Posted on 05/29/2003 9:19:03 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
WASHINGTON - Signs of normalcy have returned. The federal
government is again awash in red ink, Republicans and Democrats are
fighting like old enemies and fresh arguments about the Clintons are
breaking out.
If you could set aside the orange alerts and messy news out of
postwar Iraq, it could be 1995 again. Back then, Bill Clinton, who was
president of the United States, had to assert he was relevant after
the Republicans had taken control of Congress.
Thanks to two new books, the question again begs: What relevance is
Bill Clinton?
Sidney Blumenthal's ''The Clinton Wars'' purports to be an
insider's view of Fortress Clinton under siege from the ''right-wing
conspiracy'' that Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed for many of her
husband's problems. While Blumenthal's book is being kicked around by
critics and by those named in it, Hillary's book, ''Living History,''
is not due out until June 9. But the prerelease hoopla already has
begun. As part of a carefully orchestrated rollout, excerpts and an
interview with Barbara Walters on ABC will precede the release.
In his book, Blumenthal, a former reporter turned Clinton insider,
defends his former boss and attempts to settle scores with old
nemeses. But the timing seems curious. Why rehash Clinton-era cultural
and political wars when there are real wars in the headlines? Who
among the Clinton lovers and haters will be persuaded to think
differently by an insider's postmortem? Who will care among those who
could have cared less before?
Hillary Clinton's book could be a different story, however. Now a
senator from New York, her voice is getting louder among Democrats.
She is a bona fide presidential contender whenever she decides to run.
She has said the book will be her story, and how it is received
could say a lot about her presidential ambitions. Hillary Clinton has
been on her own political orbit since her husband left office in 2001.
Yet in unprecedented ways, Bill Clinton's legacy is tied to his wife's
political future.
That's why this book, even though it's by the senator, could
inevitably be a lot about the former president. Why? Because many of
the questions readers want her to answer are about her husband.
What will she say of the political and personal calculations she
made to endure impeachment and the humiliation when the lie of Bill
Clinton's denial of an affair with Monica Lewinsky was exposed? What
will she say about the special prosecutor investigations, about the
long legislative sieges - both of which she has long dismissed as part
of the right-wing conspiracy to derail her husband's presidency? Will
she defend and forgive her husband, or will she feel no need to do
either? Will she vent the anger she was said to have kept so much in
private through the political wars sparked by the Lewinsky affair?
In other words, will the former first lady come across as a
political figure calculating her next move or a more human witness to
a hopeful, ambitious, troubled and ultimately wounded Clinton
presidency?
Americans can be easily forgiven for not wanting to relive the
Clinton wars. It was Dickens' America, truly the best and worst of our
recent history. Economic boom times lifted many boats but in the end
were squandered, drowned in the political fights that always seemed to
swirl, fairly or unfairly, around the Clintons. They ultimately
consumed so much oxygen they left the country exhausted to address
larger problems.
In the roaring '90s, the government ran its first surplus in two
generations. Yet a few short years later, the country again confronts
heavy deficits, a troubled education system, continuing cultural
violence and a ticking time bomb of retirement entitlements for the
aging baby boomers. A cauldron of anti-Americanism in the Islamic
world that had been simmering largely unnoticed has spilled over into
a new terrorism war.
What relevance is Bill Clinton? Ready or not, we confront the
question again.
48% of the people can be fooled all the time.
Regan says, Hillary won't sell two million copies.
If you haven't heard her banshee shrieks - take a listen to the Laura Ingraham radio show. She plays a clip every night. Or maybe someone on FR has it.
Had the b@stards succeeded in killing Bush as they may have planned on 9/11, this publication date would fit perfectly with a 2004 donnybrook.
You can be certain that a Hillary paperback - with new updated bu!!sh*t -- will come out in summer 2007.
Most people have no idea what "begging the question" means. It does not mean "suggests the question." And questions most emphatically are not the ones doing the "begging," as this reporter seems to imagine.
(reading it now)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.