We now have a new administration in Washington D.C. After the bitter fruit of the Clinton Administration, America has at last begun to recover, and the world will be better for it. There were certain things for which the Clinton administration deserved credit: fidelity to the principle of free trade, in NAFTA and GATT; a cautious expansion of NATO, bringing in qualified Central European countries as is practicable; and cheerleading for high- tech, which drove a lot of market activity in the decade. On the other hand, after the health care debacle, and the capture of Congress by the Republicans, the agenda was largely controlled by Republicans, or stalled: welfare reform, deficit reduction, and serious debate on tax reform all come from the Republican side, primarily. And there are serious problems, like the squandering of American influence in Russia; the degradation of the armed forces due to mission creep and inattention to readiness issues; and the yet to be measured impact of overuse of the presidential directive, especially in imposing costs that were meant to be "socialized", if incurred at all, in order to avoid undue negative impact.
But the main thing is that, on balance, the Clinton administration was at best mediocre and lucky in its era, and this must then be balanced against the damage done to the institution of the presidency by innovations like the never ending campaign; the egregious spin cycle; turning the White House into Liars R Us, so that it becomes a mere joke that the man can hardly breathe without falsehood; and the brazenness and obvious willingness to destroy people rather than admit a failing that occurred in the final scandals. To say that Clinton has been a disgrace to the presidency is somewhat understated. I rejoice that he is gone, and consider it the first sweet fruit of the New Year........ |
