President Clinton--a President of CHANGE

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Dallas Morning News-Opinion

Gayle Allen Cox: Good riddance to hopeless man from Hope

12/18/2000

By Gayle Allen Cox

During Bill Clinton's nomination acceptance speech in August 1992, he said, "It is time for a change in America." And once elected, he rode into Washington, promising reformation as never before.

Regardless of your political persuasion, you must agree that Mr. Clinton has succeeded in his quest for change. In fact, all sorts of changes have taken place in this country since his inaugural address in January 1993.

Let's name a few, shall we?

A draft dodger became president.

A president was sued for sexual harassment.

A president established a legal defense fund.

A president engaged in illicit sex in the Oval Office with an intern half of his age.

A president redefined "is," redefined "alone" and redefined what it means to win at any cost.

An elected president was impeached.

A president was accused of rape.

A president was found in contempt of court, was fined for contempt of court and was found in violation of the law by a federal judge.

A first lady was subpoenaed in a criminal investigation.

A first lady's fingerprints were found on dubiously "missing" subpoenaed documents.

The Lincoln Bedroom became the Lincoln Motel.

Top-secret FBI files were pilfered through – and nobody went to jail.

More than 120 contributors to the Clinton-Gore campaign either took the Fifth Amendment or fled the country.

The National Organization for Women remained calm, cool and collected when a powerful man (the most powerful in the world, in fact) treated women like sex objects and disposed of them at will.

The mainstream press accepted the notion that presidential immorality is a "private" matter.

Indeed, if ever a president has brought change to America, it is William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.

Still, he (and his admirers in the press) incessantly fret over what his legacy will be. Will he be remembered as a good president? A great president? A mediocre president?

Distressing though it is for some, fretting over Mr. Clinton's legacy is a waste of time. Regardless of what historians write, Mr. Clinton won't be remembered as a good president, a great president or even a mediocre president.

Mr. Clinton will be remembered as a lying president, loyal to no one but himself.

Even before setting up house on Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Clinton lied:

No, he never had a sexual relationship with Gennifer Flowers. No, he didn't inhale. No, he wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class. Yada, yada, yada. Just one lie after another. Whatever he needed to say to become president of the United States, Mr. Clinton said it.

And – when his days in the Oval Office seemed numbered – whatever Mr. Clinton needed to say to remain president, he said that, too.

Never mind there wasn't a grain of truth in anything he said. Never mind he inflicted irreparable harm on those around him.

In fact, if it hadn't been for Linda Tripp, the lying president would have depicted Monica Lewinsky as nothing but a big-bosomed lunatic.

He already was moving in that direction when he looked into the camera, wagged his finger and said, "Now, you listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."

What a bunch of baloney!

But did Mr. Clinton care? Absolutely not. "Ms. Lewinsky" had fulfilled her role in his life, and he had to get back to work deceiving the American people.

And that is exactly what he would have done if a certain blue dress hadn't been put away for safekeeping. (Thank you, Linda Tripp. Ms. Lewinsky owes you big time.)

Even liberal columnist Richard Cohen of the Washington Post said Mr. Clinton probably will go down in history as "one of those presidents who proved smaller than the office he held – a man whose moral leadership was written in print so fine no one but he could read it."

Amen, Richard. I couldn't agree more.

And you can bet your last dime I won't shed one tear when the hopeless man from Hope, his power-hungry wife and his most unethical administration in history pack their bags and exit the White House.

It is my house, after all. And fumigation is way over due.

Gayle Allen Cox is a free-lance writer who lives in Fort Worth.

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), December 18, 2000

Answers

Even liberal columnist Richard Cohen of the Washington Post said Mr. Clinton probably will go down in history as "one of those presidents who proved smaller than the office he held – a man whose moral leadership was written in print so fine no one but he could read it."

For me, Clinton will always be John Travolta in Primary Colors

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), December 18, 2000.


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