9/7/98

Clinton's Presidency Is Over

I have been asked, and agreed, to write a regular column for "As Maine Goes." Since this is my inaugural effort, I'm just going to tell you what I have on my mind this morning.

When I woke up at 5:00 AM, the sound of church bells was coming through my open window. I swear I could also hear Chopin's "Prelude in C Minor" in the background. The "Prelude" is best known as a funeral dirge and it occurred to me that what I was hearing was the sound of the Clinton presidency heading for the cemetery, for as things stand now, it doesn't matter anymore much whether he resigns, is impeached, or allowed to finish his term in office, his presidency is, for all practical purposes, over.

Shortly after Clinton's election back in 1992, my wife and I were traveling out to California by auto and I saw a sign on the interstate advising me to take the next exit to visit Hope, Arkansas. Since I needed fuel and a snack, and I was curious about Bubba's birthplace, I decided to take a break and visit the place. Rest assured that Hope, Arkansas, isn't much more than a dot on the map, but I was curious, so we swung off the highway. We pulled into one of those joints, right on Main St., that offer quick fuel and snacks, but this one also had an attached car wash. As I was filling up my tank, the owner spied my Maine plates and my bumper sticker reading "Clinton-Gore, Gone in Four" and came out to chat.

He said that he just loved that bumper sticker, so much so that I could have a free car wash. He went on to express his disbelief that a man like Bill Clinton, whom he described as "white trash," could ever have been elected to the highest office in the land. He told me that the nation, to it's profound regret, would soon learn what most Arkansans, at least those who could read and write, (and in Arkansas, there were not that many of them) already knew-Clinton was a sleaze, and except for a deep desire to hold elective office, was without standards of any kind. I really didn't know much about our newly elected president at that time, but I was a bit stunned by the attack.

But as time passed and Clinton became better known to me, I realized that the man was essentially correct. As 1998 draws to a close, it is becoming more and more evident that "white trash" is a rather appropriate, if short, description of the man from Hope. The Lewinsky affair, while certainly not the most serious damage this president has visited on this nation and the office he holds, ("Chinagate" will wind up holding that title) is absolutely disgraceful. And just think, Starr hasn't even issued his final report yet.

It is my belief that Sen. Orrin Hatch, the guy with the real tight, real stiff shirt collars, is responsible for bringing Clinton down. Hatch, on one of the Sunday talk shows, was the first major political figure to say that if Clinton would only come clean and tell the truth about the Lewinsky affair, the American people would be willing to forgive and forget and the whole thing would blow over. Clinton, dumb cluck that he is, took the bait and made a confession (at least his version of one) and an apology in the now famous four minute speech. Once he did that, his defenses were gone and the sharks, of both parties, began circling the water.

You know, he really could have continued to stonewall the whole sordid affair, even in the face of the DNA evidence on the famous blue dress, right? After all, they had all kinds of DNA evidence on OJ Simpson and he's still a free, although not very popular, man. I think Hatch conned Clinton, which I don't believe is very hard to do. The mass media claims Clinton is very bright, but you can't prove it by me. I mean how smart is it to make (75) phone calls to a lover other than your wife right from your own house, all the while knowing that a special prosecutor is watching you like a hawk?

It seems incredible, but the "Wag the Dog" explanation of our missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan is becoming more viable with each passing day. An AP story last week made it apparent that Clinton himself, rather than Pentagon officials, chose the targets for the attacks, and a Boston Globe editorial (9/5/98) titled "The Wrong Target in Sudan" points out that Sudan's destroyed al Shifa plant really was engaged in the manufacture of harmless pharmaceuticals, laxatives for the most part.

Meanwhile, Clinton called off random inspections of suspected sites in Iraq so as to avoid another confrontation with the man who actually is producing weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein. Can anyone explain that for me?

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