Can’t stop thinkin’ about tomorrow

President Clinton’s latest antics with Congress and his most recent
reflections on impeachment provide a perfect contrasting backdrop for
showcasing George Bush’s qualities as a leader who will restore decency,
civility and accountability to the office of the presidency.

Clinton has threatened to veto the tax and spending bills Congress
has just passed. This is so predictable. Ever since Clinton deceived the
country into believing in 1995 that Newt, not Bill, shut the government
down, he’s had a club over Congress, especially during the final weeks
of the sessions. This close to the election, Clinton has extra incentive
to obstruct legislation, because it fits in with the Democratic strategy
to paint the Republican Congress as do-nothing.

Why the veto? Because the bill lacks legislation to punish hate
crimes, fails to fund the Justice Department’s vendetta (my word, not
Clinton’s) against the tobacco industry, fails to grant amnesty to more
than a million illegal immigrants and fails to require 6,000 schools to
use federal funds for building modernization.

There is a clearly discernible pattern in Clinton’s approach to
governing and his policy proposals that reveals an extraordinary
arrogance and egomania. Has anyone ever told him that he is in charge
only of the executive branch and that we have 535 other elected
officials who have something to say about legislating?

The same thing holds true with his policies. In case you forgot, the
legislature has spoken emphatically and often about the tobacco issue.
When Clinton couldn’t impose his will on Congress he browbeat Janet Reno
into reversing her opinion that the government had no legal standing to
sue. She then unleashed the Justice Department to terrorize the industry
into adopting the reforms Congress declined to require. Now she needs
big money to fund her illegal lawsuit, and Congress is properly
withholding it.

Clinton also wants to provide amnesty to over one million illegal
immigrants who have entered this country. It’s not hard to understand
why Clinton can’t grasp what this casual pen-stroke will do to the rule
of law and to any deterrence our law provides against illegal
immigration.

As for those 6,000 schools, Republicans insist on allowing local
school districts the flexibility to decide for themselves how to spend
the federal monies. Clinton and Gore want to dictate that these funds be
spent on school construction and that prevailing wages, often union
scale, be applied to the local projects — which will significantly
increase the construction costs, but will reward big labor.

Clinton’s self-absorption is also revealed in his Esquire
Magazine-reflections on the impeachment ordeal. As everyone surely knows
by now, he lamented that the Republicans never apologized for the
impeachment, and he compared his own plight to that of the slaves. He
said the Republicans have “yet to come up with one example of official
misconduct in office — not one.”

Only an accomplished sociopath could compare deserved consequences
for bad behavior (impeachment) to undeserved punishment of the innocent
(slavery). Only a scofflaw could flippantly diminish the abuses of
power, the contempt of court, the felonious perjuries, subornations of
perjury, obstruction of justice, lying to the American people — and
let’s not even get into Chinagate — as merely private wrongs.

It’s too late for the national Democratic Party and Gore to
disassociate themselves from Clinton; they made their beds, and Clinton
was on the top bunk. Consider the fear-inciting phone calls by Ed Asner
to seniors and the advertisement where James Byrd’s daughter describes
Bush’s opposition to Hate Crimes legislation as “killing her father all
over again.”

They simply will not get out of the gutter. Gore is steeped in the
character issue himself. Beyond his bouts with the truth, his previously
fawning biographer has turned against him for putting politics above
principle. It is unthinkable that as an incumbent during such prosperity
he would be in jeopardy of losing his home state. Even Gore’s fellow
Tennesseans believe it’s time to end the culture of corruption this band
brought to Washington along with their nauseating theme song and their
moralizing Hollywood sycophants.

Bush has promised to end divisiveness and usher in an atmosphere of
unity and accountability. Even respected Texas Democrats
enthusiastically endorse Dubya and say he’ll put principle above
partisanship. I’m all for healthy partisan competition, but Clinton and
Gore have taken partisanship to a new, nasty and destructive level.
They’ve made “accountability” an obsolete term. It’s time to bring on
the adults.