The Clintons: Disinformation, Distortion and Disservice

It is shocking that Hillary Clinton said that it took a Clinton to clean up the mess of the first Bush Administration and it will take another Clinton to clean up the mess of the second Bush Administration. The first part is complete baloney and the second part remains to be seen. The presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush or the elder Bush was a success in foreign and national security policy. The foreign policies challenges following the Reagan Administration could only be compared to the challenges following World War Two. The first Bush Administration had to ensure a soft landing for the waning and collapsing Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They took out a drug dictator in Panama and ended the dream of regional hegemony of an Arab aggressor in the Middle East.

I never liked the Clintons because they are capable of saying anything and doing anything necessary to win including resorting to lies and distortions. Bill Clinton told Charlie Rose in December 2007 that for him the lack of national security experience was less important than a good national security vision. He now argues that national security experience is paramount since his departure from office. The truth is great presidents historically have little to very limited experience in that facet. Reagan, John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt come to mind rather quickly. Reagan was the former Governor of California in 1980. Roosevelt was New York Governor. Kennedy served as the junior Senator from Massachusetts. All of them faced major national security policy issues from World War Two to the blink of nuclear war to ending the Cold War without sparking a new global situation. People forget that the Reagan Administration brought the Soviet Union to blink of collapse and the first Bush Administration had to manage that very collapse without sparking a world war or returning hard-line Communists to power. This was not an easy assignment and no amount of experience could prepare a new president for those challenges.

If Hillary’s idea of mismanagement by the first Bush Administration was a reference to the economy, that was also baloney. The economy was strong, but had a minor case of hiccups. In 1992, Bill Clinton campaigned the economy was fundamentally flawed and needed restructuring. By the time he came into office, the so-called recession was over and a period of unparallel prosperity was beginning. Every economist in America credited Reaganomics for the near twenty years of near continuous economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was around 1000 points when Reagan took office. Twenty year later, it sat at almost 11500. To put all this in perspective, when the Persian Gulf War started on 17th January 1991, the Dow Jones had fallen below the all-important 2500 support level. Bill Clinton did not fix the economy; in fact, he inherited a great economy.

The only mess Bill Clinton inherited was 12 years of deficient spending courtesy of Tip O’Neill, Jim Wright and Tom Foley. People forget that both Reagan and the elder Bush submitted a balanced budget to Congress most of those 12 years, but Congressional Democrats like O’Neill, Wright and Foley called every one of those budgets dead on arrival. The Democrats then rewrote the budgets to fit their spending priorities and went to the White House for the President’s veto. Afterwards, the White House and Congress had to hammer out a compose that kept resulting in a budget deficient. The Democrats then kept blaming the White House. Reagan was way more skillful at deflecting the Democrats charges and rightfully put them back in its proper place – at the feet of Congressional Democrats. Unfortunately, the elder Bush was significantly less skillful. Had the elder Bush resorted to the Reagan playbook of deflection, Bill Clinton would not have stood a chance of winning in 1992.

As events happened, Bill Clinton became the President. The Congressional Democrats still could not balance the budget in the first two years. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton names Hillary as the head of every White House Task Force from health care to whatever. In fact, Hillary’s universal healthcare package ended decades of Democratic Congressional control. It was the Congressional Republicans under Newt Gingrich and Contract for America that clean up the mess made by the Congressional Democrats. Bill Clinton managed to balance the budget because he and the Congressional Republicans could not agree on what non-mandatory expenses to spend the excess funds on. Milton Friedman told Charlie Rose on Boxing Day of 2005 that America fares best under a Democratic President and a Republican Congress. He was right, if one measured the strength of the American economy by the surge of the Dow Jones from nearly 4000 in January 1995 to that peak in 2000.

This is the biggest reason why I am an ABC – anyone but Clinton. They spread disinformation or misinformation, distort the facts and it is a disservice to the country for their personal gains. Bill Clinton was never good for America. The first bombing of the twin towers happened on his watch. He knew that bin Laden was out to destroy America and he did nothing. Several governments had bin Laden in their custody and asked Washington whether America had any charges for that man. When CNN’s Richard Quest visited Berkley, one female student correctly argued that it is not a question of having a woman for President, but rather it is a question of whether America is ready for Hillary. I say no. The proof that America is not ready for Hillary is evident when Republicans are screaming for Hillary to be the nominee. I think America is ready for a President who happens to be of African descent. The Republicans are scared of Obama becoming the nominee.