Dear Bob,
Perhaps the "mortal head wound" referring to the antichrist is not a bullet to the brain. Perhaps it is symbolic to the "little head" wound that Clinton received which many thought would be mortal. Read below how Clinton has magically "come back" from this mortal "head" wound! This whole subject has gotten entirely too much "lip service" according to the American sheep. It is a testimonial, however, for therapeutic massage's benefits in "raising the dead". (gg)
Wall Street Journal - 11/05/98
By NEIL KING JR.
Remember the Bill Clinton who appeared mortally wounded just weeks ago? Or the fears that a White House hounded by scandal
could no longer concentrate on the world's woes?
Those days seem largely gone.
American voters threw surprising support behind the Democratic Party in Tuesday's midterm elections in a result that delivered a
blow to Republican efforts to drive President Clinton from office. A president once hobbled by controversy and impending
impeachment now looks set to emerge from the vote better equipped to do battle at home and abroad.
A buoyant Mr. Clinton on Wednesday called the election "astonishing" and said that "the lesson all people should draw is the
people who were rewarded were rewarded because they want to do something for the American people. ... I think it is a vindication
of the policies and of the general policy of putting partisanship behind progress and of putting people before politics.''
Analysts say the vote went beyond the many local and congressional seats that were up for grabs across the U.S. Against the
odds, the Democrats picked up five seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, narrowing the Republic majority to 12 votes --
and throwing cold water on the push to impeach the president.
That in itself drew audible sighs in Europe, which has long been baffled by the oddities of the Monica Lewinsky affair. Europeans
welcomed the revival of a presidency that many feared had been incapacitated by a long season of scandal.
"What we saw going on across the Atlantic was a bit crazy, to be honest," says Dominique Moisi, associate director of the French
Institute for International Relations. "For us, this election marks a return to rationality and to what matters in the world, which is the
need for strong American leadership."
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine applauded the results as "a good thing for democracy" and said he was glad that Mr.
Clinton lost no weight in any of the 34 contests for the U.S. Senate and even less in the races for the House.
"The Congress that's returning will look very much like the one that was here before, and that was a Congress little interested in the
outside world," says Richard Haass, director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
Nor should anyone anticipate a spate of new initiatives from the White House. "What we will have is the continuity of inconsistency,
meaning that Clinton's team can now return to what has never been a very strong or focused foreign policy anyway," Mr. Haass
adds.
Markets Rally
Nonetheless, in a world feeling a bit jittery these days, the prospect of a stable -- if staid -- Clinton presidency struck many as good
news. European stock markets rallied as the results came in. On Wednesday, German stocks closed up 2.9%, British stocks rose
2.1% and French stocks gained 2.8%.
"The political uncertainty has subsided in the U.S., which is good for European markets," says Kirit Shah, chief investment
strategist for Sanwa Securities.
Agrees James Cornish, European equity strategist at BT Alex. Brown in London: "The markets are rising on the basis that Clinton
will be with us for another two years, which is stabilizing. Investors are no longer worried about an impeachment."
Mr. Clinton's surer footing also is likely to help in a slew of tricky foreign-policy realms in which American leadership is deemed
crucial. Keeping the peace in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo will require stern and steady attention from Washington, as will any
possible solution to the continued standoff with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Perhaps more important, many argue, is the need for American guidance in calming the world's economic woes, which have spread
so quickly from Asia across Europe to South America.
"In a sense, restoring Clinton's strength means that most of the world has regained a commander in chief," says Franz-Jozef
Meiers, a foreign-policy expert with the German Society for Foreign Affairs.
Historic Gain
On their face, the election results may appear bland, except that many predicted the vote would result in a sobering referendum on
Mr. Clinton's presidency.
Only weeks ago, analysts believed the Lewinsky affair could cost the Democrats as many as 30 seats in the House and several in
the Senate. Instead, the Republicans saw their control of Congress weaken while they lost their hold on governors' seats in
California and four other states. In the Senate, with one race too close to call, the Republicans clung to their 55 seats, still far short
of the 60 votes needed to prevail on key legislation.
Put into historical perspective, the result was all the more of a setback: Midterm elections traditionally go against the party in
control of the White House. This vote marked the first time since 1934 that a sitting president had seen his party actually pick up
congressional seats in a non-presidential election year.
Republicans were clearly stunned.
"I frankly don't understand all the things that happened [Tuesday]," said a rattled House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a Wednesday
news conference in his home state of Georgia.
"The important thing is to get this race behind us and focus on the issues," said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.
Still, the issue that isn't going away -- at least not yet -- is the possible impeachment of President Clinton for his role in trying to
cover up his affair with Ms. Lewinsky, the former White House intern. Hearings on the matter are set to begin in the House later this
month. Yet few now expect the impeachment drive to resume with anything close to the fervor many Republicans felt for the effort
just a month ago.
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri said the election results were a "loud message" that people wanted "to deal
with health care, education and social security" rather than investigating Mr. Clinton.
As if to confirm that message, voters cast out from the Senate two of Mr. Clinton's most vocal critics. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, a
Republican from New York, lost in a neck-and-neck race against Rep. Charles Schumer, while first-term Sen. Lauch Faircloth also
went down to defeat.
D'Amato Defeat
The defeat of Mr. D'Amato had special piquancy for many Europeans who knew the senator primarily as the sponsor of legislation
meant to penalize the conduct of foreign companies. One of his works least-liked by Europeans was an act to impose fines against
international oil or gas companies with large investments in Libya or Iran. Mr. D'Amato also led the charge against the Swiss
banking industry over its handling of Jewish assets after World War II.
"On the Continent, there will be no love lost for D'Amato," says Mr. Moisi of the French Institute for International Relations. Swiss
government spokesman Achille Casanova told reporters sarcastically that the government had noted Mr. D'Amato's defeat "with
great regret."
Meanwhile, the minor strengthening of Mr. Clinton's hand on Capitol Hill may help his own cause, but few expect it to do him much
good on the legislative front. After more than a year, for instance, the White House still hasn't convinced Congress to pony up the $1
billion it owes in back dues to the United Nations. Mr. Clinton will also have to convince Congress to approve more funding for U.S.
soldiers in Bosnia. Neither fight will be any easier now.
And even without the impeachment threat, few predict Mr. Clinton will become bolder abroad during his final two years than he was
in the previous six. Already some observers detect that the administration is doing whatever is necessary to advance -- or at least
not jeopardize -- the candidacy of Vice President Al Gore for 2000. "And that means an administration even less prone to take risk,"
says Mr. Haass of the Brookings Institution.
For some in Europe, especially the French, the U.S. vote came as sweet vindication that for once, Americans might be becoming a
little more European instead of the other way around. After all, the pundits say, Americans appear to have weighed Mr. Clinton's
sins and chosen to look the other way.
"We would like to think that what is happening is a sort of Europeanization of American political life," says Mr. Moisi. "The vote
showed that a certain cynicism is on the rise, but also a certain maturity and a certain forgiveness."
After all is said and done, Mr. Moisi observes, "it's nice to see the Americans are at last taking after us."
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