Friday, January 30, 1998
Focus on issues, not scandal
CLINTON: Americans hyperfocus on allegations instead of true
problems
By Garrick Ruiz
et again we find ourselves in a country embroiled in scandal.
Overall, I find the whole thing hilarious. I mean seriously think
about it, we live in a country where a person’s sex life seems to
have a direct link to how effectively that person is able to govern
a country.
The whole prospect seems pretty ludicrous to me. I really don’t
care who the guy sleeps with; what I care about is that for the
last six years he has been a horrible president. (Of course, saying
that he has been a horrible president sort of implies that there
have been better presidents, which definitely hasn’t been the
case.)
It seems to be much more logical to concern myself with issues
that actually have an effect on me and the people around me.
For example, our fine leader has just gutted the already
inadequate welfare system, leaving many people who are down on
their luck without a safety net. (Interesting anecdote: Last week a
lecturer of mine was talking about Reagan and quoted him as saying,
"I’m going to end welfare as we know it." Immediately after, he
realized that the person who had actually proffered this memorable
statement was none other than the current ruler of the land, Bill
Clinton. I find this ironic because Mr. Clinton is just as
conservative on many issues as that other fine leader.)
There is also the fact that this head of the free world was
largely responsible for the creation of the trade agreement known
as NAFTA. This fine piece of legislation has sped up the current
wave of downsizing that has caused U.S. industries to close their
factories here and move to other countries, such as Mexico, where
they can exploit the labor force for much less than they can
exploit the workers here.
This has led to the dismantling of labor on both sides of the
border as well as a huge rollback of legislation protecting the
environment.
There’s also the fact that Clinton has done some pretty shameful
things with regard to the rest of the world. He has continued the
tradition of giving China "most favored nation" trading status
despite the fact that Tibet has been occupied by China for decades,
and human rights abuses seem to be quite high.
He has continued to pump immense amounts of military hardware
and aid into Mexico in the name of the drug war despite the fact
that all the evidence points towards its use against the indigenous
people of Chiapas rather than to stop any drugs from entering this
country.
He has not attempted to end the recently strengthened embargo
against Cuba. This has led to suffering among the people there
because of the lack of medical supplies.
He has continued to supply Indonesia with military supplies
despite the fact that its government is extremely undemocratic and
has been killing people in genocidal numbers in East Timor for the
last 20 years.
And of course there is the United State’s continued support of
Israel despite the fact that it continues to illegally occupy the
West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights. This is in flagrant
violation of international law, yet Israel continues to oppress the
Palestinian people and Clinton does nothing to improve their
situation.
The list of grievances against this man goes on and on. These
are important issues which need to be addressed. Yet all we can
think about is whether or not he screwed someone.
I’m going to give the American people the benefit of the doubt
and chalk up all the fervor over this to the press because I have
yet to talk to someone who is seriously concerned about this whole
thing.
I hope that the American people are not so concerned about this
(of course they don’t seem too concerned about the other things, so
maybe I’m expecting too much) because it seems to me that Americans
are hardly in a position to lecture anyone on morality.
I have talked to several people who have either cheated on or
been cheated on by their partners in committed relationships. Now
if this occurrence is common among the people, why is it so
surprising that our leaders would tend to act the same way?
After all, our leadership is supposed to reflect our wishes
right? (Then again, a majority of people in this country didn’t
elect Clinton.) So why shouldn’t it also reflect the American
people’s own traits? To expect otherwise seems awfully hypocritical
to me.
So I guess the moral of the story is that I’m not going to shed
any tears for Clinton, but it really makes me want to laugh.
If I didn’t laugh I would probably cry about the fact that this
is what it takes for the media to go after the guy.