Recently, a convergence of factors has caused Bill Clinton to become
apoplectic. Republicans should capitalize on this temporary window of
vulnerability.
There is no question that Clinton is the consummate politician, a man
who can turn almost any situation to his political advantage. He is at
his political best when he is cool and collected, which is most of the
time, considering his sociopathic nature. When he is on his game, he is
cunning, calculating and manipulative.
But he may have finally exposed his Achilles’ Heel. He simply cannot
handle defeat or rejection of any kind. He appears to lose his
Machiavellian edge when emotionally reactive.
Last week, after the Senate’s stinging rejection of the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty, he threw a temper tantrum disguised as a press
conference, where he lambasted the Senate Republican majority for
placing politics above national security.
Never mind his usual misrepresentation of the facts for now. I’m
talking about his temperament. Both the Washington Post and New York
Times featured photos from that press conference showing the president
looking quite unpresidential.
The Post, in its story under the photo, noted that although Clinton
was chiding Republicans for playing politics, it was he who was
completely politicizing the issue by attacking Republicans for rejecting
the pact.
Sometimes, people unwittingly provide glimpses into their own mindset
in their criticisms of others. Such was the case when Clinton was asked
whether Republicans voted down the treaty as part of a vendetta against
him.
“It has been my experience that very often in politics when a person
is taking a position that he simply cannot defend, the only defense is
to attack the opponent,” said Clinton. Exactly.
And remember him accusing the FBI of turning on him to divert
attention from its own culpability in the Waco tragedy? There, too,
Clinton was accusing others of engaging in an activity that he wrote the
book on: the politics of personal destruction.
In response to a separate question, Clinton again revealed his
distaste for defeat. When asked about Judge Wright’s contempt ruling
against him for intentional lying in his Jones deposition, he replied,
“When I am out of office, I will have a lot to say about this.” (This
doesn’t sound like the repentant sinner Clinton and his spiritual
advisors have insisted he is.)
Clinton has increasingly let his guard down, which the Post, in
another story, attributes to his having “reached a certain, coveted
point in his presidency after seven turbulent years. It is that time, at
last, when he feels free to say whatever he likes.”
His admission before a gay rights group in New York earlier this
month was especially chilling, given what we know about his character.
“It has occurred to me really that every one of us has this little
scale inside, you know. On one side, there’s the light forces, and the
other side, there’s the dark forces in our psyche and our makeup and the
way we look at the world.”
Clinton’s recent inability to mask his true feelings could be a
result of a combination of things:
- His presidency, indeed his political career, is coming to a
close; he has known nothing but politics his entire adult life. - Certain aspects of his legacy are stubbornly refusing to fall
into place, especially in foreign policy matters, including the failure
of the treaty and the breakdown in the Wye River accords. If the stock
market crashes, and the business cycle finally catches up with his
presidency, he could become further unglued. - The public has vicariously repudiated him by refusing to warm up
to the candidacies of his twin surrogates, Hillary and Al Gore. - The invincibility he must feel for having survived the
impeachment bullet.
Congressional Republicans should take advantage of this rare
occasion when Clinton is off his game.
They should deny him the opportunity to burn them again by refusing
to enter into his requested budget summit. And, they should implement an
across-the-board spending cut in submitting their final package of
spending bills to him before the deadline this week.
They must keep him off balance by continuing to fight him toe-to-toe,
deriving strength from their latest legislative victory on principle and
his subsequent mini-meltdown.
WATCH: Mark Levin: This election is about throwing out this regime
WND Staff