(VOMIT ALERT) Here Is the Clinton Course at the U of A

Scranto website ^ | unknown date | Scranton (with DFU comments)

[doug from upland]

DRAFT SYLLABUS, October 10, 2002: 

POLS 4345/5345  CLINTON PRESIDENCY

Dr. Margaret E. Scranton        

Note:  Face-to-face class

meets on Thursdays, 6:00-8:40pm, at the UA System Office

January 9 (tentative date): 

WebCT Orientation for online students, pre-view party for all students, showing

of “The War Room” and Q and A session about the class; I will also conduct an

online orientation for students at a distance.

Contact Information:

Department of Political Science,

608 Stabler Hall, 2801 South University Ave., Little rock, AR 72204

Phone: (501) 569-3331   

FAX (501)  569-8271     mescranton@ualr.edu e-mail

---

  Purpose of the Course:

This course explores

the presidency of Bill Clinton from several perspectives, all grounded in the

discipline of political science: the administration’s policy making; presidential

power and leadership; crises and turning points in the Clinton administration;

campaigning and communications skills of the president; the administration’s

relations with the press, political parties and groups; and the legacy of the

Clinton presidency. 

As we analyze

these topics, we will also consider the Constitutional framework as it affects

the presidential office and executive-legislative relations and trends in the

domestic and international environments that affected the Clinton presidency.

---

Required Texts – Undergraduate Students:

Berman, William C.  From

the Center to the Edge:  The Politics & Policies of the ClintonPresidency. 

Lanham, Md:  Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. 

Clark, Wesley K.  Waging

Modern War:  Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. New York:  Public

Affairs, 2001. 

Skocpol, Theda.  Boomerang:

Clinton’s health security effort and the turn against government in U. S. Politics. 

New York:  Norton, 1997.

A political memoir or “insider’s

account” of the Clinton Administration

Required Texts – Graduate

Students:

Abshire, David, ed.   Triumphs

and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency:  Seventy-six Case Studies in Presidential

Leadership.  Westport, Ct.:  Praeger and Center for the Study of the Presidency,

2001.

Berman, William C.  From

the Center to the Edge:  The Politics & Policies of the Clinton Presidency. 

Lanham, Md:  Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. 

Campbell, Colin, and Bert

A. Rockman, eds. The Clinton Legacy.  New York:  Seven Bridges/Chatham

House, 2000.

Clark, Wesley K.  Waging

Modern War:  Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. New York:  Public

Affairs, 2001. 

Schier, Steven, ed.  The

Postmodern Presidency:  Bill Clinton’s Legacy in U.S. Politics.  Pittsburgh: 

University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002.

Skocpol, Theda.  Boomerang:

Clinton’s health security effort and the turn against government in U. S. Politics. 

New York:  Norton, 1997.

A political memoir or “insider’s

account” of the Clinton Administration and selected readings from the weekly

schedule below.

---

Political Memoirs and Insider Accounts:   (note: a more complete list will

be available later)

Barber, B. R. (2000). My

Affair with Clinton:  An Intellectual Memoir. New York, Norton.

Gergen, D. (2000). Eyewitness

to Power:  The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton. New York, Simon

& Schuster.

Germond, Jack and Jules

Witcover, Mad as Hell:  The Revolt at the Ballot Box, 1992.  New York: 

Warner Books, 1993.

Maraniss, David.  First

in his class:  A Biography of Bill Clinton.  New York:  Simon & Schuster,

1995.

Matalin, Mary, and James

Carville.  All’s Fair:  Love, War, and Running for President.  New York: 

Random House, 1994.

Morris, D. (1997). Behind

the Oval Office. New York, Random House.

Reich, R. Locked in the

Cabinet.

Stephanopoulos, George. 

All too Human:  A Political Education.  Boston:  Little Brown, 1999.

Woodward, B. (1994). The

Agenda:  Inside the Clinton White House. New York, Simon & Schuster.

---

Class

Policies, No Credit for Late Work, and Grade components:

Please note the following

procedures and rules for our class:

• Class sessions will include lecture/presentations by speakers, discussion,

  and written assignments.  Whenever possible, I will post course materials

  on the WebCT site.

• style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>You should finish all readings

  and assignments before class (note that reading assignments are listed prior

  to the date they will be discussed in class).

• Important announcements will be made in class and posted on the WebCT bulletin

  board.  Always check the bulletin board if you happen to miss a class.

• Worksheets will also be posted on WebCT, so you can download information

  you miss if you are absent from class. 

• Every assignment will have a due date.  Assignments are due at the beginning

  of class.  Assignments handed in later that evening or the next day will have

  25 points deducted from the earned grade.  Assignments will not be accepted

  at all after 4:30pm the next day.  Instead, a grade of 0 points will be recorded

  for that assignment.  If you know ahead of time that you will miss class,

  hand the assignment in early or e-mail (via WebCT) or fax (501-569-8271) your

  worksheet to me at the Political Science Office.  To compensate for

  this strict deadline policy, you may drop three of your worksheet/assignment

  grades; missed assignments will count as drops.  These three “free” drops

  will cover family emergencies, illness, car problems, etc.  The final exam

  cannot be made up; instead, a grade of 0 points will be recorded for a missed

  final.    

---

Grades for 4345 (undergraduate

level):

The following writing assignments

will make up your course grade:

• Worksheets and quizzes on selected readings and discussion preparation 40%

• Analytical research paper, based on government documents research                   

  20%

• Memoir/Insider Account Analytical Review                                                           

  20%

• Final Examination                                                                                             

  20%

WORKSHEETS and QUIZZES: 

Throughout the semester I will assign worksheets to assist you in processing

assigned readings and to investigate sources (such as government documents or

Web sites) of information about the Clinton presidency and related topics. 

I will assign discussion preparation worksheets related to special topics and

invited speakers. And, for certain readings, I will create online quizzes that

cover assigned readings.

MEMOIR/INSIDER ACCOUNT

ANALYTICAL REVIEW:  Guidelines will be provided for

this assignment.  You will select a memoir or insider account from the approved

list of books to read.  You will also locate and read several published reviews

of the selected book and incorporate those into your own analysis.  The guidelines

will explain how you will assess additional evidence about the events discussed

in the selected book and how you will evaluate the contribution and significance

of the book in terms of a broader debate about the presidency.

ANALYTICAL RESEARCH PAPER: 

Guidelines will be provided for the policy analysis paper.  This year,

the class will use documents from the Health Care Task Force and write about

health care reform.  Undergraduates will write 10-15 -page papers utilizing

3-5 primary source documents; graduates will write 20-25 -page papers utilizing

5-10 primary source documents.  All papers must adhere to scholarly standards

for style and format.

TESTS. We will

have a final examination.  Questions will be in essay form, and your answer

should be a reasoned, well-organized essay that demonstrates your ability to

integrate and analyze general themes and ideas.  You will have a choice among

questions to answer; essay topics will be provided prior to the exam.  

---

Grades for 5345 (graduate

level):

The following writing assignments

will make up your course grade:

• Analytical research paper, based on government documents research                   

  20%

• Memoir/Insider Account Analytical Review                                                           

  15%

• Comparative Analysis (Clinton and another president, based on Abshire, ed)          

  15%

• Scholarly Article Reviews (five)                                                                           

  30%

• Final Examination                                                                                             

  20%

Reading and Writing Assignments

for Graduate Students:

In addition to the required readings on the syllabus, graduate students will

read and review five scholarly articles selected from the recommended readings

on the syllabus.  For graduate students, the analytical research paper will

be 20-25 pages long and will utilize 5-10 primary source documents (bibliography

to be approved by the instructor in advance).  Papers must adhere to scholarly

standards for style and format.  Guidelines will be provided for the Comparative

Analysis paper, based on articles in Abshire’s Triumphs and Tragedies of

the Modern Presidency:  Seventy-six Case Studies in Presidential Leadership;

graduate students will select a Clinton case topic and compare the Clinton case

with two other presidential cases. The comparative analysis paper will be 7-10

pages in length and demonstrate an ability to compare and contrast policies

and decisions, decision contexts, and political contexts.  Guidelines also will

be provided for the scholarly article review assignments; the reviews should

be 3-5 pages in length and demonstrate advanced critical thinking and writing

skills.

---

GRADING SCALE AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

A  90-100 excellent recall, comprehension, or application, defined as:  no

errors of fact plus inferences and interpretations that are solidly grounded

in assigned readings (and guidelines, if relevant) and reflect an awareness

of complexity

B  80-89   superior recall, comprehension, or application, defined

as: a few errors of fact plus inferences and interpretations that are somewhat

grounded in assigned readings (and guidelines, if relevant) – with either a

few significant omissions or misinterpretations – and some appreciation of complexity

C  70-79   average recall, comprehension, or application, defined

as:  a fair number of errors of fact plus a mixture of  warranted and unwarranted

or correct and incorrect inferences and interpretations of assigned readings

(and guidelines, if relevant), along with minimal appreciation of complexity

D  60-69   below average recall, comprehension, or application,

defined as:  errors of fact outnumber correct responses, plus more unwarranted

that warranted and more incorrect than correct inferences and interpretations,

failure to adhere to guidelines, plus lack of appreciation of complexity

F  < 60     extremely poor recall, comprehension, or

application, defined as:  serious errors of fact, predominance of unwarranted

and incorrect inferences and interpretations, failure to adhere to guidelines,

plus severe lack of appreciation of complexity

---

DEPARTMENTAL AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES

            1.  Inclement Weather:  In addition to the university

policy of announcing on television and radio official closings due to inclement

weather, I urge students to evaluate their own routes and relevant weather conditions. 

If your location poses an unusual weather hazard, you must notify me in advance,

at the beginning of the semester, in order to obtain an attendance exemption.

            2.  Cheating, plagiarism, duplicity and other violations

of academic integrity:  Cheating, helping others to cheat, or plagiarism will

be punished. Plagiarism is "To adopt and reproduce as one's own, to appropriate

to one's own use, and incorporate in one's own work without acknowledgment,

the ideas of others or passages from their writings and works.... When a faculty

member believes that a student has behaved dishonestly, he or she will immediately

notify the dean of students of his or her suspicion of cheating, plagiarism,

collusion, or a similar activity...." (UALR Faculty Handbook).  Students'

rights and the due process for investigating violations of academic integrity

are described in the Student Handbook.

            3.  Disability Support Services:  It is the policy

of UALR to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to state and federal

law. Any student with a disability who needs accommodation, for example in seating

placement or in arrangements for examinations, should inform the instructor

at the beginning of the course. The chair of the department offering this course

is also available to assist with accommodations. Students with disabilities

are also encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Support Services, which

is located in the Donaghey Student Center, Room 103, telephone 569-3143, and

on the Web at href="http://www.ualr.edu/~dssdept/index.html">http://www.ualr.edu/~dssdept/index.html.

            4.  Arrangements to audit the course or take it for

credit/no credit must be approved by the department chairman by the end of the

first week of the semester.   Given limited enrollment in both the face-to-face

and the online section along with high student demand for enrollment in the

course, we do not anticipate than many slots will be available for audit or

credit/no credit students.

5.      

Students shall

adhere to the UALR Code of Conduct, which is in the UALR Student

Handbook:  href="http://www.ualr.edu/www/handbook/student_handbook_toc.htm">http://www.ualr.edu/www/handbook/student_handbook_toc.htm

[backhoe]

Here's what I had handy:

X42 Rapes:

All Clinton Rape news on the net
... The Clinton Rape-Charge Cover-Up While most reporters stay focused on the central
characters of Ken Starr's impeachment report -- Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp ...

Australian media buries Clinton rape scandal
... not Clinton who "dragged the presidency through the grime." Does she also think rape
by Clinton is "personal" and its critics just "puritans"? Or is it just a ...

Topic: Clinton's Rape
www.FreeRepublic.com. Topic: Clinton's Rape Open Season On Women: Jewish World Review
3-1-99 Tony Snow Web Posted: 03/01/99 04:40:56 PST Posted by: M². ...

The War Room - Clinton Rape Info Stored in Ford Bldg.
... Clinton Rape Info Stored in Ford Bldg." PLEASE, PLEASE
CALL YOUR HOUSE "REPRESENTATIVE". ...

NewsMax.com: Archives
... 1999. Is Whitewater Sex Behind Susan's Silence? 3-24-1999.
Clinton Rape Victim Watch, 3-23-1999. 'Shecky ...

CLINTON'S ROGUES GALLERY:
... website. "Freepers" have been following her case closely ever since NBC refused to
air an exclusive interview with the alleged Clinton rape victim in January. ...

---

Adding:

Clinton's Rape Of Juanita Will Hang Like the Sword of Damocles Over the Elections ...(1354 hits)

Broaddrick Case Drove Impeachment, Hillary Nixed Compromise, New Book Claims [Free Republic]			America's Impeachment Secret [Free Republic]			(PROJECT RAPE) FRIENDS OF JUANITA BROADDRICK - Bulletin No. 7 [Free Republic]			6/17/99 Downside Legacy - Breach of Trust [Free Republic]

[agrandis]

Maybe I'll return to the U of A just to ake that class.

When I read in the syllabus "crises and turning points in the Clinton administration" I thought at first read that it said crimes and turning points...

I am disappoined that Ambrose Evans-Pritchard's book is not required reading. :)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the encouragement, Squantos!

DFU, I see that backhoe has provided a lot of links as you requested, the DSL on the other hand is mostly sourced excerpts:

WOMEN - UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
LEWINSKY TIMELINE
CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT, RESIGNATION
INQUIRY - PART 1
INQUIRY - PART 2
HEARING - PART 1
HEARING - PART 2
TRIAL - PART 1
TRIAL - PART 2
CURIOSITIES

[backhoe]

Thanks- I will add those to the X-42 Rape file... which I see needs reformatting, dagnabbit!

[Liz]

indexing

[mountaineer]

The impeached perjurious rapist to speak at UC-Davis on Nov. 17, story here.

[Mia T]

Thou art arm'd that hath thy crook'd schemers straight.

Cudgel thy brains no more, the clinton plots are great.

Mia T, On Neutered and Neutering,

by Mia T and Edward Zehr (EZ)

Q ERTY8

A LEGACY OF LYNCHING

 

evidence of consciousness of guilt

at Ron Brown's funeral

 

YOO-HOO Mrs. clinton:

THE CLINTON RAPES ARE

 

"UNBECOMING"

 

Q ERTY3

"YOU KNOW"

zipper-hoisted

PRENUP/POST-RAPE SENATE SEAT

Q ERTY4

AMERICAN MUSEUM--ER--MUSLIM COUNCIL

it won't s-p-i-n

KNOWNOTHING VICTIM RODHAM/CLINTON REVISITED

 

^{Q ERTY2} "There isn't a shred of evidence."

 

 

HILLARY, YOU KNOW, ^{KnowNothing Victim} Q ERTY4 ^{double bagel},

 

W I D E B O D Y. _{low-center-of-gravity}

Dim Bulb _{Congenital Bottom Feeder}

 

kleptocratic

 

Hardball's Softball hillary clinton 'Interview'

 

Q ERTY9

BUSH: "I will not wait on events, while dangers gather."

 

Q ERTY6

utter failure

 _{rodham-clinton} ^{reality-check}

Democrat Debacle of '02

Q ERTY8

BUMP!

[Mia T]

 

 

"Who is Juanita Broaddrick? I've never heard of her!" cried Betty Friedan, the founder of modern feminism. Friedan's outburst came at last Friday's conference, entitled "The Legacy and Future of Hillary Rodham Clinton." Held at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. D.C., the event offered a chilling microcosm of an angry, divided America.

 

For nearly an hour, a five-woman panel had been debating whether Hillary qualified as a "feminist heroine." I thought Broaddrick's claim of having been raped by Hillary's husband had some bearing on this point, so I broached the subject during the question-and-answer period. Friedan's dyspeptic denial followed.

 

Was Friedan telling the truth? Maybe. And maybe all those millions of Germans who professed ignorance of the death camps were telling the truth too. The problem is, having admitted her ignorance, Friedan showed no interest in exploring the matter further. And that was the problem with the Germans too.

 

Totalitarian impulses flourished at the conference. Taking a page from Soviet psychiatry, some Clintonites suggested that Hillary hating might be a mental illness. . .

 

Richard Poe, The Hillary Conspiracy

[Mia T]

You raise an interesting point.

It is my view that when the clinton...uh...presidency is examined to determine why it was an utter failure, the answer will be precisely because that presidency WAS clinton.

Rather than becoming president, clinton made the presidency him. His decision to reduce the presidency rather than rise to it was driven not only by egomania, but by cowardice, arrogance, banality and the lack of a moral compass.

[freepersup]

Class lab work will involve various commercial cleaning compounds utilized in the removal of organic matter from luxurious carpet samples.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Clinton lovers claim that his scandals were a diversion that kept him for having the greatest Presidency in our history. The scandals were his Presidency, and nothing more. WYSIWYG.

[Mia T]

A distinction without a difference ;)

 

What did he know. . . and when did he know it ?

by Mia T

5.17.02

 

"The instant that second plane hit, I said to the person with whom I was speaking, 'Bin Laden did this.' I knew immediately. I know what this network can do."

bill clinton

 

 

Clinton's FBI Learned In 1995 Of Plot To Use Terror Jetliner

Clinton Warned on Bin Laden Hijack-Kamikaze Plot

Clinton Let Bin Laden Slip Away and Metastasize 

  

 

 

The Real Danger of a Presidential Fake:

Post-9/11 Reconsideration of The Placebo President

by Mia T, 1.06.02

 In May, 1996, American diplomats were informed in a Sudanese government fax that Bin Laden was about to be expelled -- giving Washington another chance to seize him. The decision not to do so went to the very top of the White House, according to former administration sources.

They say that the clear focus of American policy was to discourage the state sponsorship of terrorism. So persuading Khartoum to expel Bin Laden was in itself counted as a clear victory. The administration was "delighted".

Bin Laden took off from Khartoum on May 18 in a chartered C-130 plane with 150 of his followers, including his wives. He was bound for Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. On the way the plane refuelled in the Gulf state of Qatar, which has friendly relations with Washington, but he was allowed to proceed unhindered.

Barely a month later, on June 25, a 5,000lb truck bomb ripped apart the front of Khobar Towers, a US military housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The explosion killed 19 American servicemen. Bin Laden was immediately suspected...

US missed three chances to seize Bin Laden

Just look around this chamber. We have members from virtually every racial, ethnic, and religious background. And America is stronger for it. But as we have seen, these differences all too often spark hatred and division, even here at home. . . This is not the American way. We must draw the line. Without delay, we must pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. And we should reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

bill clinton, State of Union Speech, January 27, 2000

 

"I'm sorry, but the president is one of the crudest men I have ever encountered in government service," says one female agent. "He has no respect for women."

Among the comments clinton made in presence of Secret Service agents:

. Frequent speculation on the oral sex skills of women

the president saw or met in receiving lines;

. References to the size of a woman's breasts, legs or figure;

. Sexual jokes.

After the Monica Lewinsky story broke, however, clinton toned down his rhetoric and behavior in front of his Secret Service agents, but those who guarded the president say enough of them saw and heard things which could be damaging to clinton.

"It depends on who Ken Starr calls," says one ex-agent. "The people who are on the job today are not necessarily the ones who know the most."

Turnover In clinton's Secret Service Detail 'Highest That Anyone Can Remember'

 

In the months that follow, reporters drop the issue. Feminists say little or nothing. Rape crisis center workers acknowledge that Broaddrick's case, including her reluctance to come forward, is typical of victims of sexual assault. But they decline to speak against clinton. Some cite the federal funding they receive as a result of the Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law by clinton.

Why does the press continue to ignore the Juanita Broaddrick story?

 

 

 

The Placebo President:

How a Rapist can be a Policy Feminist

 

placebo effect n.

A beneficial effect in a patient following a particular treatment

that arises from the patient's expectations concerning

the treatment rather than from the treatment itself.

 

Every woman adores a Fascist,

The boot in the face, the brute

Brute heart of a brute like you.

----Sylvia Plath

 

The placebo effect immediately came to mind

as I listened to Shelby Steele,

a research fellow at the Hoover Institution,

debunk the following pernicious spin intended to save clinton.

To wit:

A proven felon and utter reprobate can remain president;

clinton can be a failed human being but a good president.

 

The error in these statements arises, says Steele,

from the belief that

virtuousness is separate from personal responsibility

so that one's virtuousness as an individual is determined by

one's political positions on issues rather than on

whether or not in one's personal life there is a

consistency and a responsibility.

 

Steele's contention is that this compartmentalization,

rather than being the amazing advantage

the clintons would have us believe,

in fact, spills toxicity into, corrupts, the culture.

 

If mere identification with good policies is what makes one virtuous

then those policies become, what Steele calls, iconographic,

that is to say they just represent virtuousness.

They don't necessarily do virtuous things.

 

If clinton's semantic parsing strips meaning from our words,

clinton's iconographic policies strip meaning from our society,

systematically deconstructing our society as a democracy. . .

 

I would take Shelby Steele's thesis one step further.

I maintain that iconographic policy functions like a placebo,

producing a real, physiological and social effects.

 

The placebo effect is, after all, the brain's triumph over reality.

Expectation alone can produce powerful physiological results.

The placebo effect was, at one time, an evolutionary advantage:

act now, think later

 

bill clinton is the paradigmatic Placebo President.

Placebo is Latin for "I shall please."

And please he does

doling out sham treatments, iconographs, with abandon.

To please, to placate, to numb, to deflect.

Ultimately to showcase his imagined virtue.

Or to confute his genuine vice.

 

clinton will dispense sugar pills (or bombs)

at the drop of a high-heeled shoe...

or at the hint of high treason...

 

clinton's charlatanry mimics that of primitive medicine.

Through the 1940s, doctors had little effective medicine to offer

so they deliberately attempted to induce the placebo response.

 

The efficaciousness of today's medicines

does not diminish the power of the placebo.

A recent review of placebo-controlled studies

found that placebos and genuine treatments

are often equally effective.

If you expect to get better, you will.

 

Which brings me back to the original question:

Can clinton be a failed human being but a good president?

 

Clearly he cannot.

These two propositions are mutually exclusive.

clinton's fundamental failure is a complete lack of integrity.

He has violated his covenant with the American people.

 

Because clinton has destroyed his moral authority as a leader,

he can no longer function even as a quack;

the placebo effect is gone.

And so the Placebo President must now go, too.

 

 

 

September 11 changed a lot of things for me, Bill. I will say this, before September 11, I was definitely mildly myopic in terms of my political agenda. If you were Democrat you were probably right, and if you were a Republican you were probably wrong. Everything changed for me that day...

My entire worldview changed. If you would have told me September 9 that I would have been at the world series game filming George Bush throwing out the first pitch with my 6-year-old son crying, I never would have believed you, but I was. Because my whole worldview changed.

ROSIE O'DONNELL