The Clinton Factor

One of this war's first U.S. casualties is Bill Clinton, in the sense that it's just killing Bubba that Bush is looking so good.

Clinton wanders around New York these days dropping in on weddings. Honest to God, that actually happened last weekend. Appearing at the benefit concert for the firefighters, where he had to watch his wife booed lustily. And standing around backstage last week with Paul McCartney's new babelicious wife. Heather Mills asked him, "Do you wish you were president now?" And she says he said, "I feel I would be better trained for it, more prepared."

Can you even comprehend the audacity? This is the guy who spent two years wrapping up his administration specifically not going after Usama bin Laden, after, after, after bin Laden had bombed two U.S. embassies and the U.S.S. Cole.

He fired the now-famous $1 million missile into the now-famous $10 tent, killing the now-famous camel, but never really pushed to get bin laden, even when Usama was within the grasp of supposedly friendly states like Saudi Arabia, at least once.

In fact, Mr. Better-prepared-sir, can it not be said that the Clinton administration's failure to get Usama Bin Laden led directly to bin Laden getting 5,000 New Yorkers? One of the Clinton administration's spinners was on this program a month or so ago. And he said the Clinton administration never had the "political consensus" to go after bin laden. I asked him directly, "You mean without 5,000 American deaths, you felt you could not cobble together the political consensus?" And he said, "Yes."

In other words, a few hundred dead in the embassies weren't enough. The 19 from the Cole weren't enough. But lucky George W. Bush. He got 5,000 deaths. So he had the much-sought-after political consensus. Can you believe this?

What about leadership? What about saying, hey America, with got a problem with this guy. For the good of the country, I'm going after him. Why couldn't Clinton bring himself to do that? Because it didn't poll well?

Again, I ask, what about leadership? Were opportunities for leadership in this area frittered away, gloating about the economy? Can you spell fat and happy? And what is this better prepared business? For what? For building coalitions, partnerships with not-so-friendly nations, who will tie us up and prevent us from doing something we need to do?

I'll give Clinton credit where it's due. The Kosovo campaign allows us to tell Muslims that we do act in defense of Muslims. And the Barak-Arafat peace deal that fell apart because the PLO refused to take it, at least gave the world a marker to decide who wants peace and who doesn't?

But better prepared for this war? Bubba, dude, you were doing better having a public lunch with Mark Green, and New York mayoral candidate, and tell him, folks who to vote for mayor. When it comes to war, to paraphrase Slim Shady, please stand down.

That's My Word.

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