The Myth of Bill Clinton

Last week I saw a bumper sticker that read "I miss Bill."

For some reason, that really pissed me off. Now, I personally don't think Bill did a good job as president. I think he should have been impeached (for lying, not for getting a blow job from Lewinsky, but I will get back to that) and I think he was one of the most overrated presidents ever.

Lets look at some time line issues with old Slick Willie. Bill is said to have been in charge of the greatest economic upswing in the history of the US. Really? Was he in charge or did he just catch the wave?

When Clinton came into office at the start of 1993 the US was coming out of a mini-recession. But in the last quarter of 1992 the economy had one of the biggest upswings in the previous 40 years. Hmmm.

Then there was the whole Internet boom. Investment dollars went into the net in the TRILLIONS of dollars. It has been estimated that every railroad in the US could have been built twice over in the money lost in the Internet boom. (How much money went into bridges during this time do you think?)

So you have two events of the perfect economic storm that helped to push the economy upwards at a phenomenal rate.

Then lets look at what Bill did. For the first two years Bill was a disaster. He raised taxes. He got everything passed he wanted.

By the end of 2004 he had his lowest approval rating (see graph,) which led to the Newt Gingrich led Contract with America and the return of the House and Senate to Republican control for the first time in two generations.

But then something interesting happened. With a Republican congress, Bill couldn't get everything passed. Sure, he passed the good ideas, or approved the good ideas of Congress, and suddenly his Presidency started looking pretty good.

Lets look as some things he deserves "credit for" that few seem to remember. After the original World Trade Center attack he responded by saying it was a "tragedy." Uh, no. It was an act of war. But Bill reacted as if this bombing was an earthquake or accident.

Bill had the chance to either arrest (his preference) or kill (heaven forbid) Osama Bin Laden. The Sudan had OBL in country and under tabs and offered him to the US for economic considerations. They wanted the US to come get him covertly, basically the same way France picked up Carlos the Jackal, so the Sudan could look the other way but still get what they wanted. Bill decided not to take the Sudan up on the offer and later denied the offer was ever made. (There is plenty of evidence pointing to this being a real and legitimate offer. Easiest to back up by reading "Losing Bin Laden" but there is evidence.)

There is also anecdotal evidence (pretty solid, too) that the CIA had the opportunity to kill OBL in an Afghanistan terrorist training camp. He was identified by an unmanned drone (like a huge remote control airplane.) Bill's opinion? He needed secondary verification before he would authorize an air strike or cruise missile. HUH!?! What, like having a CIA agent phone in and verify, or better yet, have one of the terrorists hold up a big sign that said "Hooray, Osama is here, RIGHT NOW!" So, no secondary verification and no killing OBL. Therefore, 9/11 actually happens because Bill wouldn't pull the trigger.

Then there is the sex thing. Again, I don't think Bil should have been impeached for sex. However, he did lie under grand jury testimony (didn't Scooter Libby get 2 years for that?) But even worse, Bill was accused of groping, inappropriately touching, or raping, (yes, RAPING) several women from Jenifer Flowers (affair), Juanita Broaddrick (rape), Paula Jones (forced sodomy), Sandra Allen James (sexual assault), Christy Zercher (exposed himself), Elizabeth Ward (rape.)

Ethics, smethics.

But lets look at Monica Lewinsky. Now, I am going to say something tongue in cheek. It is one thing for JFK to cheat on his wife with Marilyn Monroe (who wouldn't), and yes, I have seen Hillary (yikes), but to cheat on her with Monica Lewinsky? If this isn't an indictment on 1) Clinton's sexual obsession 2) his eyesight and/or 3) his brutal lack of judgement, what is?

So how can you miss Bill? Well, I guess you can miss him if you are uninformed. Like the fact that he was a serial sexual assaulter (to be generous.) Or if you simply believe that he was the right man for the job (if the job was to decimate the military.)

You miss Bill. I don't.

Parents and enlistments

I read an article today in the Washington Post about a mother who is upset her daughter was killed in Iraq. The daughter joined the Army after high school because she wasn't ready for college and wanted to travel. So, she enlisted in the Army.
She was killed in August.
Her mother was upset claiming her daughter was scared, sick and against the war.
"I am very upset that this has happened," Samuels's distraught mother, Anika Lawal of Waldorf, said yesterday. "I want to know why I'm planning a funeral while George Bush is planning a wedding." (from W. Post story.)
Hmmm. So again, this is President Bush's fault. I have made this point before about Cindy Sheehan, so let me say it again.
THE ARMY IS A FULLY VOLUNTARY FORCE! NO ONE MADE THIS GIRL ENLIST. SHE SIGNED UP. SHE JOINED BY HER OWN FREE WILL. AND IF MOM DIDN'T APPROVE, SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO KEEP HER FROM ENLISTING.
After someone enlists, they go through a 8-9 week basic training. If it turns out the person just can't hack it as a soldier, they are discharged. If they truly think they made a mistake, were lied to by recruiters, or just can't handle it, they can go a to a chaplain, a First Sergeant, or other top leader and talk to them about it. Generally, the leader will of course try to talk them into staying. They will give different options. And they will remind the young soldier that they chose their path and the Army wants them to live up to their promise.
But, regardless, lets look at what happens BEFORE the soldier enlists. I have yet to hear Cindy Sheehan say anything about how she tried to talk her son out of enlisting. If she did, what did she say? Did she threaten him? Did she do everything she could to change his mind if she was SooOOooo against the military? On the show Intervention there is a line about parents not "loving their kids to death." So how far did Ms. Sheehan take it? I would venture not very far if the rest of her family (who has basically disowned her for damaging the memory of her son) supported her son and are at least proud of his sacrifice. (BTW, it is ok to be sad and proud of a soldier dying in the line of duty.)
And what about Ms. Lawal? Where was she when her daughter enlisted? Her daughter was a "girly girl" who loved to wear pink and painter her car to match a Barbie car she had when she was small(!) Not exactly the first image you have when you think of a girl enlisting as a soldier.
So what made her do it? Why enlist? Maybe because she wanted to serve her country? She wanted to travel? She didn't understand the implications of enlisting? Well, regardless, she chose to enlist no one forced her.

To recap, if you didn't do everything as a parent to keep your child from enlisting and something happens to them in combat or other related incident, it is not the fault of the President. It is not the fault of the Generals. It was a choice made by your child and it was up to them to sign on the dotted line. No one else has that choice.