Bill Clinton
Many in the GOP and on the right in general hated (as much as I hate to admit to that word) Bill Clinton back during the 1990s. The reasons are many and varied but the main one is this. Bill Clinton was the antithesis of Ronald Reagan.
The Right hated Bill Clinton for the same reason that Wile E. Coyote hated the Roadrunner. The same that Yosemite Sam hated Bugs Bunny. The same that you and I as adolescent Luv Ya Blue fans viscerally hated Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hatred borne out of the knowledge that no matter how good your team is, no matter how well they play or how much you may pull for them, deep down you know the other guy’s always going to be a little bit better.
It was a hatred borne out of envy and bewilderment that this man, whom the Right did not feel was morally deserving of the office of President, nevertheless always kept the affections of the American public (a plurality of them, anyway) no matter how many well fed Southern trailer park gals he banged and always seemed to able to trounce them whenever they thought they had him cornered. Were the Starr investigations a bad idea? No. Bill Clinton appointed the special prosecutor in the first place. Was it a bad idea to impeach President Clinton? In my opinion, with the benefit of hindsight and all of the history that has happened since then, I would say hell yes. It was a terrible idea and the GOP was rightfully punished for it during the 98 midterm elections. Before then, the GOP had “get Clinton” tunnel vision. Many on the right were determined to bring down Clinton for the government shutdown, the fundraising scandals, Whitewater, Hillary’s arrogant assumption of power in her own right and other reasons.
Bill Clinton has been called the Michael Jordan of politics. I don’t think that analogy is totally apt. I think a better comparison would be to call him the Muhammed Ali of politics. Ali would routinely destroy opponents bigger and more powerful than he. He was able to do this because he was smarter, quicker and could get under the skin of other fighters. In a toe-to-toe slug match with Sonny Liston or George Foreman, Ali gets carried out on a gurney. But, that’s not how it happened. As Ali would still be champion today were he to somehow be able to become 30 years younger, Clinton would still president today were he not constitutionally prevented from doing so. Not necessarily because he was better, but because he had a way of bringing out the worst in his opponents.
Do I think history will be kind to Clinton? Probably. With the caveat though that he presided over a relatively inconsequential era. A time of relative peace and prosperity that, let’s face it, didn’t test him too hard. I often wonder how well Clinton would have withstood the pressures that Bush has had to endure since 9/11. Fortunately, we’ll never know.
The Right hated Bill Clinton for the same reason that Wile E. Coyote hated the Roadrunner. The same that Yosemite Sam hated Bugs Bunny. The same that you and I as adolescent Luv Ya Blue fans viscerally hated Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hatred borne out of the knowledge that no matter how good your team is, no matter how well they play or how much you may pull for them, deep down you know the other guy’s always going to be a little bit better.
It was a hatred borne out of envy and bewilderment that this man, whom the Right did not feel was morally deserving of the office of President, nevertheless always kept the affections of the American public (a plurality of them, anyway) no matter how many well fed Southern trailer park gals he banged and always seemed to able to trounce them whenever they thought they had him cornered. Were the Starr investigations a bad idea? No. Bill Clinton appointed the special prosecutor in the first place. Was it a bad idea to impeach President Clinton? In my opinion, with the benefit of hindsight and all of the history that has happened since then, I would say hell yes. It was a terrible idea and the GOP was rightfully punished for it during the 98 midterm elections. Before then, the GOP had “get Clinton” tunnel vision. Many on the right were determined to bring down Clinton for the government shutdown, the fundraising scandals, Whitewater, Hillary’s arrogant assumption of power in her own right and other reasons.
Bill Clinton has been called the Michael Jordan of politics. I don’t think that analogy is totally apt. I think a better comparison would be to call him the Muhammed Ali of politics. Ali would routinely destroy opponents bigger and more powerful than he. He was able to do this because he was smarter, quicker and could get under the skin of other fighters. In a toe-to-toe slug match with Sonny Liston or George Foreman, Ali gets carried out on a gurney. But, that’s not how it happened. As Ali would still be champion today were he to somehow be able to become 30 years younger, Clinton would still president today were he not constitutionally prevented from doing so. Not necessarily because he was better, but because he had a way of bringing out the worst in his opponents.
Do I think history will be kind to Clinton? Probably. With the caveat though that he presided over a relatively inconsequential era. A time of relative peace and prosperity that, let’s face it, didn’t test him too hard. I often wonder how well Clinton would have withstood the pressures that Bush has had to endure since 9/11. Fortunately, we’ll never know.
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