In the last year or so I have noticed a mysterious shift in the terms of debate in Washington. The same phenonmena got new names and terms after Clinton was inaugurated. It has taken me a while to wade through it all and there is still much work to be done, but here is a first crack at straightening out the confusing Washington debate. I'm sure there are many more terms I haven't notice the transformation of, this is just a start.

Phenomenon of the Clinton             The exact same phenomenon when
Administration                        a Republican is president
-----------------------------         -------------------------------

Friend of Bill (FOB)                   crony

The small, tightly-knit                A place where conflict of interest
Arkansas business and political        and insider dealing among the elites
community                              is a way of life

Serving his country honorably for      Greedily exploiting the revolving
a short time and then returning        door between the executive branch
to private practice                    and big business

Finding a cabinet that looks like      cynical tokenism
America

We're creating an environment that     Anyone who would become a powerful
makes it nearly impossible for good,   public official should expect to
qualified people to serve their        give up privacy and be subject to
country in government                  closer scrutiny than the average
                                       citizen

The sad decline of civility and        Properly holding those bastards'
respect in national political          feet to the fire
debate

Blatant partisan maneuvering by        Performing the rightful role of
the other party -- have they no        the loyal opposition -- the
respect?                               president must be really arrogant
                                       to expect the opposition to roll
                                       over for him.

Making partisan hay over a minor       Properly ferreting out any hint
scandal that really isn't a            of impropriety and abuse in
scandal                                the administration

Unfairly smearing and savaging         Providing due and proper scrutiny
the President's nominees with          of the President's nominees, and
distortions and half-truths            vigorously engaging in debate over
                                       the nominees' views

A fishing expedition by the            Performing due diligence in exercising
opposition to dig up dirt              the congressional oversight role

Had to adjust expectations to meet      Broke promises
reality after the election was
over

Of course he never promised that--     The bastard lied to us
90% of Americans must not have
heard him properly

Even if he did promise that, you       The bastard lied to us
were an idiot to believe him and
try to hold him to it -- but he's
still a man of integrity

Gridlock is finally breaking           The elites in Washington are
                                       railroading their agenda through
                                       Congress