Paul -- The recount may have been a turning point, but I would
think it happened earlier. President Clinton's tenure was the
milestone of the postmodern era, where it was no longer important
what someone did or didn't do; How he played to the camera was what
was most important. It was said that no Republican administration
could get away with what his did, but what was most galling was
that no administration prior to his would have ever dared behave
like his, regardless of party. (You can make an argument for
Carter, except his public diplomacy was a caricature of itself
enough to quicken support for Our Ron.)
I mention this as a testament to spin, and the tactics Clinton
employed in maintaining an upper hand, what he referred to as
"triangulation." That was a clever word for what was actually a
failure on his part to employ good policies or make the right
decisions, leading him to use the press office more exclusively as
his mode of effecting change. Now, having nourished on the
massively entertaining show put on by the Altar Boy from Arkansas,
liberal groups hate Bush for being everything Clinton was not --
moral (and not moralizing), confident (and not empathizing), and
Republican.
So where does national security come in?
One of the most shocking aspects of Clinton's tenure was in the
neglect of his draft-dodging. The apathy to that charge was
symptomatic of a nescient media, and perhaps the populace in
general about the Vietnam conflict and the "peace movement" (who am
I kidding, I'm referring to the Kultursmog). There was
little discussion about the state of our military in those years,
particularly on Clinton's behalf who stumped on 3 major occasions
about it: Don't Ask Don't Tell (which reflected on the military
negatively), Kosovo (which had the appearance of an air show), and
briefly, Iraq (coming amidst the height of the scandals). His
attention was far more focused on making sure the Republicans would
not ruin his legacy by impeaching him for only a few of the things
he did that were impeachable.
While today, many Americans look at that period as The Time
Republicans Went Too Far, what was really egregious was the
way the President abused his power and manipulated the media, and
the military, in order to beat his rap. With such a no-holds-barred
approach, he set the precedent of "throw everything at them," and
now, as though they were projecting their own flaws of yesteryear
onto this presidency, they are undermining everything of value in
our efforts, military or otherwise, around the globe.
topics:
Law, Military, Iraq
