Gentle Reminders

In the hubbub of daily life and maturity I have noticed that issues and individuals that formerly irritated me seem to dissipate and flow off into the ether of ‘old news, apathy or forgiveness.’ Issues of more immediate need come in and usurp the all-important resources of energy and concentration. Perhaps an excellent example of this phenomenon is my perception of former President Richard Nixon. I never personally held him up to much harsh scrutiny but many did and I never begrudged their judgment given his fatal fall from grace and the bizarre decisions he made that led to that fall. However, through the lens of time I continue to admire his intellect, wisdom in foreign policy and political savvy (bad decisions and all.) May it also be remembered, after more than 15 years of prolonged fighting in Vietnam under the guidance of JFK and LBJ, who it was sitting in the Oval Office when our troops finally came home.

I use this example as a preamble to the fact that I have been reminded in recent weeks how repulsed I am by Bill Clinton – and his wife. I have stated in previous journals how I have regretted the 2 most recent presidential votes I cast – not so much the first one in 2000 but certainly the vote in 2004; both, of course, for Dubya. In almost every way since his powerful leadership in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks I have found him to be frail, inept, off-the-chart partisan, almost illiterate, surrounded by hawkish imbeciles and without a compass. During these past 6 years I have even secretly longed for a bit of Bill Clinton back in charge – if only to oversee the economy and markets.

But oh – how I have been reminded in recent weeks of the egotistical, arrogant, lying, despicable, snake-tongued, power-hungry, slimy, elitist, angry, do-anything-to-win politician that he is – and his wife. God forbid they ever live on Pennsylvania Avenue again.