moral high ground to begin with.

Oh yeah, and thanks for making me feel old.

I have always wondered why the republicans never went after the sexual harassment angle since they had a boss taking advantage of his position of authority to get sexual favours from a subordinate.

Don't feel too old, I remember the Regan years quite well.

[Lt. Fred]

2. Clinton was impeached because he lied under oath not because her cheated on Hilliary. If he would've just admitted to it, we would've avoided the whole BS.

Clinton didn't lie under oath. He asked how the court defined sex- narrowly- and then, accurately, told them he'd never had vaginal intercourse with Ms Lewinski. If he hadn't done that, he'd have been lying. And if they had decided he wasn't lying then, it would have been the 'murder' of Vince Foster or the Whitewater 'conspiracy' or some other nonsense. Or they'd have thrown someone else in prison for refusing to perjure themselves.

The point was not to uphold the law. The point was to headhunt a political opponent. And they were willing to outright abuse their power of impeachment to do it.

He was IMPEACHED for nothing. The Republicans (and even some Democrats, to their utter shame) abused their most serious power. They've done nothing like that for Obama.

[TigerHunter]

They've done nothing like that for Obama.

Yet.

[kefkaownsall]

This basically.  It was actually rather like Andrew Johnson's impeachment.  No legal wrongdoing unlike Nixon just wanted to get rid of a political opponent.

[Canadian Mojo]

They've done nothing like that for Obama.

Yet.

wait 'til his second term

[Stormwarden]

I can say with certainty that it was nowhere this insane. This madness seems to have only come about in the last decade or so. If they were this mad back in the day, I never would have been a Repub.