Posted on 07/25/2005 4:35:49 AM PDT by johnny7
In a recent essay in the NYT Book Review of John F. Harris's The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, Alan Ehrenhalt speculated about the reasons Clinton was so disliked. This sparked a rigorous debate on Richard Jensen's list, ConservativeNet. Below, a sampling of opinion.
Alan Ehrenhalt's Review
Millions of Americans despise Bill Clinton. They have done so since he became a presence in national politics in the early 1990's, and they continue to do so today, more than four years after his retirement from public office.
(Excerpt) Read more at hnn.us ...
> In fact, Free Republic was the follow-on to the original curtain watcher, the Whitewater discussion group.
alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater
Were you there too? I found my way to FR soon after.
Shortly after the '92 election, I congratulated a friend from Little Rock on the election of his fellow Arkansan. To my astonishment, he became almost apoplectic as he spat out the words, "That Hillary Rodham...YOU JUST WAIT!!"
I believe we owe that not to "brilliance" on the part of Clinton, but to Ross Perot and those fools who voted for him.
Did? I think "Do" is more appropriate.
You've touched on a major factor in diagnosing the Clinton personna. His 'way' with women was learned from his dealings between his mom and grandma. His behavior TO women was gleaned from the gutter.
Great summary of a sorry individual, but you left out the
worst thing he did to America and the whole world...
He empowered Hillary!!!!
She is the most dangereous woman in the world. If you think
Bill was bad, just imagine her as President. You should also
remember the creeps Bill put into powerful positions. Joyceln
Elders comes to mind. They will all be back plus other generations of degenerates.
You have such wonderful way with words!
"The colossal tragedy is that the fourth estate could not, would not see and tell the truth about him."
Colossal tragedy for the democrats, you mean. The longer the dems live in denial about the damage the Clintons did while in office and the longer they make clear their profound hope that we're all either 1) stupid 2) morally bankrupt or 3) possessed of incredibly bad memories, the more they will continue to lose elections.
Their tragedy is that the baby boom generation grew up and got a clue just as the dems were starting to enjoy the fruits of their socialist ideologies. Too bad for them.
Each clings to a shredded union just to see what political gain and power can be garnered from it.
Each aspires to high and noble positions in this great nation. Each is a sorry, pitiable statement of what honest leadership and moral character should be.
Billary is also a sorry example of the character of Americans who idolize them and would follow them straight to hell.
Leni
Some stains can never be removed.
The term 'Old Crusty' comes to mind.
May I add , nukes in North Korea.
That is such a good one, isn't it? LOL!
Yep. I remember the voting circumstances well. Let's just make sure that doesn't happen in 2008.
Dislike for Clinton was, at least in the beginning, largely personal, but it wasn't hard to explain. Clinton looked very sleazy, smarmy, slick, and slippery. And he was. Add to that his conduct during the '60s and '70s, and the general suspicion of Arkansas's corrupt politics, and that's as good a recipe as any for wariness and active dislike. He did look like he didn't deserve the Presidency, but that turned out to be a pretty good indication that he'd act in ways that would bring the office into disrepute.
Ehrenhalt wants to keep discussion of hostility to Clinton in a personal and subjective channel, and argue that objectively Clinton was a good President. To do so, he avoids specifics. That's a funny way to write a review: to focus on Clinton-hatred and simply assert that it was wrong-headed, mistaken, and vile without going into any of the details of what actually happened in the Nineties.
In fact, it's a pretty wretched review of the book, so far as actual substance is concerned. But you can see the logic. Judge politicians against their worst press, and they're bound to come up looking better than that, even if they weren't much of anything.
A little discussion of what Clinton actually did in office would have been appreciated. Without it, Ehrenhalt comes off as a stereotype liberal who can't get away from emotions and the ingrained idea that the good people are on his side and the bad people are on the other. That's really unfortunate.
I suppose on domestic issues and the economy Clinton did turn out to be better that we'd expected. The Internet boom helped him a lot, but at least he didn't screw it up. Foreign and defense policy, though, are another matter, and anyone who looks at Clinton's record there will be less inclined to consider his presidency a success.
Were you there too? I found my way to FR soon after.
In a word, YES.
Prodigy is where I first met so many of the great people that makes FR possible, including Jim Rob and hundreds others.
Breyer & Ginsburg, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Mogadishu, WTC '93 - Bin Laden, Waco, Gonzales, Government Shutdown, Oral Sex w Intern in the Oval Office, Kosovo...
Because he was fake. Fake caring. Fake national defense. All appearance and no substance. And of course, the hatred of everyone and law breaking. Oh, and draft dodging! Oh, and adultry. Well, and rape, of course. And assault. Yea, lying, too. Fake tears. Fake marriage. Fake leadership. Fake accomplishments. Oh! And...
bump!
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