The Clinton
Wars
by Sidney Blumenthal
Chapter 1: Challenge to the Old Order
It took a month and several direct orders to convince the White House staff
to prominently display the
portraits of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Conservative cliques
within the staff realized that a
seemingly small gesture marked a change in the office of the presidency
itself, for "[t]he presidency is the chief
engine of progress in American History; it's leadership and power are central.
No social movement, however
broad or righteous, from abolition to labor rights, has seen its aims made
into law without presidential power." (page 12)
Chapter 2: The Forces Are Arrayed
The fight began before it started. "Even before the inauguration," Blumenthal
says on page 52, "the
patterns of light and darkness had rolled in. The sharp contrasts
were not opposites, but elements of
the same dynamic. Personality and freakish accident came into full
play, but the President's effort to
create a new national consensus was what set the political drama in
motion." The vast right wing
conspiracy, unknown to the political zeitgeist of the early days of Clinton's
first term, fought against his
policies indirectly by smearing him with accusations of various wrongdoings.
Then they found Whitewater.
"Whitewater induced a delirium. Within the conservative movement,
it created the giddy sensation
that accusations about Clinton would restrict him to nothing but denials,
which would stall his reform
program and fatally damage his presidency." (page 80)
Chapter 3: First Blood
While Clinton fought the Republican right to increase government spending
on antiterrorism measures after
the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, they defeated him
on health care. "On September 26,
1994, [Senate Majority Leader George] Mitchell formally announced that
the struggle for health care was over.
The greatest promise of Clinton's campaign and administration was
smashed." (page 121) Hillary was smeared
as Imelda Marcos, and Rush Limbaugh makes the interesting claim that "Whitewater
is about health care."
He was exactly right. Whitewater was used as a weapon against the
Clintons throughout the Democratic presidency
in an attempt to prevent any of their progressive reforms from taking root,
including but not limited to health care.
Chapter 4: Clinton's Strategic Offensive
A midterm election setback in 1994, the rise of Newt Gingrich and the Contract
with America were successes
of the right wing machinery, which never stopped its attack on the presidency.
The bombing of the Murrah Building
in Oklahoma City prompted Clinton to reach out and assert that we were
one America, and bound "to stand strong
against the moments of terror that would destroy our spirit, to stand for
the values that have brought us so many
blessings, values that have made us, at this pivotal moment, the indispensable
nation." (page 156)
Eccentric genius Dick Morris played a role in Bill Clinton's 1996 defeat
of Bob Dole, who, during the campaign,
awkwardly hinted that his wife would be no Hillary Clinton by stammering,
"And when I'm elected, she will not be in
charge of health care. Don't worry about it. Or in charge of
anything else." As the crowd noticeably gasped, he
continued, "I didn't say that. It did sort of go through my mind.
But she may have a little blood bank in the White House."
(p161) Bob Dole must have been a little tired that day.
Chapter 5: Hillary Under Siege
"Hillary privately divide the scandal-mongering into phases as though it
were a disease -- 'acute' and 'chronic.'"
(page 166) Variously a "scheming lawyer, liar and crook, "
Hillary Clinton was her husband's best friend and policy
advisor and therefore a co-favorite target of the right wing media.
She was accused of being a lesbian, having an
affair with Vince Foster (whose suicide note complained of his inability
to tolerate the Washington smear campaign
against him), hiding her husband's corrupt deals and making huge amounts
of money illegally in the stock market.
After the swearing ceremony, Chief Justice Rehnquist welcomed Bill Clinton
into his second presidency by
wishing him luck, adding, "You'll need it." Hillary, holding the
Bible, comments, "They're going to screw you on the
Paula Jones case," as Bill turns and waves to the crowd. (page 192)
Chapter 6: A Political Education
Born in Chicago and educated at Brandeis, Blumenthal stayed in Boston after
graduation to work on several
"alternative" newspapers, although the term hadn't been invented yet.
His experiences reporting on regional politics
led to his first book, _The Permanent Campaign_, published in 1980.
"Politics...is not a static enterprise in which
faces change but institutions remain the same. A deep transformation
of American society has only just begun.
And the coming of...the information age--where white-collar workers outnumber
blue-collar, computers are the
archetypal machines, the more dynamic Third World countries, and America
becomes the home office of the
world--must alter politics. The permanent campaign, which rests on
new technology, is the political form of the
information age." (page 207)
In 1996, Blumenthal joins the Clinton administration as a senior advisor
after having avoided reporting on
them for years. Blumenthal was more Hillary's friend than Bill's.
Chapter 7: Mine Canary
Reminiscent of the right wing's jump start attack on the Clintons, the
morning of Blumenthal's first day on
the job advising the President, child misfit and loner and former CBS gift
shop employee Matt Drudge accused
him of spousal abuse in his AOL sponsored internet gossip column, The Drudge
Report. The right wing conspiracy
machine hadn't given him even one day of relative anonymity before libeling
Sidney and his wife. He was forced to
sue Matt Drudge and America OnLine to stop this kind of shoddy "journalistic"
abuse, but he eventually dropped
AOL from the case.
Chapter 8: Inside the West Wing
Clinton and his staff developed _Pillars_, a large collection of
reports from sixteen policy areas. This
book documents the Clinton agenda at the time, and describes the far reaching
policy objectives which
could be attained by Clinton, as well as the things the administration
was unlikely to achieve in a timely
manner. The main challenge of this time period was to show that great
changes in society could be made
during a time of national prosperity, as opposed to the prevailing dogma
that only national emergency and
war could spur progressive impulses. Clinton placed gays within the
tradition of American rights in his
speech of November 8, 1997 when he exhorted us all to look for "higher
definitions--and more meaningful
definitions--of equality and dignity." (page 275)
Chapter 9: Clinton's Third Way
In 1995 Clinton teamed up with (then opposition leader) Tony Blair and
began work on the problems that
plagued "left of centre" parties: definition, differentiation and
dissemination of the liberal message, and the so called
"Third Way" designed to neutralize the conservative forces rallying against
them. Through the years, Clinton tried
to present his presidency as a time of progressive change characterized
not by war on the government, but a
shaping of the government into a "lean and efficient instrument of justice."
The emerging surplus enraged the right wing because it meant the continuation
of entitlement programs they
hate. It was a high point for the Clinton Administration, though, and the
major message of the State of the Union
Address of 1998 was that the surplus would fund Social Security through
the baby boom retirement years and
into the future.
Chapter 10: Seven Days in January
The Monica tapes surfaced, and the entire world started talking about blow
jobs. President Clinton
debated the definition of the word "is" and claimed truthfully never to
have had "sexual relations" with
the young intern. He and Vernon Jordan were claimed widely to have
suborned perjury by asking Monica
Lewinsky to lie about the affair to a grand jury in the Paula Jones case.
Rumors resonated in a newly
understood pattern: right wing financed tabloid media spin half-truths
into the public awareness, forcing
mainstream media into covering them in an attempt to maintain market share.
Hillary was under the mistaken impression that the Monica story was as
untrue as the others when she
said, "I do believe that it is a battle. I mean, look at the very
people who are involved in this, they have
popped up in other settings. This is the great story here, for anybody
who is willing to find it and write
about it and explain it, this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been
conspiring against my husband
since the day he announced for president. A few journalists have
kind of caught on to it and explained
it, but it has not yet been fully revealed to the American public.
And, actually, you now, in a bizarre
sort of way, this may do it." (page 374)
Despite the brouhaha, Clinton decides to avoid mentioning the investigation
in the State of the Union
Address of January 28, 1998. Instead, he delivered a rousing speech
which promised the surplus to Social
Security and an increase in the minimum wage. After thunderous applause,
White House aids rush back to the
State Dining room to celebrate news from the polls that the President's
speech earned the approval of 80%
of Americans.
Chapter 11: In Starr's Chamber
"From the beginning, Starr hurtled toward the President's impeachment by
using the grand jury to
prosecute symbolic offenses. He was his own runaway train.
He claimed to be throwing up caution signs
while he was stoking the engine with coal." (page 391) Starr, who
signs hymns while jogging, sent out scores
of subpoenas in an attempt to bog down the administration's attempt to
defend itself as well as hindering
progressive action on issues important to America, including one to Sidney
Blumenthal, Clinton's Senior
Advisor on media issues. Blumenthal was accused of spreading lies
about the Office of the Independent
Council and Starr himself, and was required to give up all his notes and
media contacts for inspection,
in a search for "obstruction of justice." Media everywhere regarded
this as highly unconstitutional and
dangerous to free speech.
Chapter 12: The Reign of Witches
In a hothouse environment where any lurid charge, whatever its provenance
and veracity, received full
airing, Bill Clinton continued to function as President of the United States.
From Africa to China to Latin America
to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the President advanced the progressive
agenda, and searched for
ways to build peaceful and prosperous bridges between people. He
would use the military in times of absolute
necessity, too.
"On August 14, the President met the caskets of ten Americans killed in
the embassy bombings as they were
brought to Andrews Air Force Base, and one after another, he met their
grief-stricken families. He was
photographed with tears streaking down his face. 'No matter what
it takes, ' he said at the public ceremony,
'we must find those responsible for these evil acts and see that justice
is done.' Then he drove back to the
White House, where he had to prepare for his deposition. Ken Starr
was demanding his attention while he was
planning the American retaliation to Osama bin Laden." (page 460)
We missed bin Laden by one hour that time.
Chapter 13: Show Trial
Elliot Richardson, Alan Dershowitz and A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. defended
the President in the House,
stating forcefully that his personal transgression did not amount to a
crime. Republican Congressman Bob Barr
made the claim that "real Americans know that perjury amounts to impeachment,"
and Dershowitz later exposed
who Barr meant by "real Americans" with evidence of his support of an overtly
racist political group. Pornographer
Larry Flynt also played a role in discrediting Representative Barr when
a copy of a signed check paying for his
second wife's abortion was printed in "Hustler" magazine, for the reward
of a cool million dollars.
David Kendall, Clinton's personal attorney, attempted a Herculean task,
which he described was, "to respond
to the two hours of uninterrupted testimony from the Independent Counsel,
as well as to his four-year, $45 million
investigation, which has included at least 28 attorneys, 78 FBI agents,
and an undisclosed number of private
investigators, an investigation which has generated, by a computer count,
114,532 news stories in print, and 2,513
minutes of network television time, not to mention 24-hour scandal coverage
on cable, a 445-page referral, 50,000
pages of documents from secret grand-jury testimony, 4 hours of videotaped
testimony, 22 hours of audiotape,
some of which was gathered in violation of state law, and the testimony
of scores of witnesses, not one of whom
has been cross-examined. And I have 30 minutes to do this." (page
513)
Impeachment Results:
Article I - perjury in the grand jury - 228-206 Impeach
Article II - perjury in the Jones case - 205-229 Failed
Article III - obstruction of justice - 221-212 Impeach
Article IV - abuse of power - 148-285 Failed
The President was impeached.
Chapter 14: The Twenty First Century
Simultaneous attacks were planned for Washington, D.C., Los Angeles International
Airport, the Amman
Radisson Hotel in Jordan and the USS The Sullivans on December 31, 1999.
All were foiled by an administration
paying close attention to the rising terrorist danger and in conjunction
with countries around the world, but with
practically no help from the FBI. Director Louis Freeh had a "visceral
antagonism" toward Clinton, and the result
was that almost no information about terrorism collected by the FBI was
shared with other intelligence organizations.
"After September 11, the FBI acknowledged to senior administration officials
that despite hundreds of
millions of dollars of budget increases over several ears, it had no more
agents working on counterterrorism cases
than it had in 1996." Freeh blocked a briefing for then Secretary
of State Madeline Albright, saying, "Why should
we brief him? He's a crook. He's no better than a bank robber.Would
we tell a bank robber about our investigation?"
(page 663)
John O'Neill, killed on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center, quit
the FBI in frustration at its
lack of proper attention to what Clinton called "the biggest problem to
our society in the twenty-first century."
Chapter 15: A New York State of Mind
Despite the ongoing impeachment of her husband, Hillary stumps for Charles
Schumer in his New York
Senate race, and most accounts give her very high marks for effective campaigning
and grace under pressure.
Patrician Senator Patrick Moynihan's retirement in 2000 gave her a rare
gift: an open Senate seat in New York.
Bill and Hillary buy a home in Westchester county, and Hillary decides
to run for the Senate after her extensive
"listening tour".
Various media outlets publish news stories entitled, "Shame on Hillary",
"The Hillary Trap", "The Case
Against Hillary Clinton", "She's Nothing But an Empty Carpetbag" from The
New York Post and a good one from
the National Enquirer, "Hillary's Gay Affairs." Her first opponent,
Rudolph Giuliani drops out of the race due to
health and personal problems, and Rick Lazio was annointed as the Republican
challenger.
"His gambits backfired. He looked utterly tactical, inventing controversies
rather than discussing issues.
Lazio was a perfect Republican candidate of his kind: clean-cut, youthful,
conservative without passionate
belief, glib, willing to be a transmission belt for his handlers' talking
points. but the shallowness that had allowed
his ambition to skim the surface this far and this fast was betraying him.
He could not stop attacking Hillary." (page 695)
Lazio stormed Hillary's podium during a debate, alienating enough undecided
women voters that she went to
sleep happy on election night with a victory in her own race, the presidency
undecided.
Chapter 16: The Stolen Succession
The Bush team stole the election by flying men in blue buttoned down shirts
and brown pants into
Florida, where they rioted through the state. These individuals were
part of a huge Republican political
operation, but apparently they weren't briefed that showing up in identical
clothes would label them
instantly as to who they were. From the beginning of the campaign,
this operation "targeted Gore's greatest
strengths and virtues and systematically turned them upside down.
He was called a liar, an exaggerator.
The media, in large part, accepted this portrait of an untrustworthy, sleazy,
and phony man and transmitted
the false stories originating in the Republican camp." (page 706)
The coup de grace of the Republican campaign was violence on the streets
of Florida, which terrorized
Democratic protesters and stopped the vote count. Bush was IN, mangled
syl-lables, fuzzy math and all,
and the majority of the country who voted for Gore was supposed to "get
over it."
Chapter 17: The Sands of Time
Working until the very end, Clinton went to England on the day the Supreme
Court handed down its ruling on
December 12. He spoke about the positive developments in the "global
social contract" and warned about the
dangers of an increasingly open society. Sadly, Clinton's efforts
to strengthen the peace process in the middle east
fell apart in violence at the end of his term. Clinton rebuked Arafat,
who called to thank him for all he had done and
who called him a great man. "The hell I am," said Clinton. "I'm a
colossal failure, and you made me one." (page 780)
Chapter 18: The American Conflict
"The Clinton wars over the progressive presidency and its uses of government
had a partisan cast, but they
were not about one side versus another as in some sporting match.
They focused on Clinton the man because he
personified his office, but at issue was how the executive branch would
use the instruments of government. Would
they be wielded on behalf of the interests of the great majority of citizens,
allowing the Constitution to be a living
document for advancing the people's rights and social equality and the
nation's needs' 'the organic law,' as Lincoln
called it - and the United States to be a vital nation advancing public
purposes? Or would the executive branch
define the nation as a shell, a confederation of states, clearing the way
for private special interests, and asserting
the armed forces as the only expression of national power?" (pages
789-790)