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CLINTON haters...you're gonna LOVE this!!!
Brain Terminal ^ | 3/27/2002 | Evan Coyne Maloney

Posted on 03/28/2002 9:35:18 AM PST by libber-tarian

The Shallowness of Clinton

By Evan Coyne Maloney

www.brain-terminal.com

I recently wrote an article in which I referred to Bill Clinton as a shallow man, and was asked to explain myself by a reader who went on to claim that Bill Clinton "righted the wrongs of active exclusion, willful ignorance, and offensive pity" and "[led] the nation through its longest period of peacetime expansion of economic, social, and individual opportunity."

What I've never understood about the Clinton apologists is that they apparently value talk over action. Other than make speeches filled with feel-good rhetoric, what did Bill Clinton actually do? People may have felt comforted by his words, believed that he cared about them and felt their pain, but in the end, all of Clinton's talk amounted to nothing.

Whenever I talk to supporters of Bill Clinton, I ask them to list the things he did. Most people can't name a single thing, and instead credit him with presiding over an expanding economy, as though coincidence--the dumb luck of having his presidency aligned with the business cycle--somehow proves that he caused it to happen. But what did he do that was so beneficial to the economy? For that matter, what actions did he take to "right the wrongs of active exclusion"? Don't ask, don't tell? Hardly the epitome of inclusiveness.

My memory may be failing me, but when I try to recall the achievements of the Clinton presidency, I can name only two of any significance: Welfare Reform and NAFTA. Despite the fact that neither of these bills originated from the Clinton Administration, I do give him credit for signing them; most Democrats would not have signed either bill. On the other hand, neither of these bills could pass Congress until the Republicans took over in 1994. So I guess the real achievement of the Clinton presidency was scaring enough people during his first two years in office that he put the Senate and the House of Representatives in the hands of the Republicans for the first time since 1954. But I doubt the fans of Clinton would celebrate that monumental achievement.

Lucky Bubble

As far as the economy goes, there is no doubt that Bill Clinton presided over a favorable economy and a remarkable expansion in the stock market. But remember that most of this expansion was due to the rise of the Internet and the resulting speculation on Internet stocks. Remember when the economy started to go south? That's right, just when the Internet bubble burst. Al Gore's attempt to take credit for inventing the Internet notwithstanding, nobody in their right mind would claim that the Clinton Administration was somehow responsible for the Internet boom.

But if you insist on crediting Bill Clinton with the rise of the stock market, then you must also blame him for the "irrational exuberance" that led to its collapse. You must therefore also blame him for the recession. Otherwise, you're crediting him for handing out the drinks at the party and blaming his successor--the guy who has to clean up the mess--for everyone's hangover the next day.

Getting back to my claim that Bill Clinton is a shallow man, it seems to me that someone who squanders an opportunity to achieve greatness and instead uses his power for nothing more than the satisfaction of his own wants and needs is shallow. Bill Clinton is pathologically self-absorbed, which is why he constantly found himself bungling into scandal after scandal.

Now, one may scream that there was a vast right-wing conspiracy to bring down Bill Clinton; even if you believe that nonsense, you have to wonder why Bill Clinton went out of his way to hand his enemies so much ammunition on such a regular basis. And when I say scandal, I'm not even thinking about the "lying under oath" thing, which Clinton supporters dismiss as inconsequential. I'm talking about other serious stuff, all of which is well-known to people who were paying attention, but most of which was underreported due to the media's focus on the more salacious--and therefore media-friendly--Clinton scandals.

Scandal After Scandal

If you'll recall: Under Bill Clinton, the White House became a glorified motel, where the Lincoln Bedroom was rented out to contributors who coughed up enough dough. Military secrets ended up in the hands of the Chinese, who laundered money that ended up in the hands of the Democratic National Committee just in time for Clinton's re-election campaign. Al Gore was dispatched to hold illegal fundraisers at Buddhist temples, where he collected money from dozens of nuns who--despite having taken vows of poverty--each managed to produce a $5,000 check for Clinton's re-election. His top fundraiser, Terry McAuliffe, the current head of the aforementioned DNC, made $18,000,000 from a $100,000 investment in Global Crossing, now bankrupt and under investigation for shady government contracts during the Clinton Administration. When Enron's Ken Lay was staying in the Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton Administration, Enron came to ask the federal government to underwrite foreign loans on 20 different occasions; on 19 of those 20 occasions, the Clinton Administration said yes, to the tune of $2 billion dollars. And let us not forget about selling presidential pardons to drug-runners and fat-cat tax-cheat felons on the lam in Europe. Or the looting of White House furniture for their new home, which is unfortunately located in my home state. And all that's without even getting into Whitewater, the Travel Office firings, or the perjury scandal.

Bill Clinton is a low-life thief, a petty swindler, and a smooth-talking scam artist more suited for Tammany Hall than the White House. But I will admit that Bill Clinton was a man of action, as long as that action involved greasing his palms (or anything other body part for that matter) or furnishing his house. Somehow, Bill Clinton found the time to conduct all of that "business", but he was too busy to take Osama bin Laden when the Sudanese government offered to hand him over to us in 1996. Think about it: we wouldn't be chasing bin Laden around the globe right now if Clinton had focused a little more on taking care of the threats against us and a little less on figuring out every conceivable way that he could cash in on his power or use it to get women.

Depends on What the Meaning of "Peace" Is

Which reminds me...as far as giving Clinton credit for presiding over a time of peace, what kind of peace was it? During the Clinton Administration, there were 6 major terrorist attacks against the U.S. which left over 415 dead and 6,500 injured. It seems to me that it's very easy to maintain the illusion of peace by ignoring the dangers that surround us. You may look back fondly at the 1990s as a time of peace, but it was a peace during which we relaxed while our enemies were getting stronger and preparing to annihilate us. That's a pretty shallow peace if you ask me.

Bill Clinton is shallow because he spoke often of his convictions but did nothing to realize them. He's shallow because he was given remarkable gifts and the opportunity to do great things with them, yet he achieved nothing substantial. In the end, his presidency amounted to little more than talk and corruption. He rarely took any action unless it somehow benefitted him. But whenever action mattered for the good of the nation, Bill Clinton was nowhere to be found. And that is why the man who spent the final days of his presidency fretting about his legacy will find it to be recorded quite accurately by history: Bill Clinton is a shallow, failed man.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 229; clinton; clintonhaters; corruption; economy; impeachedx42; sasu; sleaze
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This is GREAT! I've been looking for a good cataloguing of why Clinton was a TERRIBLE president...I finally have one! I'm gonna e-mail this to all the Clinton-loving morons I know AND to the Clinton-haters, so they have more ammo against him!!!
1 posted on 03/28/2002 9:35:18 AM PST by libber-tarian
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To: libber-tarian
BTTT
2 posted on 03/28/2002 9:42:14 AM PST by knews_hound
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To: libber-tarian
So I guess the real achievement of the Clinton presidency was scaring enough people during his first two years in office that he put the Senate and the House of Representatives in the hands of the Republicans for the first time since 1954.

Bingo!

3 posted on 03/28/2002 9:42:45 AM PST by Semper Paratus
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To: libber-tarian
Clinton hating bumpty bump bump!
4 posted on 03/28/2002 9:43:13 AM PST by jamaly
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To: libber-tarian
Bookmarked and catalogued.
Thanks.
5 posted on 03/28/2002 9:43:32 AM PST by stanz
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To: libber-tarian
Very nice summary of the past 8 years.
6 posted on 03/28/2002 9:45:36 AM PST by FITZ
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To: Semper Paratus
Bingo indeed!
All things considered, we have much to thank Mr. Clinton for.
For example, showing the world what a slimeball a Dimocrat can be!
7 posted on 03/28/2002 9:45:43 AM PST by Redbob
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: libber-tarian
This is GREAT! I've been looking for a good cataloguing of why Clinton was a TERRIBLE president...I finally have one! I'm gonna e-mail this to all the Clinton-loving morons I know AND to the Clinton-haters, so they have more ammo against him!!!

Can I give you my mother-in-law's email address to add to your list of Clinton-lovers?

9 posted on 03/28/2002 9:46:01 AM PST by ladtx
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To: libber-tarian
bookmark
10 posted on 03/28/2002 9:46:32 AM PST by medved
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To: libber-tarian
A walk down memory lane........ however they forgot to mention "Tainted blood," another money making scam.
11 posted on 03/28/2002 9:50:05 AM PST by Great Dane
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To: libber-tarian
Good post. Also, don't forget to mention, for those that want to spend all the time they
have looking into the artifacts of the MOST CORRUPT 'PRESIDENT' IN HISTORY, goto:

Alamo-Girl's Downside Legacy of bill clinton

12 posted on 03/28/2002 9:51:41 AM PST by Two Thirds Vote Aye
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To: libber-tarian
NAFTA passed in 1993, while the Dems still controlled Congress. Then GATT was passed by the lame-duck Congress after the '94 election, before the Republican takeover.

Actually, I suspect the business establishment saw to it that Clinton was elected in '92 precisely so as to get NAFTA and GATT passed. Without a pro-"free" trade Dem president in office, the congressional Dems would have opposed NAFTA and GATT, and they would never have gotten through Congress.

13 posted on 03/28/2002 9:57:00 AM PST by aristeides
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To: libber-tarian
Bump for later read.
14 posted on 03/28/2002 9:57:04 AM PST by mickie
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To: libber-tarian
bttt
15 posted on 03/28/2002 10:08:34 AM PST by Balata
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To: libber-tarian
My memory may be failing me, but when I try to recall the achievements of the Clinton presidency, I can name only two of any significance: Welfare Reform and NAFTA. Despite the fact that neither of these bills originated from the Clinton Administration, I do give him credit for signing them; most Democrats would not have signed either bill.

EXACTLY!!! These are the only real accomplishments--and both are Republican initiatives. Welfare reform, in particular, was a staggering success and helps explain the long run of prosperity.

16 posted on 03/28/2002 10:08:42 AM PST by Hagrid
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To: libber-tarian
A very well-balanced article.
But, he should have included mention of the co-president, co-scumball, co-thief, co-traitor.
17 posted on 03/28/2002 10:09:04 AM PST by aShepard
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To: libber-tarian
Bumped and saved. Only one problem

He's shallow because he was given remarkable gifts

The only gifts the Clintons had were the ones they stole from the White House.

18 posted on 03/28/2002 10:12:41 AM PST by techcor
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To: libber-tarian
Whenever I talk to supporters of Bill Clinton, I ask them to list the things he did. Most people can't name a single thing...

LOL!

Whenever MurryMom asks Bush supporters to list the things Bush has DONE, all she receives in response is some vague reference to tax cuts. When MurryMom points out that Dumbya's tax cuts have reversed the Clinton-Gore budget surpluses, along with higher interest rates, no employment growth, and a stagnant DJIA, the Bushies generally retreat into their standard Repukie rants about Monica and oral sex.

19 posted on 03/28/2002 10:13:46 AM PST by MurryMom
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To: MurryMom
For one thing, did you not notice our recent military successes? There was a war. We won. It was on all the programs. It probably even interrupted a soap or two.
20 posted on 03/28/2002 10:18:11 AM PST by fdcc
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