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Jewish World Review Nov. 1, 2000 / 3 Mar-Cheshvan, 5761

David Limbaugh

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Can't stop thinkin'
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- 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.



JWR contributor David Limbaugh is an attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a political analyst and commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

WND

Up

10/30/00: George: Give Gore the ball back
10/25/00: Mr. Gore: A few more questions
10/23/00: It's the big government, stupid
10/18/00: Gore's down, so will he panic?
10/16/00: We're fresh out of new Al Gores
10/11/00: Gore: Fuzzy math = dirty politics
10/10/00:Gore: Renaissance man or unbalanced?
10/04/00: Where have you been, Albert Jr.?
10/02/00: Clinton’s fragmented presidency
09/27/00: Liberal media doth protest too much
09/25/00: AlGore: Turning dreams into nightmares
09/20/00: Something fishy's going on
09/18/00: It's the liberalism, stupid
09/13/00: An open letter to open-minded cynics
09/11/00: The virtues of going negative
09/06/00: On a mission for marriage
09/04/00: Al Gore's 'Trivial Pursuits'
08/30/00: Lieberman and the paradox of liberal 'tolerance'
08/28/00: A campaign divided against itself
08/23/00: Al Gore's trickle-down populism
08/21/00: Prosperity without a clue
08/16/00: AlGore can run but he can't hide
08/14/00: When hate speech is OK
08/09/00: Bush: The pundits' enigma
08/07/00: GOP convention: Live or Memorex?
08/02/00: The first attack dog
07/31/00: The Cheney taint?
07/26/00: The anti-gun bogeyman
07/24/00: The raging culture war
07/19/00: Is Hillary 'Good for the Jews'?
07/17/00: How dare you, George?
07/12/00: Jacoby's raw deal
07/10/00: The perplexities of liberalism
07/05/00: Big Al and big oil
07/03/00: Partial-birth and total death
06/28/00: Some questions for you, Mr. Gore
06/26/00: Supreme Court assaults religious freedom
06/21/00: Waco: We are the jury
06/19/00: "Outrage" just doesn't quite cut it anymore!
06/14/00: Al Gore: Government's best friend
06/12/00: Say goodbye to medical privacy
06/07/00: Elian: Whose hands were tied?
06/05/00: Who, which, what is the real Al Gore?
06/01/00: Legacy-building idea for Clinton
05/30/00: Clinton: Above the law or not?
05/24/00: Not so fast, Hillary
05/22/00: Gore's risky, fear-mongering schemes
05/17/00: Can Bush risk pro-choice running mate?
05/15/00: Right to privacy, Clinton-style
05/10/00: Patrick Kennedy and his suit-happy fiddlers
05/08/00: Don't shoot Eddie Eagle
05/03/00: Congress caves to Clinton, again?
05/01/00: The resurrection of outrage
04/28/00: A picture of Bill Clinton's America
04/19/00: President Clinton: Teaching children responsibility
04/17/00: Elian, Marx and parental rights
04/12/00: Elian, freedom deserve a hearing
04/10/00:The fraying of America
04/05/00: Noonan: End Clintonism now
04/03/00: Bush: On going for the gold
03/29/00: Phantasma-Gore-ia
03/27/00: Treaties, triggers, tobacco and tyrants
03/22/00: Media to Bush: Go left, young man
03/20/00: Stop the insanity
03/15/00: OK Al Gore: Let's go negative
03/13/00: Deifying of the center
03/08/00: The media, the establishment and the people
03/01/00: McCain's coalition-busting daggers in GOP's heart
02/28/00: Bush's silver lining in McMichigan
02/24/00: A conservative firewall, after all
02/22/00: Bush or four more of Clinton-Gore?
02/16/00: Substance trumps process
02/14/00: The campaign finance reform mirage
02/09/00: President McCain: End of the GOP as we know it?
02/07/00: From New Hampshire to South Carolina
02/02/00: SDI must fly
01/31/00: Veep gores Bradley
01/26/00: The issues gap
01/24/00: GOP: Exit, stage left
01/20/00: Nationalizing congressional elections
01/18/00: Do voters really prefer straight talk?
01/12/00: Media's McCain efforts may backfire
01/10/00: Conservative racism myth
01/05/00: Just one more year of Clintonian politics
01/03/00: McMedia?
12/27/99: Al Gore: Bullish on government
12/22/99: Bradley's full-court press
12/20/99: Bush: Rendering unto Caesar
12/15/99: Beltway media bias
12/13/99: White House ambulance chasing
12/08/99: Clinton's labor pains
12/06/99:The lust for power
12/01/99: In defense of liberty
11/29/99: Are Republicans obsolete?
11/24/99: Say you're sorry, Mr. President
11/22/99: Architects of victory
11/17/99: Trump's tax on freedom
11/15/99: GOP caves again
11/10/99: Triangulation and 'The Third Way'
11/08/99: Sticks and stones
11/03/99: Keyes vs. media lapdogs
11/01/99: Signs of the times
10/27/99: The false charge of isolationism
10/25/99: A matter of freedom
10/20/99: Clinton's mini-meltdown
10/18/99: Senate GOP shows statesmanship
10/13/99: Senate must reject nuclear treaty
10/11/99: Bush bites feeding hand
10/06/99: Jesse accidentally opens door for Pat
10/04/99: Clinton and his media enablers
09/29/99: Reagan: Big-tent conservatism
09/27/99: The Clinton/Gore taint?
09/22/99: Have gun (tragedy), will travel
09/20/99: Hillary's blunders and bloopers
09/15/99: GOP must remain conservative
09/13/99:Time for Bush to take charge, please
09/10/99: Bush's education plan: Dubya confounds again
09/07/99: Pat, savior or spoiler?
09/02/99: Character doesn't matter?
08/30/99: Should we judge?
08/25/99: Dubyah's drug question: Not a hill to die on
08/23/99: Should Dubyah start buying soap ... for all that mud?
08/16/99: 'W' stands for 'winner'
08/11/99: The truth about tax cuts
08/09/99: Hillary: Threading the needle
08/04/99: What would you do?
08/02/99: No appeasement for China
07/30/99: Hate Crimes Bill: Cynical Symbolism
07/26/99: It’s the 'moderates', stupid
07/21/99: JFK Jr. and Diana: the pain of privilege
07/19/99: Smith, Bush and the GOP
07/14/99: GOP must be a party of ideas
07/12/99: Gore's gender gap
07/08/99: Clinton’s faustian bargain: our justice
07/06/99: The key to Bush's $36 million
06/30/99: Gore: a soda in every fountain
06/28/99: 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier?
06/23/99: GOP must lead in foreign policy
06/21/99: Crumbs of compassion
06/16/99: Compassionate conservatism: face-lift or body transplant?
06/10/99: Victory in Kosovo? Now What?

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