Curt Mudgeon July 1999 I always cringe when pundits describe Mr. Clinton as a "brilliant" politician. I cringe because such opinions always go unchallenged and unexplained, as if they were self-evident truths that God Himself would have revealed in 1992 A.D. Today, I decided to stop cringing and to investigate what makes Mr. Clinton a "brilliant politician" in the eyes of the pundits, including some of Mr. Clinton's detractors. Mr. Clinton's main tour de force was to be elected twice to the presidency. Yet, what has he achieved during his tenure? Not much good. He raised taxes, used the White House as a hotel to feed his campaign chest, debased his office, abused his power of executive order, took to his bully pulpit to deepen ethnic divisions among the population, degraded our defense, and increased futile government spending. He also allowed the transfer of sensitive military technology to Red China, accepted campaign contributions from said Red China, lied under oath, was impeached, and embarked on some inane mission of destruction in the Balkans to salvage his legacy. Does that sort of record make him a brilliant politician in the eyes of the pundits? The answer is a resounding yes, which says something about the pundits. The point of import is that Mr. Clinton got away with it. Many people who approached Mr. Clinton call his manner "charming." He is particularly popular with yuppies who like to see themselves in him, because he is a member of their generation, which they consider the most important generation since the beginning of time. Mr. Garrison Keillor, the yuppiedom idol who made his fortune on tax-supported radio by deriding Minnesota Lutherans---Ha-Ha!---one time wrote a gushing column on Mr. Clinton. In that memorable piece, he declared himself willing to acquit the president of all his misdeeds, because he and Mr. Clinton being about the same age made him feel very good. The president's preoccupation with his own discomfort and lack of remorse during the impeachment proceedings went unnoticed, because self-preoccupation is the natural state of mind of many yuppies. Besides, didn't the same yuppies dodge the draft, cheat at their college exams, and lie whenever it served them? So, who's to blame the "charming" president? A hitherto unknown yuppie substratum, the "soccer moms," also likes Mr. Clinton and finds his manner charming. He understand them, feels their pain, and appointed so many women to cabinet posts. Even a declared lesbian! He also kept the camel's nose safely out of the tent by vetoing a ban on partial-birth abortion. All that indicates genuine compassion for the wretched condition imposed on the soccer moms, which Jessie Helms and the right-wing Republicans would make much worse without the president's vigilance. That Mr. Clinton tends to drop his pants in the presence of young women just shows that the man harbors intense feelings, a charming quality so rarely found in men that he shouldn't be blamed for such peccadilloes. Wasn't he even seen shedding an occasional tear or two in the proper circumstances? The presidential empathy reaches well beyond the soccer moms. He has felt the pain of the sick, the old, and the young. He felt the pain of black people every time he needed their votes. He even made up childhood memories about burnings of black churches to prove his sincerity. It worked so well that a celebrated black author conferred upon him the title of "black president," citing his saxophone playing, his philandering, his appetite for fast food, and other seemingly less stately tastes as supporting evidence. No one among the sensitive watchdogs of politically-correct disposition found such utterances offensive to black people. Only conservatives dared point out the impropriety, but they were soundly rebuked for being unhip, humorless, prejudiced, and full of hate. It is Mr. Clinton's boundless compassion and empathy that produced the Somalia fiasco, the Haiti fiasco, and the incipient Kosovo fiasco. That our foreign policy is driven by the overflow of the presidential feelings is the official line, but we should know better. Mr. Clinton is an inept, dangerously self-centered president who will try anything stupid to salvage his legacy. So, what can be said of a man who lies, is inept and dishonest in the execution of his office, makes so many people find him charming, understanding, and compassionate, and is so preoccupied with himself and his image? The answer is deceptively simple. He is a confidence man, a gyp, a fraud, a flimflammer, a charlatan. Aha! But how could such a man be elected to a second term and how didn't he get booted out of office? Because he benefited from much help. First, he hired into his staff a gang of master con men to work full-time at creating as much confusion and disinformation as possible about his malversations. Second, he took advantage of the complicit bias of information media largely hostile to the Republican Party, which provided ample air time and space to his spin doctors---the euphemism for con men. Third, the determination of the Democrats to regain control of the Congress and to keep their man in the White House by any means played a rock-solid game of obstruction. Fourth, instead of exposing the president for what he is, Republican congressional leaders seeked to appease the Democrat juggernaut with talks of bipartisanship and then surrendered unconditionally. Fifth, the president took credit for the good economy, a circumstance with which he had little to do, and no one challenged him on that. Finally, a confused, disenchanted, and poorly informed electorate just lost interest. This country's workings are based on good faith, honesty, and competence. There was a time, not so distant, when I could trust the head mechanic of the neighborhood gas station to do whatever service my car needed. I didn't have to sign a work order, and I didn't have to tell the man what to do. He never performed unnecessary work, nor did he ever overcharge me, and my car was running like clockwork. Now, if he had tried to swindle me, I wouldn't have called him a "brilliant" mechanic, even if he had made considerable efforts to cover his misdeed. I would have called him a fraud and would have taken my business elsewhere, that is, I would have fired him. Now, it seems that Mr. Clinton, the head mechanic of the country, is a "brilliant" politician for breaking the implicit contract of good faith, honesty, and competence, and getting away with it. That would make Al Capone a brilliant businessman---until the law caught up with him---and Goebbels a brilliant public servant---until he committed suicide. It is true that a successful politician must project an image similar to a con man's. He must be charming, understanding, and exude competence and honesty, but only his character can make him brilliant. Brilliance in politics is more than just winning elections. It is measured by the good contributed to the country and its institutions. Mr. Clinton has no valid claim there, and he will remain in history the hollow man who gypped his way to the presidency |