TJP

The Clintonian Legacy: An Embarrassment

By Byron A. Ellis

February 16, 2008

Bill Clinton accuses Senator Obama, his wife’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, of ignoring their accomplishment in the White House. It is important to note Bill’s use of words, “their accomplishment.” The implication of “their accomplishment” is that it was a co-presidency; such nonsense is tantamount to a baseball pitcher claiming that his wife was part of his strikeout accomplishment.

Bill should be elated that Senator Obama and his wife’s other Democratic rivals for the nomination have been gentle with “their” record in the White House. However, the Republicans will not be so unforgiving. Obama should be commended for not pulling the Clintons skeletons out of the closet.

The Clintons should not want to look backwards. The Clintonian past is not pretty; it is riddle with divisiveness, immorality, the non intervention in the Rwandan genocide, the commodity trading account and Whitewater scandals, the curtailment of medical supply to children in Iraq, and so on.

Bill Clinton said at the Stephen F. Austin University that he did good things. Clearly, Bill is all about self-praise, but self-praise is no praise at all. He should let others do the praising for him, and judging from the mood of the country few are praising him.

Clearly, Senator Obama offers a brighter future, one not riddled with divisiveness, lies, and memories of immoral behaviors. The Bill Clinton past is what many voters want to avoid.

Bill Clinton claimed that the Illinois Senator implied that it was advantageous not to have any experience, but Senator Obama has far more experience than Senator Clinton in the public arena.

The Clintons proclaim that Hillary has thirty-five years of public experience, but that is basically a mirage; she spent 12 years as first lady of Arkansas, 8 years as first lady in the White House, and only 6 years as US Senator. Moreover, the few projects that she embarked on failed, because she was unable to unify stakeholders.

Suzanne Goldenberg author of a new book about Clinton, Madam President, said on NPR that it is difficult to see how Clinton calculates her thirty-five years of public experience, since her full time job for many years was working for a corporate law firm in Arkansas.

It appears that Bill Clinton is so desperate to return to the White House, that he will say anything about Senator Obama; but, fortunately, the voters know his character.

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