Wednesday, February 21, 2001
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Wednesday, February 21, 2001 |
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Fine, let the Clinton show go on forever By DAVE HAMRICK All right ... one look back, but that's it. We're done with Bill Clinton, and I'm sure you're just as tired of seeing columns about him as I am of writing them. But there's a social phenomenon taking place that bears comment, if only because it has already received so much comment thus far. Clinton, the former prez, is getting more press than Bush, the new one. Between the last-minute bribery pardons and the office space debacle, Clinton remains a flamboyant, controversial polyester leisure suit that just can't be ignored amid the new buttoned-down dullness that has descended on national politics. I even heard a caller on a talk show (probably a plant) saying that he was going to file suit to force Clinton to get the heck off the stage already. The host's style is to keep a caller like that on the air and get another caller who disagrees on at the same time and let them battle it out. Ironically, most of the people giving this guy a hard time were Bush-ites, basically telling him to get a grip. It is partly Congressional Republicans, of course, who are keeping Bill in the limelight. The pardons would already be forgotten if committees weren't having hearings on them. The Bush Administration is wisely steering clear. Personally, I don't have a problem with having hearings if they're going anywhere with them. I just can't figure out where. Maybe there's something in the laws of the land that I don't know about, but as far as I know the president has the power to pardon anybody anytime for anything and for any reason. I've never heard of anything written anywhere that says he can't pardon somebody in exchange for political contributions ... or cash, or stock or back rubs, for that matter. I guess maybe it's worth a couple of hearings just to make sure the history books reflect one more time what a skank this guy really is. But if that's what they're going for, they need to end it pretty soon before it backfires on them. As for the fact that Clinton is stealing the limelight from Bush, I think that's probably a good thing. Though the early days of the administration haven't gotten much press, they've gotten some, and I've been paying attention even if nobody else has. I'm interested to see what kind of leader we're going to end up with here. You may recall that I wasn't all that thrilled with either candidate during the campaign. But I've been impressed so far with the way Bush has quietly gone about doing all the right things without a lot of fanfare. He didn't march into Washington and just start throwing money at the Pentagon, though the military has been sadly neglected these last eight years. He realized or his advisors did at least that part of the neglect has been that the military hasn't had a thorough review of its mission and strategy in all this time, and pumping up its budget might well be throwing good money after bad. He has begun meeting with world leaders, and they, from what I've read, all seem to have left these meetings reassured that the new leader of the Free World isn't going to go off half-cocked and ignite some sort of global Jerry Springer show. He met with the secretary general of the U.N. and reassured him that America stands ready to continue its full support of that organization. And he has started to work on the promised tax cuts, again without much fanfare. "I promised it, and now I'm doing it," he seems to be saying. "No big deal." And while he and his top advisors set about getting down to business quietly, soberly, responsibly, all the hype over Clinton just serves to put a spotlight on the contrast. The MTV crowd has been in charge for eight years, and in many ways it was fun. But sooner or later you have to get back to some semblance of reality. And now the adults have reasserted some decorum and brought some mature perspective to the national scene. Give me a nice, dull eight years, and Clinton is welcome to center stage for those who can't turn their heads away from a nasty train wreck. There's nothing wrong with a little comic relief.
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