The Internet Monk
"the power of opinion, the phenomenon of speech, the impact of truth"
A Webjournal and News Review by Michael Spencer
Updated 2/19/01
Shadow of the Vampire
by Michael Spencer
"You
can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some
of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
If you haven't seen the movie "Shadow of the Vampire," then all you need to know is the director of the vampire classic "Nosferatu" hires a real vampire to play a movie vampire, a decision he tries to keep under wraps, but it's difficult to keep this a secret when the vampire begins killing the crew as payment for his services.
I'd like to suggest that what we are witnessing on the national stage is the unraveling of whatever cloaking device was used on half the country to hide the truth about the Clinton Administration. The guy you hired to play President turns out to be a blood-sucker in good standing with the political undead. Like all good vampires, this one has his handlers and fans, all of whom will pay the price by the end of the movie- or its many sequels. You thought he was running the country. In fact, he was staying up nights attaching himself to the neck of his next meal. (I knew the guy was too much of a night person.)
Vampires hate light, and this one is getting the full treatment. Jimmy Carter says it was a disgraceful abuse of power. Bill Daley says it's shameful. (He ought to know.) Former Clinton zombies are crawling out of their caskets and stumbling towards microphones everywhere. Scary.
Mr. Clinton's future as a former President is now in real jeopardy because his vampire-nature has been revealed. The only hope for Mr. Clinton is to bury himself for a decade or so, and hope to emerge in a time when no one remembers Pardongate. Vampire editorializing really doesn't go over that well. No matter how sincere you are (and vampires are very sincere) people just can't get it out of there minds that you are...well, one of them.
When people don't know what you really are, then vampire hunters look like crazed zealots. When the truth becomes known, those vampire hunters start to look like the friends of the average Joe. Dan Burton appeared somewhat unstable when he was shooting watermelons in this back yard, but now the public wants him to get a silver stake and a cross and take care of business.
Apparently, Mr. Clinton was so distraught over the end of his administration that he really stopped caring if anyone knew his true identity. In the last few hours of his term, the President was dispensing pardons like MacDonalds hands out Happy Meals. Legitimate pardons were overlooked while handing out pardons to cocaine dealers, snake oil salesman and career criminals who'd done nothing except send some fresh blood to the President.
If you haven't followed the metaphor, let me assist you. We are talking about MONEY here. It turns out that our President is a simple creature motivated by sex and money, and not necessarily in that order. Donations to the Defense fund, the library, the DNC, the Hillary Clinton Senate Race. This is the blood Mr. Clinton lusts for, and his usefulness and rejection are both measured by it. Perhaps nothing is more telling that the fact that Terry MacAuliffe, Clinton's moneyman and new DNC chairman, has denounced the pardons. It's hard times once you've been outed.
His faithful friends in the press are now silent, even condemning. His yapping spinners have either shut up, left the country or joined the chorus calling for his head. The few loyalists left know they are defending a lost cause, and must be hoping that their own association with Clinton won't be the ruination of their futures. (Geraldine Ferraro attempting to equate the Clinton pardons with the pardon of Caspar Weinberger was extremely surreal.) The vampire is being hunted. The dogs can be heard yelping in the background.
With the refreshingly boring George W. in the White House, the sun is shining again. The exposure of the vampire and his cohorts will provide a modicum of amusement. As the wretchedness of the bloody operation is exposed, we will wince. And when the fiend is finally done in, we will cheer.
Except he won't be done in. Even if hauled in to committee hearings he will survive. Inexplicably. We'll know who he is and what he does, but he'll walk out to do it all again. Somewhere, sometime. Our fascination with the vampire is always tinged with pity. Can he help himself or is he a victim? Is he noble or vicious? Would you run from him, or have him over to dinner? Isn't it interesting that the vampire's victims usually succumb because they are fascinated and attracted.
We certainly know what that is all about.