The Sorrow of Bill Clinton

National Review Online ^

[VinnyTex]

The Sorrow of Bill Clinton
It’s all about him.

By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
September 28, 2001 3:40 p.m.

No president obsessed over his "legacy" as much as Bill Clinton did. He sometimes complained that he had no enormous national crisis to contend with, meaning that he didn't have a fair shot at attaining historic greatness. "The first thing I had to start with was, you know, we don't have a war," he told the New York Times in 1997. "We don't have a depression, we don't have a Cold War." Poor guy. He never really had a chance.

Some of us worried whether he was up to handling Haiti, never mind a global crisis. It's no surprise, however, that he's in a funk now, as his successor is being lauded for his handling of a national catastrophe, praised for delivering one of the great speeches in American history, and hurtled into stratospheric levels of popularity according to the opinion polls that Clinton so treasured during his tenure.

Today's New York Times describes Clinton as lamenting that such a thing didn't happen on his watch. Richard L. Berke reports, "A close friend of Mr. Clinton put it this way: 'He has said there has to be a defining moment in a presidency that really makes a great president. He didn't have one.'"

More than 6,000 people die to terrorism, and Bill Clinton still thinks it's all about him.

Economic Consequences of the War
Prospects for trade promotion authority — which lets the president's men negotiate trade deals that Congress agrees not to amend, but only to approve or disapprove — looked pretty bleak before the September massacres. Now they're looking, if not great, at least better.

Part of the reason is the bipartisan sentiment that the president should be free to conduct foreign policy. Trade liberalization tends to be achieved by strong presidents overcoming congressional parochialism and logrolling. When presidents are weak, protectionism surges. It was after the Reagan administration was crippled by Iran-contra that Dick Gephardt was able to pass legislation authorizing retaliatory tariffs against countries deemed to be "unfair traders." And it was a sign of Clinton's second-term weakness that he was unable to win trade-promotion authority (then called "fast track"). President Bush's political strength has, of course, increased dramatically since September 11.

Bill Thomas, the chairman of the ways and means committee, has made passage more likely by reaching a compromise with New Democrats. The compromise includes some provisions on labor and the environment. But as Brink Lindsey, a trade analyst at the Cato Institute, notes, that should not be a red flag to free-market advocates so long as the language is "hortatory not mandatory." Since we're not going to be able to get other countries to sign a global free-trade deal with such conditions, there's no reason for Bush's trade negotiators to take the labor-and-environment provisions too seriously.

A more serious problem is that the compromise asks negotiators to protect the country's egregious "anti-dumping" laws, which target countries that commit the crime of selling products to us too cheaply. This demand should be softened: Negotiators could be asked to safeguard the goals of anti-dumping laws, such as they are, without necessarily committing to the laws themselves. But at least the compromise ignores the proposal of Democrat Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, that the president's authority not extend to any deal that would require a change in American laws — which would abort negotiations before they even start.

The global economy could use trade liberalization at the moment, not that it's relevant to the political dynamics on the Hill. After the attacks, currency markets saw the typical flight to safety — which hit the economies of Latin America, especially Brazil and by extension Argentina, hard. As Mark Falcoff of the American Enterprise Institute has noted, the continent is already backsliding from democracy. We don't need instability to our south right now, or demands for U.S. aid.

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, an increasingly influential voice in Republican economic-policy debates, thinks trade-promotion authority can pass. "It's important for the economy, and it's important for national security," he says. "We have no choice. We've got to pass this. It's too important."

[KSCITYBOY]

I think that incident was briefly referenced at the end of the PBS special. Thank the Lord the loser Clinton is not in charge any more.

[paul51]

Bill had an opportunity to handle crisis. Unfortunately, they were all his doing!

[bobono]

Although you say he could have done all the GW is doing now, I doubt it - -----when GW says he is doing it, we are not suddenly trying to figure out his real motives.

With Billyboy in charge of this, becuase he ruined his own credibility, we would question if Osama actually did it for Hitlery, so Hitlery could get even with Barbara Olsen.

We can only thanks God that fool wasn't in charge of this, becuase I think we would have blamed him more than we would have relied on him

He IS the enemy - he cannot protect us,,,

[Alberta's Child]

You have to read the accounts of Clinton's flight back from Australia in a C-17 cargo plane on September 11th. I don't know if Bush was sending him a message or if an Air Force general was paying Clinton back for the misery of the last 8 years, but it was one of the funniest stories I've heard in a while.

[backhoe]

Thanks for the

(PING))))))

Let's hope God will give us time, and tools, to help us save our country. As long as the news & entertainment industry love & worship this rotter, we'll never be safe from further depridations by him & his, err, wife....

[Paul Atreides]

Some might consider this small but think about how much money that has been raised for the victims....500 million! Those evil capitalist corporations have donated over 100 mill, the capital of self-adulation, Hollywood, has donated millions, people are digging into their own pockets and volunteering to help.........and what does that trail of snail mucus, Obubba Been Laiden, do?!!! He goes out and purchases a whopping 500 bucks worth of NBA jerseys to console kids who have been affected! Over 18 million bucks between that couple and the best he can do is 500 bucks!! And he only did that for the photo-op! It was the day AFTER The Speech! The world will be a much better place when that entire family just fades away.

[Paul Atreides]

What's the story?! Don't just mention it and not give the details!

[Alberta's Child]

President George W. Bush received some mild criticism here for sending a military aircraft to pick him up in Australia after the attacks on September 11th. After I read an inside account of this trip I wanted to give President Bush a medal instead.

Clinton and his entourage were stuck into the back of a C-17 cargo plane, in a bunch of webbed, harness-like seats along the side of the plane. Clinton himself was jammed between the side wall of the aircraft and a large piece of military equipment that was being transported back to the U.S. The roar of the engines in the cargo area was deafening. The person who related this story was a member of Clinton's group and asked not to be identified. They were all laughing into their armpits at Clinton's predicament because of the way he had always treated military personnel when he was president.

Meanwhile, there were a couple of extra seats in the cockpit that were left unoccupied during the flight.

If my information is correct, that flight from Australia to Washington took a total of 15 hours, and Clinton had to sit there with his fat @ss jammed into that seat the whole time.

God bless President George W. Bush.

[KeepTheEdge]

I have never read the account, where can it be found?

[Paul Atreides]

I would have loosened the rivets under Obubba Been Laiden's section of the plane.

LOL!! I noticed he looked gaunt while hugging every woman he could find in NYC when he got there before W! I wonder if that trip caused that big zit on his nose or if he got that from some Aussie brothel.

[Paul Atreides]

I head during the whole trip Obubba thought the crew was applauding him....turns out it was those sagging man-breasts of his slapping his gut.

[ChemistCat]

"Clinton and his entourage were stuck into the back of a C-17 cargo plane, in a bunch of webbed, harness-like seats along the side of the plane. Clinton himself was jammed between the side wall of the aircraft and a large piece of military equipment that was being transported back to the U.S. The roar of the engines in the cargo area was deafening."

We've done the C-17 thing!!!! Well, it was actually a C-130. I love it. I have FELT HIS PAIN!!!!!!!!!! Is it the first time he's been physically uncomfortable since he was interviewed about Monica and had to keep going to the bathroom?

[mombonn]

He sometimes complained that he had no enormous national crisis to contend with

Tell that to the residents and victims' families of the Oklahoma City Bombing. He used that tragedy to inflict a second term upon us.

Fortunately, Billy Graham stole the day. clintbilly stole the election.

Thank the Lord for George W Bush.

[sweet_diane]

Richard L. Berke reports, "A close friend of Mr. Clinton put it this way: 'He has said there has to be a defining moment in a presidency that really makes a great president. He didn't have one.'"

He most certainly DOES have a defining moment! That very moment when he wagged his pasty girly finger at us 'defined' him to a T !

And I'm pretty sure Mrs and Mr Streisand would say EVERY day of slick's presidency great.

[kassie]

Mr. Clinton put it this way: 'He has said there has to be a defining moment in a presidency that really makes a great president. He didn't have one.'"

Well what does he call Monica-gate, travel-gate, whitewater-gate...? If you ask me, he had several defining moments.

[Uff Da]

Thank you, ChemistCat..............It tells volumes about Clinton and his shallow behavior........It's all about HIM and his egomania and what benefits HIM...........He is such a sorry SOB..........I can't believe the stupid sheeple haven't gotten a whiff of this stinkin' prick!! Is there any hope that his worshippers will 'SEE THE LIGHT'? That horrendous tornado and it's massive distruction..........just another photo-op to make that scumbag look good........and feel everyone's pain........I have to barf.............excuse me.......

[upchuck]

He has said there has to be a defining moment in a presidency that really makes a great president. He didn't have one.

Just follow the logic.

I am grateful and thank the Lord The SCUMBAG didn't have a significant problem during his watch.

[ChemistCat]

Never had anyone thank me for giving him a virtual emetic before...

[okie01]

"A close friend of Mr. Clinton put it this way: 'He has said there has to be a defining moment in a presidency that really makes a great president. He didn't have one.'"

Who could ever forget Bill's defining moment(s)?

"I didn't inhale."

"I never had sex with that woman, Miss Lewinski."

"It all depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."

One good lie deserved another.

Pathetic as he was as a president, he was an even more pathetic human being.

[Robert Lomax]

I think I'd like to sit down and have a drink with G.W. if he still drank.