You may be asking, "How could Bill Clinton be America's most selfish adult?" What about all those financial industry folks whose greed has corrupted politics and made hash of the financial system? What about obsessive leaders of religious cults? Sure, those folks are selfish, too. Here's the difference.
Bill Clinton puts himself into roles in which he is to act for the public good. For example, take his oath as a lawyer. A lawyer's advocacy for a client is tempered by one thing: upholding the integrity of the judicial system, which really means putting first what is in the best interest of the community. Another obvious example is Bill Clinton asking the community to put him into positions of public trust as Governor of Arkansas (yeah, yeah, Arkansas, right -- nonetheless!) and, of course, as President of the United States of America.
What happened in Arkansas can stay in Arkansas. As for the White House, from a policy standpoint, am I glad that a Democrat was President from 1993 - 2000? Yes, of course. From a 'politics as theater' standpoint, was I glad that that Democrat was Bill Clinton? Not always.
Representative government is supposed to be about the people, not the politician. You, my literate and well-read friends, know that Mr. Clinton has on occasion put his personal - very personal - interests ahead of the public interest (don't forget the pardon-mess at the end). Politicians, like all of us, mess-up at times. But this wasn't a state legislator or obscure Florida Congressman chasing underage Congressional pages. Mr. Clinton was the President.
Maybe you've forgiven all of that. Maybe you don't think that the attitudes and behaviors of Bill Clinton while in the White House contributed to making the road tougher for Senator Gore in his presidential run. Maybe. But knowing all of that history, all of those facts, let's look at the present.
What irks today, and why I think Bill Clinton is America's most selfish adult, is that he is not helping the Democratic nominee, Senator Obama, win the White House. Instead, Bill Clinton appears to be helping John McCain.
* He invites John McCain to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative conference, and gives McCain a lavish introduction. As Jonathan Martin points out, that invite probably wouldn't have happened if Hillary Clinton were the nominee.
* Clinton is on the Today show defending McCain's suggestion to postpone the Presidential debate.
* Clinton appears on the David Letterman show, discusses the Presidential election, and does not even mention Senator Obama's name. Comedian Chris Rock appeared on the show after Clinton. In case you haven't seen it, here is Rock's response at the Huffington Post.
* While he appears unable to take opportunies to praise the Democratic nominee for President, Clinton has pleanty of praise for Sarah Palin.
What possible explanation is there for the former leader of the Democratic Party to be such a wimp about campaigning for Senator Obama? The only reason I can think of is that he is completely self-centered.
Some day in the future Hillary Clinton may run again to be the Democratic nominee for President. If she does there is only one way for her to get my vote: divorce Bill Clinton.
