[backhoe]

I got his far:

conservatives are actually suggesting that Enron and WorldCom cooked their books because Clinton lied about oral sex.

Negative- it is in part because when the man at the top is a known rotter, all those below ( who are inclined to be crooked ) feel empowered to push the limits and see how much they can get away with. And for a while, they did.

[ChadGore]

Markets a cyclical and the sins of the 90s have come home to roost.

[Libloather]

Not one mention of the *Crinton tax increase - supposedly taxing the rich.

Someday, the Post may get it right...

[LurkedLongEnough]

...Enron and WorldCom cooked their books because Clinton lied about oral sex...

Enron & WorldCom are not the President of the US testifying under oath... how can you purport that punishing errant corporations is needed, but at the same time let Clinton walk? It is so much more clear that Bill Clinton was responsible for his own lying and cheating.

[nicmarlo]

firms like Arthur Andersen developed a strong incentive to overlook fraudulent bookkeeping.

I understand Arthur Andersen was selected by the 1998 Congress (that would be, uh, under Klinton's watch) to do the accounting for one of the Government's departments (that, I'm sorry, I cannot recall at the moment). It was AFTER this that Cheney then selected Arthur Andersen as his accountants. Hmmm.....well, I guess Arthur Andersen's gross unethical accounting practices are still Bush's fault..... what a joke.

[RJCogburn]

Interesting post. The author may go a little far in defending his thesis but I agree that corporate corrution predates Clinton and it is a bit too facile to blame Clinton for all of it.

The S&L stuff, for example predated Clinton.

[FITZ]

Wasn't Clinton trying to take credit for what was being called a good economy in the 90's? Since he tried to take credit when some people thought it was good, then he must take the blame now that we know it never really was good.

[mewzilla]

Well, how's about we blame Bubba for this: Not supporting his own SEC chairman, Arthur Levitt, in 1999 when Levit wanted to tighten up the rules to bar accounting firms from doing auditimg and accounting work for the same client.

Where was Bubba then? Why didn't he tell the goofs up on Capitol Hill, and there was a laundry list of them, to suck it up and act like men. To get off Levitt's back and tell their big donors to stick it where the sun didn't shine.

Except, oopsie, I forgot, Bubba didn't want the rules tightened, either.

Yeah, I can bloody well blame Bubba for that.

[EternalHope]

Yes, that's right: Respected conservatives are actually suggesting that Enron and WorldCom cooked their books because Clinton lied about oral sex. It's not an argument that takes a lot of deep thinking to rebut.

People like this author simply do not get it.

The character of our leaders matters.

When our leaders flaunt massively flawed character and are lauded for it, it is inevitable that the wrong conclusions will be drawn. What we see now is most definitely the result.

Even though it is obvious, some people will never understand this. The simple reason is that they do not WANT to understand. Perhaps the implications for their own lives would be too painful.

[nightdriver]

"When Ivan Boesky was arrested for insider trading, Michael Milken was busted for market manipulation and Charles Keating was running a fraudulent savings and loan, Bill Clinton was an obscure Southern governor, and the man setting the moral tone "at the top" was Ronald Reagan."

Exactly. Boesky, Milken, and Keating got theirs. The Enrons and WorldComs were allowed to run free under Clinton.

[mountaineer]

The writer quotes only two who, arguably, blame corporate corruption on Clinton's moral shortcomings. I doubt that most conservatives, even so-called "Bushbots," are saying Clinton caused the type of dishonesty manifest by Arthur Anderson, Enron, et al. At best, that he got away with a variety of moral and criminal failings may have encouraged a few corporate bigwigs that their actions might not have consequences. Dishonest people will be dishonest, and commit acts of dishonesty, if they think they'll get away with it, but I still think it would take more than just "Clinton got away with it, so maybe I will, too" to expose oneself to the kind of liability now facing WorldCom, Tyco, Enron, etc.

[adversarial]

LOTS of arguments are wrong; fewer are absurdly wrong. But the absurd ones are sometimes the most revealing

so....this guy is an expert in absurd arguments?
his absured argument isn't really that good

[Brilliant]

There are plenty of things Clinton did and did not do that had a greater effect on the crisis beyond issuing this veto. It was illegal to do these things before the veto, and it's illegal to do them now.

[Digger]

I wish this author would have dug a little deeper into why Bubba vetoed the bill. It was to favor THE TRIAL LAWYERS. Get it Peter! Bubba never does anything except politics. Flash forward now & tell me why GW won't allow pilots to carry weapons. Go to the unions. The people that would be riding in the planes can retire from one job & double dip in pensions with this job. So as you see there really isn't much difference in these two compromised individuals. And you, who voted in this "Two-Party Cartel" got the same BIGGER government.

[pankot]

What manure. "...if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!" Alexis de Tocqueville
Old Alexis must have had a premonition of Klintoon.

[olliemb]

"Yes, that's right: Respected conservatives are actually suggesting that Enron and WorldCom cooked their books because Clinton lied about oral sex

No, conservatives are suggesting that the moral fiber of America has been denuded by the leaders. If you have no morals or ethics and there is no higher power to account to then the greedy and the unscrupulous will flourish.

I commend this administration for going after the companies and executives who have not been fair and honest and who have allowed greed to take over their decisions.

[sheik yerbouty]

I don't blame bubba. I blame Beelzebubba.(X42)

[freekitty]

What's impossible to understand about Enron? They are crooks. I believe a lot of this was put into play when the raiders were buying up old corporations and merging them with each other and renaming them. It's all about corruption and greed. Believe me when you can sell an old name corporation for $683,000.000 and know you can make 10 to 15 times that much, something is wrong. Should we be looking at Warren Buffett and the likes?

[PISANO]

Whether or NOT Clinton and his lying under OATH has anything to do with these scandals is not the point. Either side of that argument can be made. However TWO undeniable facts can be stated: (1) that 'corruption' existed LONG before January 1993 or Jan 2001. (2) NO ONE took steps to correct it UNTIL NOW!

[swheats]

We know the outcome of all the investigators and special counsels now. But let's not forget how we got to the summations.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9604/13/whitewater.background/

Clinton definately cannot be ruled out of any of our current problems. His lying under oath signalled that there was no one out there capable of issuing punishment for wrongdoing. And many willing to pad their own pockets took advantage of the weaknesses. More and more I'm realizing the 37 days in 2000 was a major battle and it was imperative that Gore needed to win.

And Webster Hubble is still rolling over.