Clinton's "McCarthy" Quote

Thanks to WR Hearst, the sound-byte has come to rule the media, whether it reflects reality or not. The philosophy is to ignore context and provide a sub-context to a fraction of a quote... in order to sell newspapers. In today's world, creating controversy sells.

If you've been trying to find Bill Clinton's "McCarthy" quote -- here it is:

"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who love this country, and were devoted to the interest of this country, and people could actually ask themselves, who's right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics"

It doesn't sound like McCarthy to me -- it sounds more like someone who's observed what everyone but the fanatical have been seeing for as long as the politicking engine has been around... political games turning personal to steer folks away from real issues. While it's easy to single Obama out since Hillary is Bill's wife, his statement has more strength outside of the context of the presidential campaign.

My guess is that this will be one of the memorable quotes about the state of political campaigning for generations, but whose immediate meaning will be lost to our own...