Focus on issues, not scandal

Published: Friday, January 30, 1998

Friday, January 30, 1998

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.