Alison asked me to post something about the US Presidential elections because she’s planning on posting something on her blog (abaculus), so here I am! We just want to see how our impressions and opinions on the Presidential race compare.

You will have probably gleaned from my previous post on 22 September 2004, that I am more of a Democrat than Republican. In fact, having read Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoirs, I positively hate the Republicans. This view has been reinforced thanks to Michael Moore’s two books, Stupid White Men and Dude, Where’s My Country?.

Consequently, and this will be of no surprise to many of you, I do not like George W Bush. Yes, he is a Republican. It’s not his Republicanism that makes me repel Bush, it’s just the fact that he has been a crap President for the past 4 years. Under Bill Clinton, the USA was doing very well in many areas, including diplomacy (with the IRA ceasefire and the Israeli-Palestine ceasefire), economy (he achieved the lowest budget deficit for years), civil rights for women and children, health welfare rights, the environment etc. I’m not so naive as to suggest that Clinton was the best President ever: I’m fully aware that he had a dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, and there were many things that he approved that were against common sense, but when compared to Bush, he was a first-rate President.

For the past four years as President, what has Bush done? He has undone much of the work that Clinton did, including cutting education and health welfare budgets, advocated that homosexuality is wrong and that women shouldn’t be allowed to abort if they become pregnant, contrary to civil rights, pulled the USA out of the Kyoto Treaty and ignoring environmental safeguards, and above all, waged two wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, at the cost of over 2,000 American soldiers’ lives. And he currently has 46% of the vote in the current election polls for the Presidential race? WHY?!

I admit that John Kerry isn’t much of a challenger. Compared to Clinton, he is weak and doesn’t appear to have much charm or wit, but he is a Democrat, and for that reason, I hope he becomes President. He has spouted some common sense policies, and I think he’s the right man to lead the USA away from the Bush years to become a more diplomatic and sensible nation.

KERRY FOR PRESIDENT!

For some unfathomable reason, I’ve expressed a wide interest in American politics of late. This has stemmed, I think, from my reading of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoirs, Living History.

I’ve decided to write some comments on this blog about Living History and the things that Mrs Clinton has come up with. These are mainly concerned with the way she perceives the USA and Americans, the Republicans and terrorism.

A typical American?
You can tell that Hillary Rodham Clinton is a typical American – thinks that the USA is the centre of the world and that the Americans alone were responsible for winning the Second World War.

“The United States had saved the world from fascism” [page 1]

Err, what about the Brits, Canadians and French? And don’t forget the war against Japan as well; Brits, Indians and Australians fought a brutal war against the Japanese, including my grandfather, Clifford Wilks.

Partisan Politicking
Mrs Clinton discusses the appointment of Kenneth Starr as independent counsel to carry out the Whitewater investigations [an investigation into the Clinton's dealings in Whitewater, an investment they made with a dodgy character while Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas, who they thought they could trust], a Republican insider who had never been a prosecutor.

“Partisan politicking was nothing new in Washington; it came with the territory. But it was the politics of personal destruction – visceral, mean-spirited campaigns to ruin the lives of public figures – that I found disheartening and bad for the country.” [page 245]

Starr’s Whitewater investigation, in Mrs Clinton’s opinion, was about undermining the successes of Bill Clinton’s progressive agenda. It cost American taxpayers over $70 million and took 9 years (from 1993 until the final report was produced in 2002), and eventually cleared the Clintons of any wrongdoing. It also incorporated many other investigations that had nothing whatsoever to do with Whitewater, namely the Paula Jones scandal [Paula Jones claimed that Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her] and the infamous Monica Lewinsky debacle.

In November 1995, the Republican majority in Congress effectively shut down Bill Clinton’s government. They did this by refusing to grant the government any more monies, forcing the President to shut it down, and preventing 800,000 federal workers state-wide from working and getting paid to work. Mrs Clinton said:

“A program like Meals on Wheels was not funded, putting at risk about six hundred thousand of the elderly who depended on it. The Federal Housing Administration couldn’t process thousands of home sales. The Department of Veterans Affairs stopped paying widows and other beneficiaries their due proceeds from veterans’ life insurance policies. The national monuments on the Mall closed their doors. Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon turned away visitors.” [page 319]

Frankly, I’m appalled that Congress has the power to hold the government to ransom in this manner for political reasons, putting millions of Americans’ wellbeing in jeopardy, not least the federal employees who had to stay at home without pay, and had families to feed and bills to pay. Of course, don’t forget that Congress had a Republican majority, so the Republicans were to blame for this, under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, a Republic Speaker of the House.

Osama bin Laden
I was astonished to learn that Osama bin Laden was a well known terrorist figure as early as August 1998, and probably even earlier. Mrs Clinton talks about the bombing of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on 7 August 1998, which injured over 5,000 people and killed 264.

“It was increasingly evident to the intelligence community that a diabolical Saudi exile named Osama bin Laden was organizing and bankrolling much of the terrorism in the Muslim world, and his attacks were getting bigger and bolder.” [page 464]

I also learnt that even though Bill Clinton and his Administration were convinced that terrorism had to be brought under control, they were having a difficult time convincing Congress to direct government resources towards anti-terrorist measures.

“Perhaps that was because so much energy in the news media, Congress and the FBI was directed to an investigation of the President’s private life.” [page 465]

What one can imply from this is that the Americans KNEW about Osama bin Laden several years before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 2001, and because American politics was focused on Bill Clinton’s dealings with Monica Lewinsky (which had nothing to do with his ability to carry out his Presidential duties) rather than eliminating a terrorist who was to gain notority because of September 11 three years later. Nice to see that the Republicans know how to prioritise issues, isn’t it? It’s quite ironic that it was Republican George W Bush who was to then lead the war against Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan.

Conclusion
I am not at all impressed by the American political system. It seems that it has transcended from being a democratic representation of the American people to a vicious and pointless war between the Republicans and the Democrats. It is no longer about making life better for Americans, but about scoring points, undermining presidencies, preventing legislation from being passed just because it will give the current President a huge popularity boost and make it difficult for opposing parties to win subsequent congressional and presidential elections. The United States of America doesn’t seem to be a democracy; it’s political system is a farce.

I have to say that I have nothing but respect for Hillary Rodham Clinton. She is truly a formidable woman, and her work throughout the years, and currently as Senator for the state of New York, especially in her strong support of children, women and families’ rights, and she has earned her respect. I also admire her for standing by Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and for resolving to prevent her marriage from falling apart. I take my hat off to you Mrs Clinton, and thanks for such a fascinating read! I’ve got Bill Clinton’s My Life to read next – it will be interesting to see the viewpoint of a President, especially during his tumultous 8 years of power.

* The above quotes are extracted from Hillary Rodham Clinton?s Memoirs, Living History, Copyright ? 2003, 2004 by Hillary Rodham Clinton.