Monday, December 13, 2010

Bill Clinton's full time lovers

That would be the media.  This AP piece covering Bill Clinton's 'improptu' press briefing in support of President Obama's tax deal, reads like the diary of a groupie.  At any moment you expect the article to break out in hymns of praise and thanksgiving.  This, of course, has been the biggest aid to Clinton's legacy. 

IMHO, one of the biggest problems America has is the legacy of two ineffective presidents back to back who were both reelected for two terms.  To paraphrase the late William F. Buckley, George W. Bush got it, he just didn't know what to do about it.  And Bill Clinton got it, but only cared as long as it didn't blow up in our face while he was president.  Most of the problems that GW Bush failed to resolve were sewn and nurtured during the Clinton years.  Thanks to a partisan media and the lack of alternate news sources the picture of Clinton's awesomeness was pressed on the American mind.  In addition, the increasing advocacy of American academia gives a sense of depth to the Clinton worship.  Nevertheless, the proof is in the pudding.  Contrary to Pop Narratives, things weren't great until 2001.  Things were already beginning to unravel by the end of the 1990s, with warnings of the impending crisis being sounded as early as 1998.  By September 11, 2001, it should have been clear that serious lapses in priorities and oversight had taken place in the years leading up to that fateful day.

But don't expect the press to ever, ever point that out.

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