The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Seven

 In the late 1990s, Republicans, along with some Democrats, pushed for deregulation of the banking industry by removing the "Glass-Steagall Act," a law implemented in the era of the Great Depression, to prevent the mixing of investment banking (also termed "casino banking," as it can be highly risky) from "traditional" banking; that is, savings and checking accounts, car loans, etc. Democrat-turned Republican, Phil Gramm, a senator from Texas, led the charge for the deregulation, which was then signed by President Clinton. This legislation would prove to be one of the causes of the later so called, "Great Recession," as it allowed Wall Street banks to engage in behavior that was more than a little risky.

Anti government sentiment had been on the rise, certainly not discouraged by conservative attacks on government at all levels, and the sentiment came accompanied by hate groups and fascist-like militia extremists. In 1995, a terrorist bomb attack on the Federal Building in Oklahoma City killed more than 160 and injured nearly 700. The main perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh, had ties to militia groups and seemingly hated the government over issues like taxes and gun control. Anti government feelings were a longstanding tradition in the southern states, dating to the very creation of the Confederacy itself.

Clinton's second term included his impeachment over sex scandals, but I will not be covering that, as the overall subject is a bit complicated, and I did an article on it as part of another series. If you're interested, this is the link:   http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/12/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part.html 

A president's political party often loses seats in Congress in midterm elections, and that's certainly true of the second midterm elections of two-term presidents. President Clinton's sex scandal gave Republicans hope for an even bigger than typical win in the 1998 election. It didn't happen; in fact, Democrats actually gained a handful of seats in the House of Representatives and the overall Senate numbers remained unchanged after each party won seats from one another, canceling out any net gain for either. The Republican pursuit of Bill Clinton's sex life seemed to have taken a nasty turn on the GOP, as voters seemed to want the matters of governing addressed, and not the president's personal life. The Clinton sex scandal would soon help to claim two REPUBLICAN leaders, not Democrats. First, the election results in the former Confederate states in 1998: 

1998 Senate: the only change in the former Confederate states was a North Carolina gain for Democrats.
House of Representatives: Alabama, unchanged at 5 Republicans, 2 Democrats; Arkansas, unchanged at 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats; Florida, unchanged, 15 Republicans, 8 Democrats; Georgia, unchanged, 8 Republicans, 3 Democrats; Louisiana, unchanged, 5 Republicans, 2 Democrats; Mississippi, Democratic gain of one seat, making state delegation, 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans; North Carolina, Republican gain of one seat, making state delegation, 7 Republicans, 5 Democrats; South Carolina, unchanged, 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats; Tennessee, unchanged, 5 Republicans, 4 Democrats; Texas, unchanged, 17 Democrats, 13 Republicans; Virginia, unchanged, 6 Democrats, 5 Republicans.
Governors: Alabama, Democratic gain: Florida, Republican gain (Jeb Bush, a son of former President Bush, began to come to prominence with this win); South Carolina, Democratic gain. One note, in Texas, George W. Bush, also a son of former President Bush, was reelected as governor. He would then run for president.

Next: Two Southerners face off in the election of 2000 ...  

WORD HISTORY:
Goad-This word, related to the "gar" part of "garlic," goes back to Indo European "ghai," which had the notion, "pointed, triangular," with the extended, "ghaizo," which meant, "staff, spear." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "gaizo," meaning, "spear, pointed/triangular in shape." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "gad" (long "o" sound), and meaning, "spear, arrowhead," but also, "pointed staff to move cattle or other animals." This then became "gode," with the latter meaning having become the main meaning, and then came the modern spelling. The noun produced the verb form by the mid 1500s (maybe a bit earlier?), with the meaning, "to use a "gad/gode" (goad) to move cattle," but also the figurative, "cause to do something," and then also, "to stir up, to incite." Only English has forms of the original Germanic word that developed with this particular meaning.  

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Six

WORD HISTORY: 
Shut-This word is related to "shoot" and "shot," both of which are English words from its Germanic roots. It goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion of, "to project, to throw, to thrust outward, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skeutanan," with the same general meanings. This then gave West Germanic "skutjanan," meaning, "to bolt/to lock" (from the notion of "thrust, project); thus also, "to enclose, to close off." This gave Old English "scyttan," meaning, "to close off with a bolt;" thus also, the figurative, "to finish something, to pay off." This then became "schutten/shutten," before the modern version. Forms in other West Germanic languages: German has "schützen," meaning "defend, protect," which developed from the idea of "closing off from danger, keeping out something harmful;" Low German Saxon "schütten," meaning, "to shut, to shut or lock in;" Dutch "schutten" meaning, "to lock;" Frisian "apparently" does not use a form in modern times, but it once had "sketta," meaning, "to lock, to close off."  

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Three

In what became a decisive and disastrous move, President Bill Clinton commissioned the putting together of a well intended plan, headed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, to expand the country's health care coverage. When released, the large and complex plan was highly popular for about a week or two, as Republicans and insurance companies picked the plan apart and successfully scared the hell out of Americans with a barrage of negative ads. The attacks on the plan were given a great deal of coverage by the media, which only fed into the narrative of the plan's opponents that there was just no consensus about reforming such a large sector of the American economy, which caused further erosion in support. The whole matter brought intense scrutiny to Hillary Clinton. Polls showed the plan's popularity fell like a rock, and eventually it couldn't make it through Congress, even though Democrats had majorities in both the House and Senate. The whole issue gave Republicans a boost in morale and energy going into the midterm election of 1994, whereas dispirited Democrats faced the coming election with mounting concern.  

Then came the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known by its initials, NAFTA, an idea for a free trade zone among North American countries, which was first given note by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign for president. The agreement was highly complex, but it essentially made a trade bloc of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by eliminating trade and investment barriers between those countries. On this issue, Clinton and all the living former presidents supported passage,* but the bill terribly divided Democrats, and it took free trade Republicans to provide the votes in Congress to pass it. It also brought Ross Perot to the fore again, as the former presidential candidate opposed the agreement. In a highly touted television debate with Vice President Al Gore, watched by millions of Americans, Perot made points, but he had difficulty explaining many things, especially where money was coming from to oppose the agreement and in refuting the charge by Gore that Perot stood to make financial gain from the defeat of the agreement. A congressional vote came in November 1993, and here is how members of the House of Representatives in former Confederate states voted, with the measure passing in the overall House vote by 234 to 200: Alabama: 2 Republicans for, 1 Republican against, 4 Democrats against; Arkansas: 2 Republicans for, 2 Democrats against; Florida: 7 Republicans for, 6 Democrats for, 6 Republicans against, 4 Democrats against; Georgia: 2 Republicans for, 4 Democrats for, 2 Republicans against, 3 Democrats against; Louisiana: 3 Republicans for, 2 Democrats for, 2 Democrats against; Mississippi: 3 Democrats for, 2 Democrats against; North Carolina: 3 Republicans for, 5 Democrats for, 1 Republican against, 3 Democrats against; South Carolina: 1 Democrat for, 3 Republicans against, 2 Democrats against; Tennessee: 3 Republicans for, 6 Democrats for; Texas: 9 Republicans for, 15 Democrats for, 6 Democrats against; Virginia: 4 Republicans for, 3 Democrats for, 4 Democrats against. In the Senate the overall vote was 61 for and 38 against, and in the former Confederate states the vote was: Alabama: 2 Democrats against; Arkansas: 2 Democrats for; Florida: 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for; Georgia: 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for; Louisiana: 2 Democrats for; Mississippi: 2 Republicans for; North Carolina: 2 Republicans against; South Carolina: 1 Republican against, 1 Democrat against; Tennessee: 1 Democrat for, 1 Democrat against; Texas: 2 Republicans for; Virginia: 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for.   

A contentious social issue also heated up. President Clinton supported allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve in the military, provided they kept their sexual orientation secret, but the military could not ask about their orientation either. Clinton's stand satisfied few, but especially on the political right, where any attempt to allow gay people to legally serve in the military was opposed. The provisions came to be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

* The living former presidents in 1993 were: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush (Sr.).

WORD HISTORY:
Ask-This common word goes back to Indo European "ayesh," which had the notion "to search for, to seek." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "aiskojan," which meant "to ask for, demand, request," all with the notion of "seeking something by asking." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ascian" (to ask for, inquire) and the variant "acsian" (to this day, some English speakers say "I want to aks ("ax") you something," so this basic pronunciation goes way back in English). "Ascian" then became "asken," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have: German "heischen" (once also spelled without the "h," a word not highly common, but still in use for, "to ask for, request, demand"); West Frisan "easkje" ("demand"); Dutch "eisen" ("ask, demand"). Swedish "äska" ("demand, request") and Danish, "æske," seem to have been borrowed from Low German, which once had, "eschen," but no longer uses it. Apparently forms of the word generally endured only in West Germanic (English, German, Dutch, Frisian), as the North Germanic languages use other words to express this meaning.

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Two

Gun control was a hot topic in 1993 and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases, with a five day waiting period for gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, who had been seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association (also known as, the "NRA") strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control. The bill passed both houses of Congress in slightly different forms, which meant the measure had to go to a conference committee of members from both the Senate and the House, which then agreed to changes to make the bill uniform. That measure was then passed by both houses, and then signed into law by President Clinton in late November 1993.

The vote by senators (two from each state) from former Confederate states went this way: Alabama, 2 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats for; Florida, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats against; Mississippi, 2 Republicans against; North Carolina, 2 Republicans against; South Carolina, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat against; Tennessee, 2 Democrats for; Texas, 1 Republican for, 1 Republican against; Virginia, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for. The votes by representatives in former Confederate states in the House of Representatives: Alabama, 3 Republicans against, 4 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against; Florida, 8 Democrats for, 8 Republican for, 2 Democrats against, 5 Republicans against; Georgia, 4 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against, 4 Republicans against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 2 Republicans against, (1 Republican and 1 Democrat did not vote); Mississippi, 1 Democrat for, 3 Democrats against, (1 Democrat did not vote); North Carolina, 8 Democrats for, 1 Republican for, 3 Republicans against; South Carolina, 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee, 4 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 3 Republicans against, (1 Democrat did not vote); Texas, 8 Democrats for, 13 Democrats against, 9 Republicans against; Virginia, 3 Democrats for, 2 Republicans for, 4 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against.  

WORD HISTORY:
Gun-This word is a shortening of "Lady Gunilda" (also "Gunhilda"), a term applied in England for some weapons that flung rocks or fired arrows, beginning in the 1300s. It was also applied to the developing weaponry that used gun powder to propel projectiles. The use of female names for weapons is not uncommon, including "Big Bertha" and "Brown Bess." The "gun" part was from Old Norse "gunnr," which meant, "war, battle, strife." This went back to Indo European "gwhen," which meant "to hit, to beat, to wound, to kill (presumably by beating/hitting)." This then gave Old Germanic "gund," meaning, "battle, strife, war," but which "apparently" only survived in the North Germanic branch of Germanic, although it later spread elsewhere in name forms by way of contact with other languages, both Germanic and non-Germanic. ^ Whatever the case, the shortened form was often rendered as "gunne/gonne," before settling upon "gun."

^ German has the name "Gunther/Günther," which has the same first part, but did they get it from Old Norse (North Germanic)? English; that is, Anglo-Saxon, the ancestral homeland of which lies in northern Germany and the northwestern Netherlands, does not seem to have had the word, or a form of the name way back, although it was acquired later.

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-One

A big part of Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidency had been centered around, "It's the economy stupid," an expression originally meant to keep Clinton campaign workers focused, but which, in fact, became the campaign's slogan. Once in office, Clinton and his administration pushed for, and got, a plan to raise taxes on the top 1.2% of earners, while cutting taxes for many people further down the income scale, as well as for many businesses. The tax on gasoline also was raised by 4 cents + on a gallon of gasoline. Republicans went ballistic, claiming the Clinton plan would prove to be devastating (more on this in an future part of this series). Clinton and Democrats would increasingly claim credit for the improving economy, with this legislation being the cornerstone of the administration's economic policy.

The plan eked through both houses of Congress in August 1993, as ALL Republicans in both houses voted AGAINST the measure. This is how the senate delegations from former Confederate states, of two senators from each state, voted: SENATE: Alabama: 1 Democrat for, 1 Democrat against; Arkansas: 2 Democrats for; Florida: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia: 1 Democrat against, 1 Republican against; Louisiana: 1 Democrat for, 1 Democrat against; Mississippi: 2 Republicans against; North Carolina: 2 Republicans against; South Carolina: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Tennessee: 2 Democrats for; Texas: 2 Democrats against; Virginia: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against. The total Senate vote was 50 votes for and 50 votes against, and Vice President Al Gore (from Tennessee) cast the tie breaking vote, by naturally voting "for" the measure. In the House of Representatives, the votes by delegation from former Confederate states: Alabama: 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat against; Arkansas: 1 Democrat for, 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat against; 9 Democrats for, 1 Democrat and 13 Republicans against; Georgia: 5 Democrats for, 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Louisiana: 2 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Mississippi: 2 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against; North Carolina: 8 Democrats for, 4 Republicans against; South Carolina: 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee: 4 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Texas: 15 Democrats for, 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats against; Virginia: 6 Democrats for, 4 Republicans and 1 Democrat against.


WORD HISTORY:
Booth-Some of the history of this word is a bit shaky, but this is what I've come up with, although parts of it could be altered, if I find more information. This word, related to "bower" and to the "-bor" (British: "-bour") part of "neighbor," goes back Indo European "bu/bhu," which meant, "to dwell, to live upon or in," an extended meaning from the base meaning, "to exist, to be." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "buraz," with the meaning "place where one dwells," and a derived form, "buwan," meaning, "to construct or settle for the purpose of living or shelter." English once had the verb "buan," meaning "to live, to dwell, to live in or on, to occupy." A derived form, "budo," meaning, "a place constructed for shelter," apparently developed in Old Germanic itself, or "perhaps" in its North Germanic offspring.^ Whatever the case, Old Norse had "buð" (ð=th in more modern times), seemingly meaning, "a small house or tent, an encampment." The notion of "tent, encampment" gave the meaning the sense of "temporary," or, "not sturdily built." This then carried over to an extended meaning, "a structure or enclosure of boards or material for temporary use for selling goods, and thus easily moved around." English borrowed the word from Old Norse in the mid 1100s. 

^ There are similar forms outside of Germanic, but whether these were borrowed from Germanic (I find some of it doubtful), or whether they simply followed a similar course of development on their own from the original Indo European is unclear (something a bit hard for me to completely buy into). Even sorting through the Germanic forms are difficult, as there are many words that are derived from the Germanic form, and the basic meaning had many angles to it. For example, English has "build" and German has "bauen" (meaning, "to build, to construct," but also the extended, "to cultivate the soil"). English has "bower" ("dwelling," but also once a word for "farmer," and then, "area in a garden sheltered by trees or leafy plants." German has "Bauer" (farmer, peasant," but also, "bird cage"), and there are others. Determining the direct relatives to "booth" is also challenging, but German has, "Bude" (booth, kiosk), Low German has "Bood" (booth, small shop), Swedish has "bod" (shed), Icelandic has "búð" (a shop, a booth).

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty

Mid 1991 saw George H.W. Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas for a seat on the Supreme Court. Thomas was a black conservative Republican judge chosen by Bush to replace retiring black progressive justice, Thurgood Marshall; thus, shifting the Supreme Court to the political right. Interest groups from both sides of the political spectrum mobilized over the Thomas nomination. The nomination hearings reached fever pitch, with millions of Americans tuned in, when Anita Hill, a lawyer who had worked with Thomas when he was her supervisor, testified that he had made inappropriate sexual remarks to her, perhaps constituting sexual harassment. President Bush, pressed by conservatives to stick with, and to fight for, the nomination, did so. The bitter process ended with Thomas winning confirmation by a narrow margin, as eleven Democrats voted for his confirmation, while only two Republicans opposed it. Senators from former Confederate states voted 14 to 8 in favor of Thomas's confirmation.

With the economy in recession, Bush's popularity tumbled, giving Democrats hope of defeating the incumbent president. Hard line conservative Pat Buchanan entered the Republican nomination process and criticized Bush for working with Democrats and for breaking his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. Buchanan made a strong showing in New Hampshire, but Bush won and he continued on to a relatively easy renomination, but the attacks from Buchanan took a toll, as a part of the conservative base of the Republican Party remained unenthusiastic about George Bush. To placate conservatives, Bush gave Buchanan the keynote address spot at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas. In that speech, dripping with venom, Buchanan attacked the Democratic nominee, Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, and Democrats in general, who, he said, were in a fight to take over the soul of the country by advocating abortion, gay rights, and a diverse society. Buchanan obviously forgot his own mixed background of Irish, Scottish and German.

Democrats nominated Bill Clinton of Arkansas and that state's governor. Clinton did well in all of the primaries in former Confederate states. He chose fellow Southerner Al Gore of Tennessee as his running mate, as the Democrats pitted a Southern ticket against the Republicans and Ross Perot, a billionaire businessman who entered the race and quickly became a favorite of many disgruntled Americans. The thing was, while Perot started off well, as with his own money, he didn't need big campaign contributions. Increasingly large sums of money in the political process was something that had become a growing concern among some Americans. Further, his use of charts and pointers about certain issues also played well with many voters, but he later began to display some erratic behavior, at one point even withdrawing from the race, only to later say he had dropped out because Republicans had planned dirty tricks to disrupt his daughters wedding. Further, Perot asserted that the CIA was involved in trying to destroy his campaign by tapping into his stock trading program to prevent him from financing his campaign, and there were other unsubstantiated charges of assassination plots, etc. The White House and the Bush campaign leaders called it all nonsense. Perot's poll numbers tumbled and Bill Clinton's rose, putting the Democrat ahead of the field. Later Perot decided to get back into the race. On top of the display of paranoia, Perot had selected retired, highly decorated Vice Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate. During the vice presidential debate, Stockdale, who had had little time to prepare for the debate, looked into the television cameras and asked, "Who am I? Why am I here?" Stockdale's apparent confusion and lack of focus throughout the debate produced a series of one liners from comedians and it further called into question the judgment, if not the very sanity, of Ross Perot. The thing was, Perot's paranoia and conspiracy theories played right into the minds of a number of Americans obsessed with such things, and to whom Republican tricks were assumed to be commonplace, no proof required.

Clinton and Gore put the South back into play for Democrats, and Bush seemed to be mired in low poll numbers. On election day, the voters had their say: Clinton/Gore received 43% of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes, including those of former Confederate states Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee. Bush carried the other states in the South, but he received only about 37 1/2% of the national popular vote. Perot won no states, but he received about 19% of the popular vote. In the U.S. Senate elections, Republicans gained a seat in a close election in Georgia, and defeated the Democratic incumbent in North Carolina, too. In elections for the House of Representatives, based upon redistricting from the 1990 Census, Republicans gained a seat in Alabama, making that delegation 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Arkansas, Republicans gained a seat to make the delegation 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Florida, a state which saw an increase in representation because of population growth, Republicans won 13 seats to 10 for Democrats; Georgia added one new seat and the new delegation was 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans; Louisiana added an additional seat and the new delegation was 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans; Mississippi's delegation remained totally Democratic, with 5 Democrats; North Carolina gained one seat and after the election the delegation was 8 Democrats and 4 Republicans; South Carolina saw Republicans gain a seat to make the delegation 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats; Tennessee remained steady at 6 Democrats and 3 Republicans; Texas added new seats, and after the election, the delegation was 21 Democrats and 9 Republicans; Virginia added one seat, and after the election the delegation was 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans. In elections for governors of former Confederate states, the only change was that Democrats won the governorship from Republicans in North Carolina.   

WORD HISTORY:
One-This word, closely related to original English words of Germanic derivation "only," and to the second part of "alone," ultimately goes back to Indo European "oinos." The Germanic branch of Indo European continued with "ainaz." This was passed down to Old English and Old Frisian as "an" (long "a" sound). There seems to have been a wide variety of pronunciations for the English word, and it later tended to have a long "o" sound for quite some time in many areas of England. The "w" sound, however, seems to have developed in western England, and it eventually was accepted as "standard," although not until the 1700s. The Indo European word was also passed along to other branches of its family, as Latin had "unus," for example, and that word further developed into French "un," and Italian and Spanish "uno." The other Germanic languages have: German "ein," Low German Saxon "een," Dutch "een," West Frisian "ien," Danish "en," Icelandic "einn," Norwegian "en," and Swedish "en" (Swedish also has "ett").

It's About Coalitions, Not Purity, Part Forty-Seven

The Chickens Come Home To Roost, But It's Too Hot In The Hen House ... The Financial Meltdown, Part 4

Before getting into further information on the financial crisis that was then developing, the political situation was not at a standstill. 

The 2008 Democratic Party nominating process: the two main Democrats involved were Hillary Clinton, a U.S. Senator from New York, and Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois. Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, started the race with a decided advantage, as she was well known, and both she and her husband remained popular among traditional Democratic constituencies, like many labor unions, non-union working class voters, older white voters and moderate Democrats. Bill Clinton had been very popular among black Americans, but the draw of a highly viable man of black heritage, Barack Obama, was a difficult challenge for the Clintons, and it cut into what would have likely been a staunch Clinton group of supporters, and Clinton's likely nomination, had Barack Obama not run for president at that time. On the other hand, many Democratic women voters were immensely excited about Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Besides black voters, Obama had a good deal of support from highly educated voters, younger voters and many liberals. Supporters of both candidates were encouraged by the rough political landscape for their Republican opponents, so that if they could get their candidate nominated, they felt there was a good chance that candidate would win the presidency in November, given the unpopularity of George W. Bush, the then Republican president. Further the 2006 election had given Democrats control of both houses of Congress, leaving Republicans reeling. It would get worse for Republicans.

The early results gave Obama a surprising win in the Iowa Caucus, which temporarily gave him a major boost in the nation's first actual primary election, New Hampshire. In the end, Clinton won a close race in New Hampshire, and the tough quest for the Democratic nomination between Clinton and Obama accelerated. A big endorsement for Obama came from Senator Ted Kennedy and his niece, Caroline, who was the daughter of John F. Kennedy, the president assassinated in November 1963 (Ted Kennedy was the brother of the former president). As the primary and caucus season drew to a close, Barack Obama had a lead of less than a hundred delegates over Hillary Clinton, but Obama then got pledges of support from further delegates, giving him sufficient delegates to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in late August.

On the Republican side, the major candidates were: former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani (a former Democrat, and then independent), Mitt Romney, who was just leaving the governorship of Massachusetts, John McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona and Mike Huckabee, who was just leaving the governorship of Arkansas. When the Republican nomination process actually started, Giuliani melted down, then Romney faltered, while McCain and Huckabee became the main remaining candidates. Huckabee won the Iowa Caucus, and McCain won the primary in New Hampshire. After a mixed showing by both Romney and McCain in the following states, McCain pulled out a narrow, but big win in Florida, bringing Giuliani to withdraw from the race. McCain gained major momentum, and Romney soon quit the race, leaving only Mike Huckabee to contest McCain, but the Arizona senator won enough delegates by early March, and the nomination was his.

McCain had been able to draw from various parts of the Republican Party, but more traditional type Republicans increasingly favored him. Giuliani's "major" candidacy never materialized, and Romney's loss to McCain in New Hampshire (neighbor to Massachusetts) hurt him and gave McCain a big boost. Mike Huckabee was supported by many evangelical Christians and very conservative elements, including many Southerners, who fit into both of those categories.

Barack Obama chose Senator Joe Biden of Delaware for his vice presidential running mate, and John McCain chose Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Biden, long a member of the U.S. Senate (elected in 1972!), helped Obama with long time Democrats, especially white working class Democrats and independents, and his long experience in government and foreign policy in the Senate, helped to balance Obama's short time in government and on the national stage. Palin proved to be controversial, although she helped McCain with more conservative elements of the GOP, including evangelicals, and she likely also helped with women voters. Palin, however, was not well known nationally, and her introduction to the country made a negative impression on some, and a majority of Americans either felt she was not qualified to assume the presidency if need be, or they felt uncertain as to her qualification to do so. Two significant things happened when Palin did interviews. First, when interviewed extensively on television by Katie Couric, then with CBS, Couric asked Palin what newspapers and magazines she read. Her general response, that she appreciated the media and that she read all of them, brought Couric to ask her to name some, but she couldn't do it. That scene and her seeming lack of knowledge even about John McCain during the interviews, including about his views on the economy, which was reeling at that time, left a negative image of Palin. Secondly, while comics took this out of context, Palin was asked by Charles Gibson (ABC) about what she had learned by living so close to Russia,* and she mentioned that Alaska and Russia were neighbors and that you could actually see Russia from one of Alaska's islands. Comedians, to the delight of Democrats, quickly turned this into Palin claiming that the fact that she could see Russia from Alaska gave her foreign policy experience, something she did not claim, although her answer did seem to say that being able to see Russia was important, but without further explanation.           

So the stage was set for the election of 2008.  

* Alaska and Russia are very close in places, something many people may not know. 

WORD HISTORY:
Parable-"Parable" is related to "parlor" ("room for sitting and talking") and to "parley" (to speak, to converse"). The first part of the word, "para," goes back to Indo European "per/pr," with the notion of "forward, off, away from, beyond, beside." "Para-" is distantly related (through Indo European) to English "for," "for-" and "fore-," all from native English forms from Old Germanic. The main part of the word, distantly related to "ball" (the form meaning, "a dance"), goes back to Indo European "gwele/gwela," with the notion of, "bubble up, rise up, overflow, throw outward or upward." This gave Ancient Greek "ballein," ("to throw"), which produced, "bole," meaning, "a throw, a toss," and the two parts gave transliterated Greek "paraballo," meaning, "a toss beside;" thus, "side by side;" thus, "a comparison." This was borrowed by Latin as "parabola," also meaning "comparison," which then passed into Old French, a Latin-based language. English borrowed the word during the 1200s, initially as "parabol," which became "parable" about one hundred years later, with the meaning, "a story used to compare to another story in meaning." The word has often carried a religious component to it from translated Biblical usage.   

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Thirty-Three

"Clinton Leaves In More Controversy, Bush Takes Office"

Bill Clinton's controversial time in office closed with ... ah ... controversy. On his last day, Clinton, as most presidents do, made some pardons and sentence commutations, many of them involving a certain amount of controversy, but his pardon of Marc Rich drew a resoundingly negative response, even among many Democrats. Rich, who had been born in Belgium, but whose family fled to the United States to escape Hitler, was an American citizen who later became involved in the oil markets, including with Iran, even during the American hostage crisis and in spite of sanctions against Iran put in place by President Carter.* Rich's extensive overseas business dealings had him out of the United States for considerable periods of time. By the 1980s, Rich had been indicted by the U.S. government on criminal charges of tax evasion and illegal dealings with Iran. Rich was in Europe and remained there, thus becoming a wanted man. Later, the U.S. government changed its policy on tax evasion, choosing to pursue such matters in civil suits, rather than as criminal cases. Clinton said the criminal charge should be dropped in favor of the updated civil suit tax evasion procedure,** favoring a position argued by Rich's attorney, one "Scooter" Libby, a Republican, later heavily involved with Dick Cheney. One of the problems was, Rich's wife had made donations to Democrats, making the matter smell like a political deal, but the real problem was Rich's dealings with Iran during the hostage crisis.

Also as Clinton left office, the economy sagged, as high gasoline prices and the bursting of the so called "dot.com bubble" took a toll. The mid to late 1990s had seen a growth in the Internet and in companies doing business on the Web. The lure of the new technology brought stock buyers to these companies in large numbers, but the failure of some businesses to reap fast rewards eventually brought the stock prices tumbling and an uncertainty to the economy. Enter George W. Bush....

As Bush took office, the party division in Congress further highlighted the national split, just as the presidential vote had. Republicans retained control of the House by a narrow margin and the Senate was 50-50, but with Republicans in control by virtue of Vice President Cheney, as the vice president has a Senate vote in case of a tie. The new president proposed to use part of the then record budget surplus for tax cuts to help boost the economy.*** Many Democrats argued the proposed tax cuts would disproportionately favor the wealthy, and the battle was on.

Next... "Tax Cuts and 9/11"

* Rich's idea was, maintain good business relations with as many international leaders of oil nations as possible, including, or "perhaps especially," those out of favor in western countries. With oil scarcities, use the connections to buy oil at relatively cheap prices and then sell it to those willing to pay premium price, thus making millions.

** The pardon did not exempt Rich from civil suits and it levied a multi million dollar fine on him.

*** The budget surpluses looked larger than they actually were, because of Social Security being included in the overall federal budget numbers. Understand, that also means the budget deficits of previous years were really worse than most Americans realized, because of the inclusion of Social Security. What do I mean? Well, during that general era, Social Security was taking in more money than it paid out annually, thus, when added to the overall federal budget, it made surpluses look larger in the late 1990s, just as it had made federal deficits look smaller prior to that time.
   
WORD HISTORY:
Spear-This word traces back to Indo European "sper/spar," which had the notion of "pole." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "speri," which meant "spear." This gave Old English "spere," which meant "spear, lance," and this then became "spear." The verb form developed from the noun. Other Germanic languages have: standard German and Low German Saxon "Speer," Dutch "speer," West Frisian "spear." The North Germanic languages use a different word for this meaning.   

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Thirty-Two

"The Contentious Election of 2000," Part Two
"It All Comes Down To A Few Hundred Votes In Florida"

The 2000 election came at a time when the country was enjoying "relative peace and prosperity," as well as budget surpluses.* The surge in Web-based businesses, and the explosion in stock prices for such businesses, masked the trend of a general decline in what I'll call "working class jobs," as both technology and a shift in jobs to foreign countries was accelerating, making it difficult for wage increases for many workers. On top of that, the increase in health insurance costs for those who had it, previously, but not always, picked up by employers, began to be shifted to employees, as employers deducted a percentage of insurance costs from their workers' paychecks, and often, co-pays for certain procedures or prescriptions increased for those covered. This process too seemed to be accelerating. Further still, the price of oil and gasoline, which had fallen tremendously in the late 1990s,** began to escalate at a rapid pace, and gasoline prices surged toward or above $2.00 a gallon for a time, adding psychological pain to the pain in the pocketbook for many Americans. All of these things, as well as perhaps a "weariness" with the Clinton scandals and political battles, must have had an effect on the electorate and tilted the electoral vote ever so slightly towards Republican Bush.

The 2000 election showed that while most Americans were fairly satisfied with the times, and Bill Clinton's popularity increased, Clinton had failed to build a large lasting coalition among voters, although, as I noted in the previous segment, Al Gore did win the popular vote over George W. Bush (see further below). Bush and his campaign emphasized Clinton's scandals, saying Clinton had embarrassed the country and undermined the presidency. Gore tried as much as possible to play down the topic of Clinton's sex scandals, even to the point of sparingly utilizing the politically adept Clinton in his campaign. The use of American troops in military actions, especially in eastern Africa, was also a target of the Republican campaign, as Bush noted that the United States should not be involved in such operations. Bush chose long time Washington insider Dick Cheney to be his running mate, and Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman, also a veteran of Washington politics. Cheney, who had served as Secretary of Defense under George Bush (Senior), added military and foreign policy experience, experience which George W. Bush lacked.

The election showed Al Gore receiving nearly 48.4% of the popular vote to George W. Bush's nearly 47.9%, but Green Party candidate Ralph Nader garnered more than 2.7%. The Gore-Lieberman ticket led the Bush-Cheney ticket by about a half million votes. In the Electoral College, however, Bush won 271 votes to Gore's 266.*** A number of states were very close, barely tilting one way or the other, but none was as close as Florida, where the entire presidency hung in the balance. On election night and in the wee hours of the next day, news agencies first declared Gore the winner in Florida, but then changed it to Bush, before backing away from declaring any winner there. To make matters worse, Gore called Bush to concede Florida and the presidency, only to withdraw the concession as Bush's lead in Florida continued to narrow. Florida had 25 electoral votes, far above what was needed for Gore to be the next president, and just barely enough to give Bush the presidency. In what became a saga lasting for weeks, Bush had a narrow lead of about 1700 votes in Florida's unofficial returns, out of about 6 million votes. After a mandatory recount, done by feeding ballots back through machines, and after the counting of outstanding ballots from military personnel stationed in foreign countries, Bush held a lead of less than 1000 votes. It would get closer. Ralph Nader received more than 97,000 votes in Florida.

The issues involved after this point are many and would require at least another article or two to explain, but with such a close vote count, EVERY discrepancy took on major meanings,**** so this is VERY basic here. Gore legally asked for ballots to be hand counted in certain counties, but Florida law allowed only one week from election day for counties to submit revised totals from recounts. Gore received a favorable decision from the Florida Supreme Court, which extended that deadline for about two weeks. All recounts were not complete by that date and Florida declared Bush the victor by 537 votes. Gore protested, as tens of thousands of ballots had been rejected by the ballot counting machines, and the Florida Supreme Court ordered those ballots to be hand counted, a process that gave Americans some new terminology in the expression "hanging chad;" that is, ballots where the dot to be punched out indicating a vote for a particular person or issue remained connected to the ballot in some fashion; "hanging" from the ballot. News reports showed people involved in the count holding up ballots to try to determine the intent of the voter. It was a mess! Eventually the U. S. Supreme Court stopped all recounts by a 5-4 vote, which awarded Florida to George W. Bush, as Florida then used previously certified results as the final official tally. George W. Bush took the oath of office in January 2001.

* I failed to note this in an earlier segment, but the budget surpluses looked larger than they actually were, because of Social Security being included in the overall federal budget numbers. Understand, that also means the budget deficits of previous years were really worse than most Americans realized, because of the inclusion of Social Security. What do I mean? Well, during that general era, Social Security was taking in more money than it paid out annually, thus, when added to the overall federal budget, it made surpluses look larger in the late 1990s, just as it had made federal deficits look smaller prior to that time.

** If my memory is right, and please note this caution, I seem to remember paying as little as about eighty-five cents a gallon for gasoline in maybe about 1998. 

*** One elector from Washington D.C. abstained in protest over the lack of representation in Congress for the District of Columbia, but had been a Gore voter, abstaining only when this one vote did not make a difference. The Electoral College provides for each state to receive one electoral vote for each congressional district within its boundaries, as well as one vote each for the two U.S. senators. So if state "XYZ" has eight congressional districts, it has ten electoral votes (8 +2). The smallest number of electoral votes a state can have is three. The District of Columbia, which has no voting member of the House of Representatives and no senators, was given three electoral votes. There are 538 electoral votes available nationwide; 435 congressional districts, and 100 senators, plus the three votes for the District of Columbia. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency, so George W. Bush was just over the line.

**** Just a few of the many issues involved were: first, a confusing ballot design in one heavily Democratic county had resulted in Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan receiving what was seen as an unusually large number of votes in that county, 3400, far more than he received in any other Florida county, and "over votes;" that is, where more than one candidate was selected for president. Buchanan received less than a half million votes nationwide, which represented less than a half a percent of the overall vote. Second, a controversial removal of voters from the rolls in Florida by Republican elected officials were found to be incorrect; that is, a number of voter names were removed from the rolls for being "felons," but they were not, and some such voters were never informed of their removal until they tried to vote on election day. Third, Republican Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, the state's chief election officer, was heavily involved in the Bush campaign.   

WORD HISTORY:
Stab-The origin of this word is uncertain to some, but I'm not one of them. It is really a variant form of "stub" used in part of Scotland as "stob," and borrowed into English usage in the 1300s. Up until then, English used forms of "stick" and "sting" to indicate the action of "stab." It goes back to Indo European "steupb," which had the notion of "hit, beat, knock, push." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "stubjaz," which had the same meanings, but also developed meanings for things from the result of being "hit or pushed." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "stybb," meaning a "tree stump;" that is, the remnant of a tree after been hit or knocked by humans, wind, lightning. This later became "stubb(e)," before the modern version. The verb developed from the noun, with the idea of making something "stubby" or leaving a "stub" after pulling, cutting, or hitting (plants, hair/whiskers, ticket), and of course, the OUCH part of hitting your toe or finger against something. So "stab" follows the same course, with the notion of "cutting, pushing a sharp object into something." The noun form of course comes from the idea of the result of  "being pierced by a sharp object."

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Thirty

"The Clinton Era and the 1990s Near An End"

During 1996, Congress and the President again crossed swords, this time over welfare reform. Some Republicans wanted very strict limits for the program, and the President vetoed a couple of attempts to impose such strong limits on the system, but negotiations produced a compromise bill passed by Congress and signed by the President which had a provision to require work, termed "Workfare," as a part of the new law.*

In the late 1990s, Republicans, along with some Democrats, pushed for deregulation of the banking industry by removing the "Glass-Steagall Act," a law, implemented in the era of the Great Depression, to prevent the mixing of investment banking (also termed "casino banking," as it can be highly risky) from "traditional" banking; that is, savings and checking accounts, car loans, etc. Democrat-turned Republican Phil Gramm, a senator from Texas, led the charge for the deregulation, which was then signed by President Clinton.**

Anti government sentiment had been on the rise, certainly not discouraged by conservative attacks on government at all levels, and the sentiment came accompanied by hate groups and fascist-like militia extremists. In 1995 a terrorist bomb attack on the Federal Building in Oklahoma City killed more than 160 and injured nearly 700. The main perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh, had ties to militia groups and seemingly hated the government over issues like taxes and gun control.***

Late in Clinton's presidency, he concentrated on trying to get an agreement between Israel and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a festering sore and the source of world tensions for decades. The President met with the opposing sides, and after hopeful signs, the situation deteriorated, leaving the matter to continue to this day.****

Next, "The Contentious 2000 Election"

* The number of welfare recipients dropped thereafter, but the economy was steadily improving in the mid to late 1990s and the effects of trade agreements had not really fully hit home. Those agreements, in my opinion, cost many workers jobs, as operations shifted overseas. Coupled with technological changes, which also replaced many workers, these two things brought a later rise to welfare rolls in various forms, as well as a rise to poverty numbers. 

** In my opinion, this legislation had much to do with the financial collapse in 2008, the pressure for which continued to build during George W. Bush's time in office, and also led to the bank bailouts, trillion dollar deficits, and the almost catastrophic demise of the economy, a situation we have not fully exited even to this day. I don't recall the show ("maybe" The Today Show?), but in about 2009 or 2010 Bill Clinton actually said he regretted signing this legislation, but advisers like Bob Rubin, who had strong ties to Wall Street banks, urged him to sign it. Clinton's "admission" almost led old Randy to fall off of his seat. I give Republicans lots of hell, but I don't let Democrats off the hook for shameful mistakes.

*** As is so often the case, one thing leads to another, and the Oklahoma City bombing also traces back to a 1993 incident in Waco, Texas, but all of this is far beyond the scope of this article. For those interested, there are many sources on the subject, so check out your local library.

**** The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far too complex for this article, so again, please go to your local library and see what sources they have available, which I'm sure will be substantial.
 
WORD HISTORY:
Hop-This is the verb meaning "to jump, to leap, to dance, to spring," and the derived noun meaning "a short distance jump." "Hop," the plant, usually in the plural, "hops," is assumed to be from another source. At first I didn't really buy this, but even some German sources have it, so I'll say it this way, hop "may" go back to Indo European "kheub," which had the notion of "to bend/bow." This gave Old Germanic "hup(p)ojanan," with the meaning "to spring, to leap, to jump, to dance." If the tie to Indo European "kheub" is correct, the Old Germanic meanings "may" come from the notion of stooping/crouching over before you hop/jump, with similar for dancing (we're not talking about "slow dancing, swaying to the music," here). The Germanic form is possibly the source of English "hope," and its relatives in the other Germanic languages, with the idea being "jump for joy at anticipation of positive news or events" (the history for "hope" was covered in Part 29 of this series on coalitions). Anyway, the Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hoppian," with the same meanings. This then became "hoppen," before the modern version. The noun was derived from the verb. The other Germanic languages have the following verb forms: standard German "hüpfen," some German dialects "hoppen" and "hupfen," Low German Saxon "hüppen," Dutch "huppen/hoppen," Icelandic "hoppa," Danish "hop," Norwegian "hoppe," and Swedish "hoppa." Apparently West Frisian doesn't use a form in the modern language; at least I could not find one.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Nine

 "Sex Scandals and Impeachment"

I mentioned the soap opera atmosphere surrounding the political developments during Bill Clinton's two terms in office, and now the sexual element to that soap opera. As with the political matters, the claims of sexual improprieties are complex at times, and I will just give very basic sketches of events. You almost need a scorecard (no pun intended) to keep track of all the "players" (again, no pun intended). While there's no question in my mind Clinton used poor judgment in his dealings with some women, whether all of the allegations were totally true, I don't know, as most, if not all, of the accusers did interviews, articles, and books which garnered them substantial sums of money. Thoughts of dollar signs can make just about all of us go beyond the bounds of truth, if not out and out lying. The "devil" can be in the details, so if these events interest you, there are many sources for your further research, but be careful of the sources, as there were political (and legal) motives on both sides of these stories.

During the 1992 campaign, a woman named Gennifer Flowers alleged that she had had a long term sexual affair with Bill Clinton beginning in the 1970s. Clinton denied the charge, although Flowers then produced tapes of some phones calls between the two. Clinton later admitted to the affair, including in a later legal deposition. Midway through Clinton's first term a story broke involving a woman named Paula Jones, who alleged that Clinton, while governor of Arkansas in 1991, had propositioned her, after Arkansas State Troopers brought her to Clinton's hotel room. Jones filed a lawsuit against Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. Jones' attorneys wanted to show that Clinton had exhibited a pattern of behavior over the years, thus more stories circulated about alleged Clinton affairs. This led to a claim by Kathleen Willey that Clinton had "assaulted" her in the Oval Office early in his first term. This brought Linda Tripp into the picture, an associate of Willey, who later testified that she believed Willey to have wanted a relationship with Clinton. Discrepancies in various stories and testimony by Willey became a part of the record in her case, although Willey gave a deposition in Paula Jones' lawsuit against Clinton. Willey has claimed fear of the Clintons and some of their supporters ever since, but that didn't scare her from publishing a book about the whole thing,  describing herself as being a "target" and in the "cross hairs" of the Clintons. 

Another acquaintance of Linda Tripp became the center of attention in all of the sexual issues involving President Clinton; that person was Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky became an intern at the White House later in Clinton's first term. She and Clinton developed a relationship, complete with sex. During that time. Lewinsky was friends with Linda Tripp, to whom she related stories about her relationship with the President, bringing Tripp to secretly record those conversations. White House personnel had noted the closeness between Lewinsky and Clinton, and she was transferred out of the White House, but she was asked about her relationship with Clinton during the Paula Jones lawsuit (during Clinton's second term), which brought a denial of any sexual contact between her and President Clinton. This prompted Tripp to turn over the secret tapes (it all sounds like Watergate stuff, and Lewinsky's mother lived in the Watergate Apartments!) to Ken Starr, who was the Independent Counsel investigating the Clintons for the Whitewater matter covered in a previous segment of this series (hey, I told you this was like a soap opera). Starr then lumped all of these allegations together in his investigation, since Clinton had denied any sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky in a legal deposition for the Jones lawsuit, targeting the President for perjury. Clinton also very publicly, and very famously, shook his finger at the media in denial of any sexual relations with Lewinsky. Then a dress worn by Lewinsky during one of her "encounters" with Clinton was turned over to Ken Starr, complete with a semen stain from the President of the United States. Besides the sexual affairs, the legal gymnastics of Clinton became something for the comedians of the country, as Clinton talked about the definitions of both "is" and of "sex," or more precisely of "oral sex," claiming it was not "sex."

All the while, these sex stories had political implications, as Republicans, emboldened by their takeover of both houses of Congress in 1994, held various hearings on the whole matter, culminating in a vote to impeach the President by the House of Representatives in late 1998. Impeachment is really like an indictment, which is voted by the House, and the matter then goes to the Senate for trial, with two-thirds of the Senate needing to concur for conviction to remove a president from office, and this was not achieved and Clinton survived. Don't get too comfy, because I'm still not done.

Republican leader Newt Gingrich believed pressing the Lewinsky matter would benefit Republicans in the 1998 midterm election, but not only did this not materialize, Republicans LOST seats.* With Gingrich's popularity tumbling after the government shutdown and Bob Dole's defeat, Republican representatives began to plot Newt's removal as Speaker of the House. Further, Gingrich's own personal life came into full view, when it was suspected that he had an affair as he pushed the Clinton sex scandal for impeachment. With opposition building among Republicans, Gingrich resigned as Speaker and refused to take his House seat, to which he had been reelected in the 1998 election. His successor as Speaker was Bob Livingston, a congressman from Louisiana. He barely lasted long enough to say "hello," as it was reported he had had an extramarital affair. So the Republicans, self-righteous to the point of being obnoxious, were out to get Clinton for a sex scandal, but Clinton survived and TWO Republican leaders were gone... for SEX SCANDALS!

Just a personal observation. While the American people didn't like what Clinton had done, they also began to wonder if all of the talk of sex scandals had anything to do with governing the country. Once the Republican leadership showed how hypocritical it was ("do as we say, not as we do"), much of the public seemed to have decided it had had enough and sided with Clinton, however reluctantly. I also think many an American thought about some of the things they'd done in their own lives too, and all of the talk for months and months about sex scandals made many a person a bit uncomfortable.    

* The party in the White House during second terms typically loses seats in the House, something Gingrich counted on, but with added emphasis because of the Clinton sex scandal.  

WORD HISTORY:
Hope-The origins of this word are uncertain, but it "could" be derived from the same source as "hop," with the notion being "hop around or dance in anticipation or expectation ("hope") of positive news or events." Apparently it developed in the West Germanic dialects of what is now northern Germany; that is, the ancestral homeland of the dialects (Anglo-Saxon) that developed into English, and it then spread to the North Germanic dialects, and to the high dialects further south. It is also unclear which came first, the verb form or the noun, but Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "hopian" (verb) and "hopa" (noun). Later the verb form became "hopen," before the modern version, and the noun became "hope" (the "e" may have still been pronounced as "eh" or "ah"), before the modern version, where the ending "e" is not pronounced and it simply signals that the interior vowel is long. Low German Saxon has "hapen" (verb) and "Hööp" (noun), standard German has "hoffen" (verb) and "Hoffnung" (noun),^ Dutch has "hopen" (verb) and "hoop" (noun), West Frisian has "hoopje" (verb) and "ferhoping" (noun), Danish has "håbe" (verb) and "håb" (noun), Norwegian has "håpe (verb) and "håp" (noun), and Swedish has "hoppas" (verb) and "hopp" (noun-often in "förhoppning"). Icelandic apparently does not use a form, at least not with the same or similar meaning to the other Germanic languages. 

^ One of the characteristics of the "high" Germanic dialects was the frequent change in pronunciation of "p" to "f," "ff" or "pf," which occurred more than a thousand years ago.  

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Eight

Foreign policy and military actions during Clinton's two terms were important, as always, but they were also highly complex, making them beyond the scope of these articles. I'm just going to barely touch on some subjects which should be familiar to some degree with most readers, but there is plenty of information available elsewhere for those subjects of interest to you. The point isn't for me to do an entire detailed history, but to provide a general background as to what went on during the various administrations, while occasionally providing somewhat more detail, and to see how they or opponents formed or maintained coalitions.
  
During Clinton's two terms he deployed troops to Somalia, where there were American casualties, and the bodies of dead American troops were dragged through the streets there, an incident which brought the withdrawal of U.S. forces.* In the Balkans, the fall of communism had brought ethnic conflict to the region, as, very generally speaking, some ethnic groups (Croats, Slovenes, Bosnians) desired independence from the weakened Yugoslavia, while the Yugoslav government, dominated by Serbs, tried to retain the other regions under its control.** The U.S. military, along with NATO forces, primarily provided air units. In the late 1990s, the Albanian population, centered in the Kosovo region of Yugoslavia, wanted independence from Yugoslav, and thus Serbian, control. Long time animosities grew into armed conflict, and the United Nations and NATO wanted intervention to protect the civilian population (mainly Albanian) and its increasing number of refugees from the Yugoslav military and the exposure of the refugees to the elements. Eventually NATO authorized bombing attacks on Yugoslavia and these attacks were under the overall command of U.S. General Wesley Clark. Further, the end of the Gulf War provided for containment and monitoring of Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and U.S. forces were still deployed in the region to assist in that mission, and indeed, some Iraqi installations were bombed during Clinton's time in office due to violations of the agreement which ended the war. 

The deployment of U.S. troops (and troops from other nations), primarily to Saudi Arabia for the war against Saddam Hussein under President Bush (Sr.), had stirred some Muslim extremists to retaliate for violation of what they considered to be religious lands of Islam and for interference in the affairs of Muslim countries, although other reasons also certainly existed, primarily U.S. support for Israel. Shortly after Bill Clinton took office, the World Trade Center in New York City was bombed by Muslim extremists, killing several people and injuring hundreds. Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, had established himself in Sudan, but he later was forced to leave, and he went to Pakistan. Bin Laden "declared war" on the United States and plans were formulated to attack various U.S. installations both inside the U.S. and elsewhere, culminating in simultaneous attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa, killing a dozen Americans and 200-300 Africans, and injuring hundreds more. This brought the FBI to place bin Laden on its list of most wanted and the President ordered missiles fired at targets in Afghanistan and Sudan; the latter missile strike was supposedly based upon erroneous intelligence information and destroyed a prescription drug maker's building, although the U.S. has maintained to this day that the building was used to produce chemical weapons. Further, a truck loaded with explosives was detonated outside a complex with American military personnel in Saudi Arabia killing 19 Americans and wounding a couple of hundred more. Then just before the 2000 election, a terrorist attack occurred on the destroyer USS Cole while it refueled in Yemen, killing 17 sailors and wounding dozens more. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility, with bin Laden calling for more such attacks.

Next, "Sex Scandal and Impeachment"

*  There was a civil war in Somalia and the U.N. and the U.S. tried to provide aid to the suffering population.

** The Balkans has long been a hotbed for conflict, with the "South Slav" (Yugoslav) areas being in the forefront of such conflict. That area had several "ethnic/nationalist" groups, often, but not always, divided over religion, as generally, Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrins were Orthodox, Croats and Slovenes were Roman Catholic, and Bosnians were Muslim. Add in other groups living in the area, Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, and Germans, and you can see the potential for conflict. Much of the region was dominated by the Turks for quite some time, thus the Muslim affiliation (an overall minority, but with a majority in certain areas) of part of the population. The (Austro-German) Habsburg family had controlled other parts of the region, and indeed, ethnic tensions there were the immediate cause of the outbreak of World War One (notice I said "immediate cause," not the only cause), as the heir to the Habsburg family, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, along with his wife, were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914. During World War Two, the Germans and Italians occupied the area, but found it difficult, if not impossible, to control, which led to the rise of Marshal Tito and his eventual postwar rule. During the war, however, there was almost always an air of civil war, and many an atrocity was committed by one group against the other, and that's not counting anything done by the Germans or the Italians. 

WORD HISTORY:
Race-This is the noun for "group of people of common heritage," and that was the meaning until more recent times, when it became more specifically about skin color. If you read some old history books, authors often referred to a particular group as a "race," a term more commonly replaced today by "tribe" (or ethnic group), as in, "The Angles and Saxons were Germanic tribes that founded England," as it would sound odd to us today to call the Angles and Saxons races. You might think the history of this word is an easy one, but its origin is very much in question; so, rather than trace it forward from ancient times, I'm going to go backwards in its history. English borrowed the word in the late 1400s or very early 1500s from French "razza," which seems to have also been spelled "race," by some, and meant "group of people of common heritage, breed (used for animals)." This was derived from Italian "razza," with the same general meanings. The original English word for "race," in the general sense "people," was "theode," and the derived "theodisc," which also referred to language, and which is the ancestor of both "Deutsch" ("German") and "Dutch." Now things get sticky on "race," as no one really is certain where Italian got the word "razza." Attempts to connect it to Arabic and Hebrew (both "Semitic" languages^) seem tempting, but improbable. Connections to Germanic are "possible," as Lombardic, an old Germanic dialect, had "raiza," which meant "line," the implication being "bloodline," and the Lombards did conquer and settle in northern Italy in the mid 500s A.D., giving their name to the northern Italian region "Lombardia," but even if correct, where Germanic got the term is unknown. Whatever the case, the word spread to other European languages, including English relatives German, which has "Rasse," Low German Saxon, which has "Raass," and Dutch "race."

^ Semitic is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Besides Arabic and Hebrew, Semitic also includes, for example, Syriac and Aramaic. 

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Seven

"The Government Shuts Down and Clinton Runs Again"

Republicans were able to bring back elements of the Reagan coalition to overwhelm Democrats in the 1994 election, as many Americans were upset with congressional scandals, trade agreements, and the National Rifle Association implied that Democrats (with some exceptions) would take guns away from law-abiding citizens, thus mobilizing some of the anti-government sentiment so cultivated by conservatives during Reagan's time. Republican strategists, led by Congressman Newt Gingrich of Georgia, put out a a list of issues called "The Contract With America," which featured proposals that polled well with Americans, like making congressional representatives live by the same laws passed by Congress. The GOP also had specific measures they said they would introduce if given the majority, like welfare reform. The election was a Republican congressional landslide, as the GOP was voted into the majority in both houses of Congress.

The new GOP majorities took office in early 1995, but by late 1995, the Republicans and President Clinton were on a showdown course over the 1996 federal budget. Republicans were able to get measures through both houses, but the President vetoed the bill, as it essentially contained too many cuts he did not favor. Both sides agreed in principle to balancing the budget, but it was the means of doing that that brought confrontation, as Republicans wanted changes in Medicare and Social Security.* After negotiations between the two sides failed to produce a deal, a part of the government shut down, which ended a few days later due to a temporary agreement to extend government funding as negotiations continued. When these negotiations too failed, the government shutdown, part two, went into effect. This shutdown lasted about three weeks, with parts of the economy and the public feeling the affects. Then Speaker Gingrich announced that part of the reason he had let the government shut down was because President Clinton had made him sit in the back of the plane during a trip to Israel. Democrats pounced and the story took on a life of its own, as Gingrich was indicated to be a cry baby who threw a tantrum, which costs millions of Americans money and inconvenienced millions more. Eventually the Republicans and Clinton came to an agreement similar to one proposed weeks before, prior to the painful shutdown.

The Republican Senate leader was Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, who was a top tier candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 1996. Arch conservative commentator Pat Buchanan entered the fray as he had in 1992. After a stunning victory by Buchanan in New Hampshire, Republican strategists pushed for endorsements and money for the campaign of Dole, who was able to defeat Buchanan in several key primaries, thus ensuring his nomination. Dole chose Jack Kemp to be his running mate. While not especially close with Gingrich, once nominated, Democrats made sure people believed Dole and Gingrich were best friends. If I remember correctly, Dole later joked that Democratic ads made he and Gingrich sound like they were one and the same person, as the ads continually mentioned "Dole/Gingrich" in one breath. Dole's age was something of an issue (he was in his early 70s), especially when contrasted with the middle age Clinton (who was 50). Ross Perot also entered as a third party candidate, but there was no surge for Perot this time, at least not on the order of 1992.

The economy had picked up, and Republicans were left saying they could do even better, which often tends to be a losing argument, and it was in 1996 too. By election day Clinton won easily with just over 49% of the vote, but with 379 electoral votes; while Dole garnered less than 41% of the vote and 159 electoral votes. Perot received more than 8% of the vote, and no electoral votes. Again Clinton carried several southern states, depriving Republicans of their stranglehold on the region. So the Democrats had a two term president, but he failed to receive at least 50% of the vote either time. Still, was this the beginning of a more firm Democratic coalition? After all, Clinton may not have gotten 50% in either election, but Republicans didn't even get 40% the first time, and just over that amount in 1996. Perot's candidacy, especially in 1992, certainly had an impact, probably to the negative side for Republicans.

* I've mentioned in other articles here over the years that my father was a staunch Republican who had had something of a fixation with Social Security (and Medicare somewhat), as many Republicans had and still do have. After my father retired though, he saw things differently, and he was angry that Republicans would go after Social Security, saying that privatization plans by the GOP catered to greedy business people who "couldn't wait to get their hands on that (Social Security) money."  

WORD HISTORY:
Sail-It appears that "sail" goes back to Indo European "sek," which had the idea "to cut." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "seglom/seglam," with the meaning "a piece of cut cloth used to propel a ship or boat;  a sail," apparently a meaning developed only in Germanic, but borrowed by some Celtic dialects. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "segel/segl," meaning a "sail." The "g" sound eventually disappeared as a separate sound, blending with a long "e" sound to produce a long "a" sound, a process that happened similarly with other English words once having a "g" sound (the "g" also disappeared in some other Germanic languages, see below), like "rain," which once was "regn" (standard German still retains the "g" as "Regen," but when you hear some German speakers pronounce it, the "g" is barely audible, and I wouldn't be surprised if, like in English, the "g" is no longer present in some German dialects); "say" was "secgan" (standard German still has "sagen, although again, not always audible);  and "day" was once "daeg" (German has "Tag," with the ending "g" pronounced as "k" [the "a" is pronounced like the "a" in father, but when used for "daily," German too uses a long "a" sound in the related "täglich]). Old English also had the verb form "seglan/seglian." Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Segel," Low German Saxon has "Sail" and "Segel," Dutch has "zeil," West Frisian and Norwegian have "seil," Danish has "sejl," Icelandic has "segl," and Swedish has "segel." These are all noun forms, but there are verb forms too.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Six

"The Republicans Come Roaring Back-1994"

Republicans went after Bill and Hillary Clinton early on and sometimes the First Couple (or their appointees) provided them with ammunition and painted large targets on their own backs. I'm just going to touch briefly on a few so called "scandals" during the Clinton administration,* although some are highly complicated, but there are many sources you can check for further, more detailed information. Several employees in the White House Travel Office were fired not long after Clinton took office. The office managed travel and communications for the White House Press Corps. The very nature of the office made it close with the travel industry, and of course, also with the Press Corps.** Republicans charged the employees were fired so that Clinton friends could take the positions or get business through the office. The White House claimed the FBI had found some possible improprieties and so the White House fired the staff. The suspicious thing was, people from a company from Arkansas, with ties to the Clintons, were the replacements for the fired staffers, and an airline run by a strong Clinton supporter (used by the Clinton campaign during the election) wanted the business for transporting the Press. As with so many legal situations, the matter dragged on for years, but Independent Counsel Ken Starr later absolved President Clinton for any wrongdoing, and Hillary Clinton was found to have made incorrect/false statements relating to the firings, but there was insufficient evidence to prove that she knowingly lied. The whole matter was much more complicated than I have laid out, but the point is, the administration's judgment and ethics, early on, came under fire.

Vince Foster, a highly respected attorney, was a long time friend and associate of the Clintons. He became a member of the administration when Bill Clinton took office. His personality and temperament, however, were not suited to the public role and personal attacks so common in politics, particularly in Washington, and he became increasingly depressed. Some missteps in background checks for appointees to the administration,*** and then the Travel Office controversy, brought critical comments and articles from parts of the media. Foster's depression worsened until he went to a park and took his own life. With the strife surrounding the early months of the Clinton administration in full swing, and more developing almost every day, especially over the Whitewater Development Corporation (see below), conspiracy theorists, including right wingers and some Republicans, essentially put out the idea that one or both Clintons had somehow been involved in Foster's death to keep him quiet, since he had done legal work on their behalf, besides his work in the White House. While early investigations into Foster's death concluded he died by his own hand, the conspiracy mongers would not stop. So, you had the President of the United States being called a "murderer" by some, and not in the context of military actions. Later, Independent Counsels Ken Starr and Robert Fiske both investigated the matter and determined Foster's death to be a suicide.

Late in Clinton's first term, information surfaced about hundreds of FBI files on individuals having been delivered to the White House, without the consent of the individuals involved. Many of the files were about Republicans, some even dating back to Reagan administration personnel. The matter quickly heated to a boil as Republicans, eyeing the coming election, hoped to unseat Clinton, but also because it represented such a breech of privacy. Republicans speculated (or accused) the White House of putting together a Nixon-like list of enemies and then gathering FBI information on those individuals. Hillary Clinton's role also came into question again, as Republicans wondered if she had actually seen some of the files, as they believed Hillary to be responsible for the hiring of Craig Livingstone (who resigned over "Filegate," as it came to be known), the man who requested the files from the FBI. The matter was passed onto Independent Counsel Starr for further investigation, and later Starr cleared the Clintons from involvement in "Filegate," and also announced that there was no indication of any use, let alone misuse, of information contained in the files.

The "Whitewater" matter is highly complex and would require several articles to explain and to list the principle "players." For those interested there are many articles on the subject, so check online, or better yet, check your local library, but of course, opinions on the subject are colored by politics from both sides. The controversy centered around a land deal in the late 1970s and early 1980s involving the Clintons as investors. The deal failed and the Clintons suffered financial losses. One of their partners in the deal then went into the banking business and was subsequently investigated for another land deal, which then brought the Whitewater matter to attention, as he also helped raise money for Clinton's Arkansas political campaigns and Hillary Clinton, then a practicing attorney for a law firm, did legal work for him. Another banker alleged that then Governor Bill Clinton leaned on him to provide a loan to this Clinton supporter and business partner (in the original Whitewater deal) for the later land deal (the Clintons did not invest in this), which prompted the investigation. This investigation helped lead to the collapse of the man's bank and its takeover by the government to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Hey, I told you this stuff was complex AND I'm only scratching the surface. Anyway, a special prosecutor asked the Clintons for documents which they said they couldn't find, but which were later turned over. To be as concise as possible, the Clintons were cleared of wrongdoing, but several of their associates were prosecuted and convicted on various charges. The Clintons and their supporters more or less said that some involved were being targeted to implicate the Clintons and that the investigation was about more than a land deal and a failed bank, but was rather more political. The wife of the banker of the failed bank served time in prison for not cooperating with the investigation of the Clinton role (if indeed there was one). The whole matter became part of an American soap opera starring the Clintons, a soap opera which also involved sex (I'll cover this aspect later).

Meanwhile, crime was a major focus of the electorate and congressional Democrats proposed "midnight basketball" as one of its solutions. The country was not impressed, and the combination of the various scandals, the failure of the health care proposal, and what the public felt were ineffective measures to combat crime, led to a huge Republican election wave in the 1994 midterm election, and the GOP took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in decades. Now, could Republicans, Democrats and the White House work together to address the concerns of the American people?

Next... "The Government Shuts Down and Clinton Runs Again"

* I say "so called  scandals," because accusations against politicians in either party doesn't make the accusations true, and political affiliations often color the view about any such accusations.

** The employees technically served at the pleasure of whomever was President at the time, but in fact, the office was really staffed by people who had been there from previous administrations. The office was part of the federal budget, but the actual accommodations for the Press were billed to each separate news organization.

*** The Clinton administration had difficulties with several appointments, as opponents found openings to discredit the appointees, bringing some in the media to dub the White House, "the White House that can't shoot straight." Investigations into the backgrounds of the appointees was under Vince Foster's supervision.

WORD HISTORY:
Cleat-This is another word related to "clot, clod, cloud, clout, cloth, clothes, clothe, and clad." Like its relatives, it goes back to Indo European "gleuh," which had the notion of "stick together, adhere," with the further sense, "form into a ball, mass." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "klaut," with the same general meanings. The sense "form into a ball or mass" helped give Old English "cleat" (which was likely pronounced clee-aht), which meant "lump, mass," with that idea then progressing to "wedge," the meaning which lasted for centuries, until by the 1800s, it came to be used for a "wedge of wood or metal attached to a shoe for support on turf." The Old English form "cleat" later became "clete," with a likely pronunciation of "clee-tah/clee-teh," before the modern version.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Five

"The Democrats Return To the White House: Bill Clinton"

Bill Clinton took the oath of office in January 1993. To deal with the Federal deficit, Clinton decided to increase revenues; that is, taxes, mainly on the highest incomes in the land. This went totally against the conservative Republican idea of supply side economics that had been pushed since Ronald Reagan had taken office. Republicans predicted the end of the world to be near, but President Clinton stuck to his general plan. By the summer of 1993 the plan had passed and been signed into law, all without the vote of even one Republican in either house of Congress. Politically folks, this is very risky business, for if the end of the world scenario developed, Republicans could all say, "We told you so," but on the other hand, if no such demise appeared on the horizon, and if the deficit shrank and the economy picked up,* Republicans could not claim to have had anything to do with it, El Zilcho.

The plan passed and signed into law raised taxes on the top 1.2%, added about four cents to the gasoline tax, while cutting taxes for millions of lower income Americans and small businesses. President Clinton had difficulty holding enough Democratic votes to get the measure passed, as some Democrats defected, but pass it did, by just two votes in the House and by one vote in the Senate, that margin provided by Vice President Al Gore, who was permitted by the Constitution to break a tie vote in the Senate. Wealthy Republicans undoubtedly awaited the end of the world scenario by thinking along the lines of Thurston Howell III, of "Gilligan's Island" fame, who, when faced with what he believed was their imminent demise, implored his wife to help him figure out a way to take their tremendous wealth with them. More on the economy later.

Then Clinton took on another contentious issue, health care. Hillary Clinton headed a committee to put together a plan to provide national health care to Americans. The large and complex plan was highly popular for about a week or two, as Republicans and insurance companies picked the plan apart and successfully scared the hell out of Americans, and the whole matter brought even more scrutiny to Hillary Clinton. Polls showed the plan's popularity fell like a rock, and eventually it couldn't make it through Congress, even though Democrats had majorities in both the House and Senate. Politically, the lasting effects of the failure, plus scandal charges against the Clintons, hurt Democrats in the upcoming midterm election. (I'll cover the scandals in the next part.)

Gun control was also a hot topic and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, who was seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control.

Then the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known by its initials, NAFTA, became the next heated discussion. The agreement was highly complex, but it essentially made a trade bloc of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by eliminating trade and investment barriers between those countries. On this issue, Clinton and all the living former presidents supported passage, but the bill terribly divided Democrats, and it took free trade Republicans to provide the votes in Congress to pass.** It also brought Ross Perot to the fore again, as the former presidential candidate opposed the agreement. In a highly touted television debate with Vice President Al Gore, watched by millions of Americans, Perot made points, but he had difficulty explaining many things, especially where money was coming from to oppose the agreement and in refuting the charge by Gore that Perot stood to make financial gain from the defeat of the agreement.

In the midst of all of these hot-button issues came another, a social issue. Clinton supported allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve in the military, provided they kept their sexual orientation secret, but the military could not ask about their orientation either. Clinton's stand satisfied few, but especially on the political right, where any attempt to allow gay people to legally serve in the military was opposed. The provisions came to be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." 

Next, "Republicans Come Roaring Back"

* The recession of 1990-91 may have officially ended in 1991, but the recovery was painfully slow, with layoffs continuing for quite some time. The slow growth and relatively high unemployment contributed greatly to George Bush's defeat in 1992 at the hands of Bill Clinton, who was more than happy to remind voters of such with one of his campaign slogans, "It's the economy, stupid," 

** The living former presidents at the time were: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush (Sr.). The complexity of the measure would require an article of its own just to begin to explain it. In the vote in both houses of Congress, more Republicans voted in favor than Democrats, many of whom were correctly (in my opinion) concerned about the impact on American manufacturing jobs. Unions generally strongly opposed the agreement. 

WORD HISTORY:
Cloud-This is another word closely related to recently covered "clod, clot, clout, cloth, clothes, clothe," and also to "clad," by the way, which I didn't cover separately, but which was the past tense and participle form of "clothe," although it is still used today as in, "The lady was well clad in a brand new dress," and often in combination with "scantily," as in "The scantily clad sunbathers shocked some people."  Like its relatives listed above, "cloud" goes back to Indo European "gleuh," which had the notion of "stick together, adhere," with the further sense, "form into a ball." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "klaut," with the same general meanings.The sense "form into a ball or mass" helped give Old English "clud," which then meant "mass of rock/stone." By the 1200s the word was beginning to overtake the English word for "cloud," which was "wolcen" (German still has "Wolke," Low German Saxon has "Wulk," Dutch and West Frisian have "wolk," and English has the archaic "welkin"), as the English saw the resemblance of rock formations to be like "clouds," and to my knowledge, English is the only Germanic language to have that meaning. Old English "clud" then became "cloude, clude," before the modern version.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Four

"The 1992 Campaign and Election" Part Two

Bill Clinton, the Democratic governor of Arkansas, won the Democratic presidential nomination and he chose Senator Al Gore of Tennessee as his vice presidential running mate; the two men were both in their mid 40s, which was perhaps a plus to some younger voters. Clinton's reputation for word play began in earnest when he admitted to having tried marijuana, but "I didn't inhale." Then he caused some Republicans to have a stroke when he told voters, "Vote for one, but get two," in reference to his activist wife, Hillary. This brought scrutiny to Hillary's life too, especially her business dealings and legal representations (she was an attorney), something that would continue for years. Questions of Bill Clinton's infidelity became rather common, but he went on national television to deny such. This too was an issue that would continue to haunt Clinton and the country in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the talk of the nation still centered around Ross Perot, who still was riding high in the polls, although a bit less so as spring turned into summer. Perot appeared to be thin skinned as the media checked into his life, and by July, Perot announced he would not run, citing the potential for the election to be so split in the Electoral College, that it would have to be decided by the House of Representatives.* Later Perot said he had dropped out as Republicans had planned dirty tricks to disrupt his daughters wedding. Later, Perot asserted that the CIA was involved in trying to destroy his campaign by tapping into his stock trading program to prevent him from financing his campaign, and there were other unsubstantiated charges of assassination plots, etc. The White House and the Bush campaign leaders called it all nonsense. Perot's poll numbers tumbled and Bill Clinton's rose, putting the Democrat ahead of the field. Later Perot decided to get back into the race. On top of the display of paranoia, Perot had selected retired, highly decorated Vice Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate. During the vice presidential debate, Stockdale, who had had little time to prepare for the debate, looked into the television cameras and asked, "Who am I? Why am I here?" Stockdale's apparent confusion and lack of focus throughout the debate produced a series of one liners from comedians and it further called into question the judgment, if not the very sanity, of Ross Perot. The thing was, Perot's paranoia and conspiracy theories played right into the minds of a number of Americans obsessed with such things, and to whom Republican tricks were assumed to be commonplace, no proof required.   

President Bush struggled throughout the campaign and his poll numbers remained in the upper 30s. The economy weighed on Bush, and his numerous public appearances after the Gulf War may have taken the edge off of having a presidential visit, as some Bush rallies were sparsely attended, and the campaign took to using celebrities, and up and coming conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh to draw people in. By the time election day arrived, the Republican coalition had melted to a great degree, as so called "Reagan Democrats" often returned to the Democratic fold, and even some southern states returned to the Democratic column after a substantial absence.** In the end Bill Clinton won 43% of the vote, but a large margin of 370 electoral votes, while George Bush received only 37 1/2% of the popular vote and 168 electoral votes. While Perot did not carry a single state, he got nearly 19% of the national vote, and he received more than 20% of the vote in some states. The Republicans had controlled the White House for 20 of the past 24 years at that point (only Jimmy Carter's four years broke the chain). The question now was, could Clinton put together a new Democratic coalition to gain 50% or more of the vote?

* Just to be clear, the process of getting Perot onto the ballot in all states was still in the process, although it was becoming pretty much of a certainty. 

** There's no question that having Clinton and Gore, two Southerners, on the Democratic ticket helped in the South, but still the election showed how much the South had changed politically, as Bush carried most southern states, even with the two Southerners running against him.

WORD HISTORY:
Clothe-Like its close relatives covered here recently (cloth, clothes, clout, clod, and clot), this verb, meaning "to put on clothing, to dress, to put clothes on someone," goes back to Indo European "gleuh," which had the notion of "stick together, adhere." This then gave its Old Germanic offspring "klaut," and then "klutaz," which meant "piece of material," and also, "material used to cover something." and the derived variant "klaithan," with the meaning "material used to cover something," thus "clothing, garments." This gave Old Germanic a verb form, presumed by some to be something like "klaithonan," meaning "to clothe, to put on clothing, to dress." This gave Old English "geclathian," meaning "to clothe, put on clothes." This later dropped the prefix and became "clothen," before the modern version. German has "kleiden," Low German Saxon and Dutch have "kleden," West Frisian has "klean" (notice the "d," "t" or "th" sound is gone), Danish has "klaede," Icelandic has "klaetha," Norwegian has "kle" (notice the absence of an ending present in the other Germanic languages), Swedish has "kläda."