Karma Chameleon

The death of Ken Starr brought up a bunch of bad memories of the Clinton administration, least of all Monica Lewinsky.  I didn't give a damn whether Monica prodded herself with cigars, much to Bill's amusement.  It was that he apparently couldn't get enough of his intern, keeping visiting leaders on hold while he reveled in these fun and games. 

This was true throughout his administration. He was notoriously late for meetings, even with heads of state. It was often said he was reworking speeches or going over his notes again so as to be in command of the press conferences and high level meetings.  You do have to give him credit for appearing to be in control of the situations.  He was a remarkably adroit politician, able to find a way to worm himself out of any uncomfortable situation, until he met Monica.  He didn't figure she would keep a souvenir.  While it didn't bring down his presidency, it left an indelible stain.

However, the blue dress distracts most critics from the fundamental problem with Bill Clinton, his lack of commitment.  He would only stand behind an issue as long as he could gain from it politically.  Once that moment was lost, it didn't matter to him anymore.  

This was true with Palestine, the beleaguered territory, which for a brief moment looked like it might gain its statehood.  His administration had worked on this throughout his two terms of office, but in the end had nothing to show for it.  Clinton made a gallant final effort to broker a peace deal that would have given Palestine nominal statehood. The deal would have provided Clinton a much needed victory in the closing days of his administration.  Instead, the Palestinian leader balked, sending Clinton into a tirade and blaming Arafat for his maximalist views.  However, this points more to a lack of commitment on Clinton's part than it does Arafat's maximalism.  After all, Palestine had been a territory of Israel for more than 30 years with serious encroachments during that time.  Bill was never really interested in the particulars.  He just wanted a deal he could claim as his own.

If that sounds familiar it is because Bill Clinton shares many of the same traits as Donald Trump.  Impetuousness being at the top of the list.  Bill could no more contain his libido than he could his need to be viewed as a success.  Like Trump, his election was seen as an accident.  Had not Ross Perot run in 1992 it is very likely George Bush would have won a second term.  Perot won nearly 20 percent of the popular vote, splitting numerous states Bush should have won.  Clinton won with only 43% of the national popular vote.  He topped 50% in only his home state of Arkansas.  He "won" states like Montana, Maine and Nevada with less than 40% of the vote.  This is what happens in an election system that doesn't have runoffs.

Clinton very quickly found out he didn't have the will of the people behind him.  In 1994, Republicans took the House in a historic rout.  In an attempt to stave off the slaughter, Clinton adopted several of the planks from Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, namely a balanced budget and a draconian crime bill, which he managed to pass before the election. He hoped to woo moderate Republicans and Independents to his side, but to no avail.  Democrats even lost the Senate with a massive eight-person swing in the chamber, setting up Bob Dole as the new leader of the Republican Party.

Clinton proved himself to be quite resilient.  He pressed forward with a balanced budget, the first in a long time, earning the credit much to Newt Gingrich's chagrin.  But, you have to wonder why a Democrat would make this a priority?  Especially given the massive domestic cuts that were proposed, with Bill promising to end "welfare as we know it."

His plan was simple and ultimately destructive.  The federal government would no longer fund welfare directly but rather provide block grants to states to distribute how they saw fit. In many ways, this summed up Clinton perfectly.  A man who was big on speeches and promises but in the end took no responsibility for his actions. Instead of one overarching system, you now had 50 independent systems, nominally answerable to the federal government.  The end result was that recipients faired better in some states than in others.  When the financial crisis hit in 2008, many states used these funds for other purposes to try to alleviate the economic damage, with welfare recipients further suffering.  Clinton was now long out of office and could wash his hands clean of the matter, but the genesis of the welfare crisis came from his 1996 initiative.

However, this new welfare system was enough to win another term.  He showed he could work with Republicans in Congress, often against the interests of his own Democratic Party.  A crisis of confidence was forming but progressive Democrats felt powerless to stop Clinton.  They were very much in the minority.  Clinton had turned his back on national health care, gay rights and numerous other progressive issues because poll numbers suggested these issues were not popular with the public at large.  A lot of persons began asking if Clinton was a "closet Republican."  Well, that had always been the case.  He wouldn't have served multiple terms as governor of Arkansas had he not played to conservative issues.  Now, it was on full display.

Still, he was reviled in the conservative media.  I think largely because he had stolen their thunder.  Gingrich drifted into the background and was ultimately forced to step down as House Speaker after the notorious impeachment hearings damaged the Republican Party far worse than it did Bill Clinton.  Republicans barely clung onto the House.  The Republican Revolution was essentially over with little to show for it other than a tarnished president who had co-opted much of their platform.

The irony was that many persons felt sympathy for Bill Clinton in the wake of the 1998 impeachment  hearings.  They either couldn't find what the big deal was about a blow job or felt that Monica had enticed Bill with her provocative thongs.  His popularity was surprisingly high for an outgoing president whose legislative victories were conservative ones.  His foreign policy was in shambles after the failed peace summit between Israel and Palestine at Camp David.  His would-be successor Al Gore was unable to gain traction on George W. Bush, the incompetent son of the man Clinton had defeated in 1992.  The only saving grace was that his wife, Hillary, won the Senate seat from New York, having declared New York her residency just the year before.

Even to this day, many Democrats accord Bill Clinton a great deal of respect despite having sabotaged his wife's presidential bid not once but twice.  This is a guy who abandoned Hillary multiple times, the most heartrending being the way he dropped her health care initiative when it failed to gain any traction in the Democrat-controlled House. I would think for that reason alone Democrats would loathe Bill.  Nope.  To criticize Clinton on my liberal facebook friends' posts is to face a wrath similar to questioning the Beatles hallowed discography ; )

For whatever reason, Democrats have forgiven Bill Clinton, repeatedly, and seem to be gloating over Ken Starr's death, as if it was some kind of karma.  I suppose you can watch it all over again on Netflix, which is running the 2021 reenactment of Impeachment, but I don't want to go down that road again.