General Board
The Clinton Legacy (Embarrasingly Long)
Posted By: Kris (152.163.204.25)
Date: Saturday, 24 February 2001, at 1:38 p.m.
APATHY, ARROGANCE, AND ABUSE OF POWER I believe that Bill Clinton is one of the most brilliant politicians this nation has ever seen. That isn't a compliment.
In the early years, much was made about Clinton’s proclivity for taking the pulse of the country and adjusting his policies based on those results. It was a mistake to assume that he was doing that because he wanted simply to be popular, or worse, because he was inexperienced and naive. I believe his motivations were far more
insidious, if not nefarious.I allow room for the notion that Bill Clinton was learning the personality and/or tolerance level of the nation so that he could fulfill his personal power agenda, while tossing the people a bone now and again to keep them happy...and selectively blind.
His early evaluations of public opinion served him well, as through clever manipulations of the press he was able to present himself as compassionate, a man of the people, and perhaps even the savior of America. Trouble was, behind the scenes (and later in FRONT of the scenes) his motivations were purely personal power.
Clinton discovered during the early years that as long as he kept telling the American people what they wanted to hear, whether he actually came through with his promises or not, they would overlook his “errors in judgment”. He correctly assumed that much of the nation cared more for what they could get from government than for the character of the charlatan who was giving it to them. Values, ethics, and personal responsibility on the part of the highest official in the land were sadly “no big deal”, as long as he was “doing his job” - giving the people what they wanted.
So the first arm of the Clinton legacy was the carefully cultivated apathy of the American people to the burgeoning corruption.
Clinton gave the people what they wanted with one hand, while the other hand was behind his back, middle finger extended. He seems to have justifiably assumed that much of the population could be completely hornswaggled by an impish grin and some good old boy charm, while behind closed doors he simply did anything he wanted - and pretty much got away with it.
I lay the first serving of responsibility for the surfacing Clinton scandals square at the feet of the people of this country who simply said: “So what? Who cares about what he does, as long as WE are getting OUR needs met.” The apathy, selfishness, and spinelessness of the American people allowed Clinton to spin out of control. And those who cried foul were labeled self-righteous, extreme, mean-spirited, and bent on personal destruction.
I believe the second arm of Clinton’s legacy will be his arrogance. Some might call him affable, others more rightly ascertain that he is thumbing his nose at those whom he considers underlings - and I am fairly certain every last American, save perhaps Hillary, falls into that category to Mr. Clinton. As he has gotten away with more and more scandalous, immoral, downright illegal activity, his arrogance
has grown to a bloated, amorphous mass of a persona which simply refuses to go away.Former aids, advisors and top-level supporters are speaking out more frequently these days, verifying the previous conjectures of the pomposity of the man and his disrespect for rules of behavior and law. He discovered exactly how far he could push the envelope, and then pushed once more. No one stopped him, so he just kept catapulting himself further and further along toward unrestricted power and zero accountability.
Thirdly, and probably as a result of the two preceding arms, is abuse of power. It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believe Clinton is a textbook example of this truism. The more he got away with, the more he felt immune to judgment...and the more he lied, cheated, stole, manipulated, and
ultimately destroyed.Each time the Clintons have been confronted with their behaviors, they have proclaimed again and again: “It is partisan politics, the politics of personaldestruction.” “It is time to move on.” “We have work to do.” “We must do the business of the people.” In other words, when he, she, or both were caught red-handed, their paraphrased response was: “You big meanies, leave us alone.
Don’t you have anything better to do?”Repeatedly, in the bright light of truth, the responses from Bill and Hillary have been nothing short of evasive. They don’t remember. They had no knowledge. And so on and so on. With so little knowledge of the process of which they were a part, how did they manage to run the country? It somehow feels disingenuous.
But the question is “legacy”. How will history view the Clinton years? We look a century ago, and one or two things stand out in each President’s history - their legacy. If I were alive a century or two hence, doing my US History homework telepathically by holographic laser, what would I learn about Bill Clinton? Will the
keepers of the past remind us of what Clinton himself would like us to remember, or will the behaviors he has tried so hard to minimize be remembered as the greater truth? In the absence of a crystal ball, it is hard to say, as all the facts are not yet known - perhaps they never will be. I think it depends upon the desire of the American people to know the truth, and to insist that action be taken, if warranted.It is my opinion that honest historians will ultimately view Bill Clinton as a moderately effective leader domestically, particularly when it came to extracting money from the people and spending it somewhat willy-nilly. Given his ineffectiveness in foreign affairs, he will doubtless be considered a relative cipher in the world community.
Given the vastness of the Clinton misdeeds, one cannot assume that historians will stop at administrative facts and figures. It would appear that, when all is said and done, Clinton will leave in his wake the assessment of himself as an embarrassment, and his administration as a significant step backward for our national pride and our international reputation. All the perceived good that he may have done will no doubt be remembered, even praised; but the ethical insolvency, the vacuum of values within which he has operated, and the apathetic denial of both on the part of his supporters will combine to create the more significant legacy. That being the revealing of America’s conscience - or lack thereof.
An interesting sidebar might be the effect of the Clinton “legacy” on his party. Could this be a crucial turning point for the Democrats? Will they reorganize their base in the wake of the Clinton tsunami of scandals, misdeeds, errors in judgment, and perhaps illegalities? With key Dems abandoning ship right and left, when the dust settles, in which direction will the infrastructure be leaning? The answers
rest in the ethical fiber of leading Democrats.Consider the amount of time it has taken (and still MAY take) for the Republicans to recover from Watergate - which was a drop in the bucket compared to what we are seeing with Clinton. Do the majority of Democrats have the strength of character to look at their party and realize that they probably cannot rebuild until they stop saying “Oh yeah, well the Republicans were just as bad.....”?
In conclusion, I believe that if Clinton swaggers into history without having to face the consequences of his abuses, the actual legacy he leaves will be the nadir of our national integrity, principle and pride. He has drug the office of the presidency
kicking and screaming into a swirling abyss of corruption. We can only hope that there is hope for recovery. Soon.It’s is very depressing to watch the decay of a nation. And with all my heart I pray: “God......please bless America. Even though we don’t deserve it.”