[astudent]

Do you agree with me?

[johniegrad]

As much as I would love to lay everything at the feet of the Clintons, I can't agree with you. All these people have to be accountable and are responsible for their own actions. The Clintons, while objectively disordered, were not responsible for the defects of character exhibited by the other lawbreakers.

[twntaipan]

I most definitely agree. the culture of corruption, if not conceived at the Clinton White House, was trumpeted from the oval office for 8 years.

[EaglesUpForever]

To a point: all individuals are responsible for their own actions. There were many of us on FR back in the Clinton era that saw right through him. All who followed him should have known better.

That said, he was as corrupt as a "leader" could ever be. He did everything he could to destroy this country, including, as you suggest, setting an example of material success through lying, cheating, and other unethical methods (i.e. rape and probably murder). The Enrons, WorldComs, and Earthlinks (watch, they'll be next) are following Clinton as a role model.

And he not only bears substantial responsibility for the demise of corporate ethics, he bears responsibility for the demise of this country in military terms as well. 9/11 is truly Clinton's legacy.

[shirleyvalentine]

No, I don't agree. For the last five or six years the stockholders in these corporations demanded higher profits and rising stock prices every quarter from the CEO's of these corporations and the CEO's gave them what they wanted even if they had to fake it. Not a one of them complained until the bubbles started to pop. I include myself among them.

[Willie Green]

Do you agree with me?

No, I rarely agree with trolls.

Klintoon didn't cause the corruption.
He's merely symptomatic of the corruption that permeates the baby boom generation.

[earplug]

No, I don't agree.
Our present troubles are from our citisens failing to promote ethical and responsible behavior.
This nation elects its leadership. We elect our CEO's are city leaders. We elect/chose to attend trashy movies, promote trashy actors, athletics and clergy. Why would anyone be surprised at the outcome of a nation that would pay to watch Mike Tyson, Jane Fonda, Hillery Clinton, or make a deal with Donald Trump?
We have recieved full payment for our choices. We are no longer able to enjoy many liberties that our fathers enjoyed.
Now go to your room.

[doug from upland]

Each of the greedy scumbags who ripped people off are responsible for their own actions. The Clintons, however, made it fashionable to do business without a conscience. Sinkmaster had a vested interest in holding together a phony market long enough for him not to be convicted in the Senate. People looked at their 401Ks and stock portfolios and thanked Clinton for it. If not for the shallow thinking and misperceptions, perhaps Americans would have thrown Sinkmaster out of the White House along with his sink.

[eeriegeno]

IMHO, I honestly feel that Mr Clinton, Rubin and company did in fact 'cook the books' at the federal level to make the economy look better than it was during the 90's. I also honestly feel that they wooed and cooed the CEO's, who just happened to be big democratic donors, into believing that they could get away with big-time business crime. And ya know what, they succeeded. Not a single person that has brought down the greatest economy on the earth has been convicted of a crime.

4 trillion dollars of net worth have been lost to investors in this political recession. And every penny of it needs to be layed at the feet of Mr Clinton and his buddies Robert Rubin and Alan Greenspan.

[KC Burke]

Man has the capacity for acting wrongly and no perfection is possible. Clinton is but a glaring example and would have had little impact if people hadn't elected him twice. He is a symptom.

Was Silent Cal Coolidge responsible for the go-go roaring twenties bubble market?

I will agree that the bubble market was encourged and relished by Clinton and his administration--remember, he got all those voters to believe "its the economy, stupid" when character and world standing were being questioned.

Anyway, you are closer to the truth than Gephardt or Dashole...they say it is the new Republican Administration and the Corporate climate of greed that they have fostered....hard to imagine as most of all this corruption happened prior to Inaugeration.

[Puddleglum]

I think it all boils down to greed, and of CEOs and etc taking advantage of peoples' desire to find an investment that will give them huge returns. I just finished reading the book "Funny Money" about the 1980's oil boom/bust and I have long thought that the dotcom investing trend reminded me of that era. Lots of speculation in seafch of the big payoff, with crooked types all too ready to part folks from their cash. This was just on a bigger scale. Greed blinding reason is what I attribute it to, I guess, from the investors to the bankers to the obliging "industry" folks.

I don't particularly blame it on Clinton; I think there are more greedy unethical folks in high places that all got there by riding the same wave of narcissism and egotism, fueled by a lack of humility, religious values and community concern. I think the community-concern element of the American Dream needs to get more focus, and our idol-driven culture needs some serious diminution, or else everyone walks around with their own theme-music in their head imagining that all other people are mere stage-dressing in their on-man play.

(apologies in advance for any pre-coffee typos or just plain nonsense)