I gained a new respect for Richard Nixon after watching Clinton deal with his impeachment. When Nixon was about to be impeached in 1974, he had enough reverence for the office of President of the United States, not to mention the American people, to decently resign from his office instead of letting the Presidency itself be dragged into the mud with him. But just like Andrew Johnson, the only other President ever to be impeached, Bill Clinton thought of himself first, the nation second (at best), and allowed the President of the United States to be subjected to an impeachment trial.

So why won't Clinton go away? Why does an impeached President talk about changing the 22nd Amendment (which quite rightly limits any President to two terms in office)? Why, in fact, does an impeached President dare to show his face in public, much less hint that he wants to run for office again? The answer is that it's all a game to him. ("You are impeached! Go back three spaces and lose one turn!")

Bill Clinton should never be considered for any public office ever again. Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathy Willey and Monica Lewinsky are the most famous examples of his blatantly immoral behavior (though Monica, apparently, was the only willing partner). He slashed the military budget, gutted the CIA, and turned down the Sudanese government's offer of Osama bin Laden on a silver platter after the first WTC bombing in 1993 -- THREE TIMES. Elian Gonzales was condemned to return to the brutal dictatorship of Cuba after his mother sacrificed her life to get him to America. North Korea was appeased while they built up their nuclear capability, quietly violating their cease-fire agreement with the US. Iraq was ignored while they blatantly violated their own cease-fire agreement with the US. Who can forget the Branch Davidian massacre at Waco, Texas, in which American men, women and children were killed by US government agents -- the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the FBI? He blocked UN intervention in Rwanda, which would have prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths... but sent US Army Rangers into Mogadishu with no support, then blamed them for being "too aggressive" when he ordered their retreat. (In a May 1998 interview with John Miller of ABC, bin Laden explained that the American retreat "proved" that the American soldier was just "a paper tiger". Unable to endure the Somalian attacks, the Americans fled, Osama gloated. "After a few blows, they ran in defeat.") I could go on and on with this list, really. The point is that this man should be in prison, not hinting that he deserves another shot at the nation's top job! He doesn't.

Then there's Hillary. What are we to make of the book with her name on it -- notice I don't call it "her book", since it has not one, but THREE ghost writers -- hitting the shelves at the same time that the Democratic Presidential nominee hopefuls are struggling to gain any kind of name recognition even among Democrats? 66% of Americans, and 64% of Democrats, according to a recent poll, can't name ANY of the nine guys and gals that want to take President Bush's place in the Oval Office in 2005. So why is Hillary adding to the confusion by helping to obscure the Democrats trying to get nominated?

It's because Hillary Clinton actually wants George W. Bush to win in 2004.

If Bush wins in 2004, he won't be able to run again in 2008. Dick Cheney certainly won't run -- many people question the wisdom of his running as VP in '04. That will put Hillary Clinton up against an unknown, relatively speaking, when she runs for President. If Bush loses to a Democrat in '04, it's highly unlikely that the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) will proffer Hillary over an incumbent President in 2008 (though they might offer her the VP spot). Therefore, she'd have to wait until 2012 to run for Chief Executive, and that would give the Republicans a VERY long time to groom a candidate to beat her. No, 2008 is Hillary's year to run, and she knows it.

All I know is, I'm certainly not buying the Hillary book. The last thing I need to read is an openly emotional, spin-doctored demand that I idolise Hillary for "standing by her man" when anyone with a single functioning brain cell knows Hillary would have stayed married to Osama bin Laden if it kept her in the White House. Tanya Tucker, she isn't.

Will this book answer the real questions? Will it tell us why she uses the Secret Service detail she is allowed to have as former First Lady to keep reporters from asking her questions she doesn't want to answer? Will the book tell us why she quietly hinted to Vanity Fair reporters during the 1992 Presidential campaign that then- candidate George H. Bush had "a Gennifer (Flowers) too"? (And then she expects us to believe she was shocked at the revelation of his affair with Monica?) Will it tell us how she and her staff recieved hundreds of sensitive FBI files they had no clearance to see? Will it tell us why her aide Vince Foster committed suicide, a note was found (on the third search of his briefcase) torn in 28 pieces with no fingerprints on them, and yet why Hillary's fingerprints were all over the Rose Law Firm's billing records, missing for two years and found in a White House closet? Will it just whitewash her involvement with Whitewater? You betcha.

Maybe I'll just wait for the movie. Perhaps they'll stock it properly... in the Fantasy section.

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Email Joe Mariani: CavalierX@yahoo.com

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