Too Close to Citizen Clinton

April 10, 2002

by Christopher G. Adamo

The title of Jonathan Alter’s recent Newsweek article, "Citizen Clinton Up Close," may cause most people to recoil, especially since the subtitle begins with the phrase "On the Fly." It is, we must remember, Bill Clinton about whom Alter is writing. Although it turns out that "On the Fly" does not carry the most likely connotation which might be associated with the former President but merely refers to his busy schedule, Alter’s article nonetheless succeeds in going downhill from there. But while it is tempting to put the piece down, in an effort to completely forget the nauseating unpleasantries of the Clinton years, such a response poses definite risks. Fundamental in the philosophies of last century’s most disreputable heads of state was the notion that if a lie is repeated frequently and fervently enough, it will eventually be believed. And Bill Clinton is just as busy lying these days as he ever was. Sadly, Bill Clinton is simply not going to go away.

Nor does it appear that any glimmer of penitence has permeated his thinking. Rather, he consistently exhibits the mentality of the spoiled sixteen-year-old who, having been cited and fined for traffic violations, refuses to admit any guilt whatsoever, but instead whines incessantly about the prejudices of the local cops.

Most adults would simply be too embarrassed to indulge in the sort of obsessive self-pity at which the former President is so adept. Bill Clinton however, has proven himself to be wholly incapable of embarrassment. Consider his response to the Marc Rich scandal, in which he granted a last-minute pardon to an obvious criminal whose voluptuous ex-wife frequented the White House and made enormous donations to the Clinton Library. (No pattern of suspicious behavior there.) From Clinton’s perspective, controversy resulted only from the fact that his critics spoke out. In his words, he "got mugged on the way out the door." Elsewhere, Alter describes Clinton as "bitter" and "barely hiding his hurt," clearly wallowing in his delusional contention that the raging scandals of his Presidency were all a fabricated series of baseless accusations.

Alter, between token attempts at offering sufficient criticism to feign objectivity, ultimately shows himself to be the sort of sycophant who generates so much cynicism towards the mainstream media. In a transparent effort to justify Clinton’s pretensions of having been unfairly treated, Alter contends that the $73 million Whitewater investigation "turned up no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the Clintons." He fails to mention the rulings of perjury and contempt of court, disbarment, misused FBI files, blue dresses, sexual harassment suits, or any other item on that interminably long list that most decent people would rather forget. Alter suggests that such abominable actions were not reason enough to rid the country of a corrupt and discredited presidency, and that they would have essentially gone unnoticed were it not for a partisan "GOP attack machine."

In a manner reminiscent of the former Soviet Union, which regularly telegraphed its sinister intentions to the world by making accusations against the West of the very outrage it was preparing to commit, Clinton talks of the "fanaticism" of Conservative America, whom he claimed "felt entitled to rule." Here, he is obviously reacting to that dastardly and inconvenient concept known as the "rule of law," by which his clearly unworthy political opposition sought to hold him accountable for his actions, thus preventing him from ruling in the unrestrained manner to which he felt entitled. In Clinton’s mind, the law was available to be invoked against his opponents as a weapon with which to bludgeon them into submission, as evidenced by his selective usage of IRS audits to intimidate those who dared to come against him. For himself, the law was merely an obstacle to be overcome in pursuit of his agenda, from which the country would undoubtedly benefit.

But when discussing the Eleventh of September, any pathetic amusement about the buffoonish antics of the former president abruptly ends, and Clinton displays the darkest depths of his shameless self absorption. While the entire country viewed the horrific happenings of that day from a perspective of lost lives, compromised security, heroism of those who lived through the nightmare and many who didn’t, Bill Clinton saw only opportunity for greatness which circumstances had unfairly bestowed on somebody other than himself.

Though it is virtually incomprehensible for the average human being to ponder all of the terror and tragedy of 9-11 in terms of one’s chances for reaping selfish gain, such is the automatic and all-consuming pattern of the Clinton mind. The fires of Oklahoma City had not yet been extinguished, nor the last of the survivors removed from the wreckage of the Murrah building, before Bill Clinton and his minions were busy exploiting that awful happening, issuing baseless statements suggesting links to his political enemies.

Bill Clinton is frustrated and resentful because, in his mind, fate had ordained that greatness would elude him. Fate, aided by the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy," also ordained that his legacy would be one of disgrace, encapsulated in juvenile statements of denial such as "I did not inhale." and "I did not have sex with that woman... Ms. Lewinsky." But the greatness which evaded his persistent grasp was not to be... is never to be. For something worthy must first exist in the soul of a man before it can be profitably shared among those whom his life touches. Nothing in Bill Clinton’s scripted words or empty deeds ever suggested the presence of any worthy thing within his soul. Indeed one is given to wonder if that soul even exists.

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Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming with his wife and sons. He has been involved in grassroots political activity for many years. Chris was the editor of the Wyoming Christian from 1994 to 1996, and his columns can also been seen at CheyenneNetwork.com.

Send the author an E mail at Adamo@ConservativeTruth.org.

For more of Christopher's articles, visit his archives.