Bill Clinton praises Lincoln, claims unions trying to manipulate voters to ‘terrify' Dems

So, when I see headlines such as the one above, it reminds me of all of the flaws of the sellout/DLC sponsored/triangulating ways of Bill Clinton. Clinton sold out the working classes while president with his multiple trade deals which, in effect, left workers in a weaker position. For the poor, Clinton signed off on welfare reform, in spite of the many flaws of the legislation, and unadressed problems of welfare-to-work programs. The Clinton years may have been years of economic growth, but at a hidden cost of unadressed wealth and income inequality, a trend to grow much worse under George W. Bush, a president who no longer pretended not to be representing the interests of plutocrats and corporate elites.

So, when I read such clueless quotes, and on behalf of arguably one of the two worst, most corporatist, Democratic Senators (along with Ben Nelson) as this,

Reading from a Washington Post article that quoted a national labor union leader saying that forcing Lincoln to "fight this kind of fight" might make other senators "think twice about it," Clinton said that national labor unions had decided to make Lincoln "the poster child for what happens when a Democrat crosses them." "In other words, this is about using you and manipulating your votes to terrify members of Congress and members of the Senate from other states," Clinton told the crowd. "Now if you want to be used that way, have at it." The 42nd president continued to rip labor unions, which have largely supported him in the past. "They admit here, they don’t necessarily favor her opponent. They want to make her a poster child. They want you to be something besides a voter for your children and your community and your future. They want you to help them make a poster," Clinton said. "If you want to do that, go back to grade school," he added. "If you want to be Arkansas’ advocate, vote for somebody who will fight for you. Vote for Blanche Lincoln," he added. Clinton summed up the tough tactics from unions as "Washington games."

I get thoroughly disgusted. Clinton here helps to spread the Republican meme of "corrupt, moblike, threatening" unions (when the fact of the matter is that unions are not nearly as powerful as they once were, given the nature of active opposition to them by conservative business interests, (who would like to abolish unions, and perhaps return us to the era of slave labor)).

And to think, I voted for Clinton twice and volunteered for his campaign in 1992. I also spent countless hours defending him against the ludicrous impeachment charges by a witchhunting GOP; truth be told, by acting like an egotistical douchebag intoxicated by power, he handed ammunition to his political enemies, which then required a whole lot of effort and energy by progressives to rally to his defense.

I'm a member of the American Federation of Teachers, and a proud union member. I am done with Bill Clinton. I'll give no money to his foundations or causes. I'll stop arguing on behalf of his merits as president. I will not support candidates that he endorses, unless they are true progressives who fully support workers. And I will support those who work to dismantle the DLC.