6 responses to “Clinton: Laughing About It”

1. 

   Joseph Marshall

   July 21, 2004 at 10:03 am

   Well, let’s see now…five separate blog postings on Mr. Berger and his purloined papers. I suppose it’s time to get in the pool.

   First the facts: Mr. Berger is under investigation by the FBI, has apparently admitted to having the papers and is subject to the laws forbidding such things, whatever they may be. I presume that if probable cause is found he will be indicted and prosecuted and (probably) plead it.

   Fine so far, nothing unexpected there, justice in the process of being done and done far better, actually, than in the case of my favorite terminally self-important journalist, Robert Novak and his “confidential sources”.

   Then, of course, Berger is no longer advising the Kerry campaign, which is a shame since he actually did know something about national security. But, when you do something as stupid as that, nobody with any sense can use you any more. Also fine, since common sense is served.

   Plenty of “coverage” without substantial new facts to justify it. But we are approaching the “silly season” in the Journalism biz and its too hot in New York and Washington to dig real hard into the serious issues which will decide this election.

   Undoubtedly plenty of pontifical posturing and finger wagging from the right, but its not as if members of that political persuasion with the really important government jobs have all that much serious work to do, now that they can’t Amend the Constitution by November.

   And, finally, of course, this little display of shock and horror over the reaction of a private citizen by the name of Bill Clinton, who happened to be Berger’s boss once upon a time–presumably when Berger’s brains were in better working order.

   It is eternally fascinating how the shadow of Bill Clinton still haunts the opposite party. It has apparently kept them from accomplishing anything substantial despite four years of their own sitting president, Congressional majorities, draconian party discipline, and a relatively pliant Supreme Court. You would have thought with advantages like that they would have done things to make us forget all about Bill Clinton, like, once upon a time, we forgot all about Jimmy Carter.

   Not to mention the highest Presidential approval rating ever seen back in 2002 after the invasion of Afghanistan. And now he commands the solid alliegence of perhaps 40%+ of the electorate?

   What’s wrong with this picture?

   Now I’m prejudiced, obviously, and I think it largely due to a President and a party who have been playing at government rather than governing, playing at war, for example, when it is interesting (when you can make explosions and when people shoot back) and letting it sit idle for six months when it begins to get dull. And playing with none of the toys–such as the economy or other domestic affairs–that are really dull and no fun. Even the truly unappetizing things, like the Wilson/Plame business, are permeated through and through with childish spite.

   I’m kind of angry about that actually. So I want to make sure that the image history has of George at his meeting with destiny–like Roosevelt addressing Congress after Pearl Harbor or Kennedy telling the public on television about the Russian missiles in Cuba–is that of him sitting and reading a children’s book. Because it is the true one.

   But even if my anger is discounted, it still the case that President Clinton’s very adult failings in an adult government that accomplished things even under some of the worst governing conditions ever seen in American politics, still seem to carry more impact in our minds than even the two wars the current occupant of the office has managed to start and not finish. Let alone all the other stuff that has been left to languish
2. 

   Attila Girl

   July 21, 2004 at 12:32 pm

   Thanks for the laugh, JM.
3. 

   Dodd

   July 21, 2004 at 4:24 pm

   WTF is Joseph Marshall talking about?!? I mean it, not one word of that diatribe made an ounce of sense. The Republican party is incapable of governing because of the “shadow of Clinton”? His proof of this is that you mention that, on the occasion of his former employee being embroiled in a scandal, Bill, who is certainly someone who’s opinion is relevant here made a statement about it (and a stupid one, at that, since laughing about lapses in maintaining the security of Top Secret information by his former NSA is strong evidence of just how unserious that entire crowd truly is)?!? All of which leads, ultimately, to the completely incomprehensible allegation that the GOP hasn’t accomplished anything in the last 3 1/2 years but Clinton did. The mind boggles.

   Bush has won two wars, liberating 50 million people and starting them on the long and difficult road from barbarism to democracy. There have been no more attacks on American soil since 9/11, and the leadership of al-Qaida is scattered and disorganized. North Korea, which insisted upon bilateral talks in which they could try to blackmail us into continuing to give them aid in return for empty promises they would never keep, was instead dragged into multilateral talks with all the region’s powers. Libya has foresworn terror and WMDs.

   Having inheritted a recession and presided over the additional economic body blow that was 9/11, he’s cut taxes three times, resulting in the fastest growing economy of the last two decades. He’s accomplished most of his campaign promises, including a few we conservatives hoped beyond hope he didn’t really mean (cf., Medicare prescription drugs, the largest entitlement expansion in three decades).

   Bill Clinton’s accomplishments in over twice that amount of time: Helping get the GOP-negotiated NAFTA treaty ratified (full marks for that, since he did it over the objections of most of his party). Signing welfare reform when backed into a corner. Bosnia, a true quagmire from which we have yet to extract ourselves. School uniforms. Emboldening our enemies thanks to a half-hearted, wrong-headed, feckless terrorism policy.

   Yeah, we’re just playing at governing while Bubba was a master statesman.