Posted by Dan Ewert : 4/02/2002 12:14:00 AM (Archive Link)
Just read the Newsweek article about Clinton's life after office. There were a few parts of it I liked. "Even now, Clinton cannot admit the obvious point that the Marc Rich pardon was simply wrong, insisting heatedly in his first sit-down interview about life after the presidency that he 'got mugged on the way out the door.'" A rare moment of candidness. (See my previous post) Here's another quote, "Now the ex-president is contesting even that, insisting that the war on terrorism, while important, 'is not like World War II at all' and will eventually be seen in the context not of the Bush presidency but of Clinton’s global achievements." Oh brother. I'm sometimes stunned at just how wrapped up in himself he is. This is also considering that foreign policy was never Clinton's strong suit. I'm of the opinion that Clinton only did damage to America's global positioning during his eight years. He was always big on consensus building and getting everybody to agree. This is in contrast to leading outright and getting the rest to follow. I think it spoiled other countries and now that there's a president in office who believes in the latter stance, these countries are a little shocked at it all. Many in this country are also of the Clintonian mind of consensus building and making sure everybody is in agreement before taking action. This is… well… it’s silly. Like it or not, the United States is the most powerful country in the world in just about every sense. It has an absolute responsibility to be the world leader. Abdicating that role or bringing America down to the level of every other nation out there is a great danger to the country and the world. Doing so creates a power vacuum at best that will be filled either by a host of bickering entities that gets even less done than usual or by something or someone truly dreadful.