Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

"Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" (often abbreviated as VRWC) is a phrase coined by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1998, in an interview on NBC's The Today Show, as an explanation for the alleged efforts of her husband's political enemies with regard to scandals. The interview was most notably in response to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which had just surfaced, but also to the previous "Travelgate" and "Whitewater" scandals, as well as allegations of other personal indiscretions that at times dogged President Bill Clinton's tenure in office.

Allegations that President Clinton had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky first made national headlines on January 21, 1998 when the story hit the Washington Post. The story swirled for several days and despite swift denials from President Clinton, the clamor for answers grew louder. On January 27, 1998, Hillary Clinton appeared on The Today Show in an interview with Matt Lauer to deny the allegations against her husband:

Matt Lauer: You have said, I understand, to some close friends, that this is the last great battle, and that one side or the other is going down here.

Hillary Clinton: Well, I don't know if I've been that dramatic. That would sound like a good line from a movie. But I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this -- they have popped up in other settings. This is -- the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.

The phrase refers to the belief shared by a number of liberals and Democrats that a mix of conservative media outlets, activist groups, political operatives, and (more recently) bloggers work together to shape public opinion and disseminate biased stories into the mainstream media. Some liberals point to specific key phrases that are used repeatedly on a given issue, arguing that this represents coordinated spin. This is sometimes called the "echo chamber" or "Mighty Wurlitzer" effect. Another aspect of this effect is the allegation that rumors circulate so heavily in conservative media, particularly websites, that mainstream media end up reporting the same stories as well. An opposite but equally held belief by conservatives is that of an overt liberal bias among the mainstream media.

Clinton allies identify billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife as a key financier of this so-called 'conspiracy', given his generous support of many conservative organizations, such as the Heritage Foundation. In particular, he provided The American Spectator with $2.4 million to look into Bill Clinton's past, as part of the so-called Arkansas Project.

The notion of a conspiracy was quickly rebutted by independent counsel Kenneth Starr, the target of much of Mrs. Clinton's ire, who labeled the claims "nonsense." It was also swiftly derided by many conservatives who found the idea of an actual conspiracy to be laughable. They felt vindicated in this position when President Clinton ultimately admitted to having an "improper physical relationship" with Lewinksy (showing that the allegation was not cooked up by a "conspiracy"). Today a number of conservatives wear the term as a badge of honor (e.g. bumper stickers that read, "Proud member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy"), in much the same vein as some Canadian liberals are proud to be living in Soviet Canuckistan. See, for example the book Official Handbook of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

David Brock, a conservative turned liberal pundit, has said that there was, in fact, a conspiracy to drudge up scandals against Clinton, which he had been party to. He commented in an interview on The Daily Show that Hillary Clinton was essentially correct but wrong in the idea that it was "vast", saying it was actually a relatively small group.

External links and references

• thevrwc.org (http://www.thevrwc.org/)
• vrwc.us (http://www.vrwc.us/)
• "First Lady Launches Counterattack" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/hillary012898.htm), Washington Post, January 28, 1998
• "Hillary Clinton: 'This Is A Battle'" (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/27/hillary.today/), CNN, January 27, 1998
• Transcript of Hillary Clinton interview (http://leany.com/Conspiracy/hillary_clinton_transcript.htm)
• Media Ownership Chart (http://www.mediachannel.org/ownership/front.shtml#chart/)