Thoughts on Bill
I picked up former President Clinton’s memoir last night. I have a book buying compulsion. I’ve barely made it a few chapters into “A Confederacy of Dunces”, and I have ten different Bush bashing books still to wade through. What are another thousand pages to feed the addiction?
Bill Clinton came along during my adolescence. I admired his charm and wit, as well as his vast knowledge of the issues and obvious intelligence. But what I liked most about the man was that he seemed curious about the world. He had many of the same questions any reasonable person would have, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that even though he didn’t have all the answers, he’d love to talk about it.
Some people say that Clinton’s legacy was tarnished by the scandals during the later years of his presidency, but I’ve never thought so. It’s possible that I’m morally bankrupt, but I didn’t find his “crimes” to be so shocking or extreme. I might have liked him more for proving so human and fallible. There are people that claim to like Bush for similar reasons. Apparently his bumbling speeches and goofy smirk make him a regular guy, which is fine, but don’t confuse “fallible” with “complete dumbass”. People who believe responsibility goes hand in hand with intelligence or resolve, really don’t know much about the human condition.