Tim Rollins Photo courtesy of Beth Rollins

Last night was the final of three debates between Vice President Al Gore and Governor George W. Bush. Although George Bush seemed hesitant at times during the evening, he articulately defended his positions in a number of instances. If I were to award a final score for the three debates, I would determine the score to be Bush 2, Gore 0 and Tie 1. However, Gore continued to blur the line between reality and his own idea of what he perceived it to be.

But the thing that remained in my mind throughout the evening as I listened to it online was the inexorable connection between Al Gore and his buddy, President Bill Clinton. In the course of his two terms, the President has undermined so many areas of America it may take years or decades to repair – if they can even be fixed – and it’s the President that merits a closer look at this point.

There are many examples of this. For openers, we start with our military readiness, which has gone down the tubes significantly since Papa Bush left office in 1993. Things have reached the point that our top military brass have finally admitted to themselves and to Congress that the nation’s military is in need of repair. Oh, they didn’t use these words – after all they want to maintain their careers, and when you get that high in the military, you are as much a politician as you are tactician, and the operative rule is CYA – Cover Your Assets.

The way the military has done this is by their going to Congress and asking for a lot more money for new equipment that they say is critical to the national need. The Chief of Staff for the Army, General Eric Shinseki, has asked Congress for permission to raise the authorized strength from 480,000. The figure being bandied about is 520,000. All I can tell you is that the number is still too small, especially based on the fact that we are still spread too thin and that are still too many assorted cretins and wackos out there and some of them have nuclear capabilities. Look no further than the terrorist attack on the USS Cole last week that resulted in the deaths of 17 American sailors.

Another area in which our nation has suffered as a result of Clinton is the loss of the level of international prestige and respect we had under Reagan and George Bush the father. With our military readiness down and Clinton’s decisions of questionable wisdom that involved sending or keeping troops in harm’s way, such as Somalia and Haiti as well as Kosovo, we have seen things go wrong with the pride many of us once felt in being Americans.

Of all the things that Clinton has done that has cost us as a nation, it would have to be the Monica Lewinsky affair and the soiling of the Oval Office by a twenty-something intern who orally copped the President that was for many Americans our lowest moment. The subsequent ruckus that came with Monica as well as Linda Tripp led to only the second impeachment of a President in American history. On the day of the impeachment, instead of doing damage control and suggesting to Clinton that he resign, Gore conducted a pep rally on Clinton’s behalf. As to the possibility of Clinton resigning from office like Nixon did, over 100 major American newspapers called for Clinton to resign, yet he was and remains to this day as too wrapped up in his own power and lust for more of the same.

When it came to the impeachment trial of the President, the Senate failed to have the necessary courage to convict Clinton as the process being compromised from the get-go. The fix was in, the outcome was pre-determined and the process corrupted. Even Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) got in on the act when he told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) that he didn’t care if there was tape of Clinton attacking the woman (Juanita Broaddrick) and standing over her dead body, that there was no way that they were going to get the 67 votes needed for conviction. Sure enough, the Senate ended with a vote of 50-50 on one count and 45-55 on the other.

When it comes to going to bat for our allies, Bill Clinton has proven that he is not there for our allies as he should. America has always had unwavering support for Israel, yet in the recent strife that has pervaded the Middle East, Clinton was not there for Israel like his predecessors were. This was demonstrated by the United States abstaining from voting in the UN condemnation of Israel by the Security Council last week. Ha the United States voted against the resolution, it would not have passed. Clinton’s wife Hillary, ever the opportunist in her bid for a New York Senate seat, condemned the President for his decision not to go to bat for Israel.

In less than 14 weeks, the scourge that has been the hallmark of America – the Bill Clinton administration, will make its transition into the history books. A new President will take office and hopefully, a new President (preferably Bush instead of Gore) will put America back on track to its destiny with greatness.

The sooner it happens, the better.

• Photo of Clinton courtesy of The Associated Press files.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission