Reply #74: The Democratic Party is a diverse party and people have diverse opinions [View All]

[RFKHumphreyObama]

Just because they dislike President Clinton and/or his policies, doesn't make them any less Democratic. They are entitled to their opinion and to their participation on DU

As for my opinion of Bill Clinton, I stand behind my journal post

A perspective from a foreigner
While I am not an American citizen and have lived overseas for all of my life, I have nevertheless followed US politics closely since childhood.

Clinton was actually the one responsible for changing my views on American politics. Before Clinton came on the scene, I was quite sympathetic to the US Republicans. I considered George Bush Senior to be somewhat of a father figure and fervently supported his Administration. I supported the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court (keep in mind the past tense in that above statement) and I really wanted Bush to win re-election in 1992

Then Clinton came on the scene. Initially I didn’t know what to think of him –my first memories of the Clinton were from the whole Gennifer Flowers saga. But as I listened to his speeches and to him on the campaign trail, I found myself greatly awed by him. I greatly admired his passion, the sincerity in his voice and the fact that he seemed to have such a clear vision of how to make America and the world a better place. I had never felt so inspired and passionate about a candidate before and I was overjoyed when he won the presidential election.

During the first year he did much to make me disillusioned with his presidency –the “don’t ask, don’t tell” saga, Somalia (which was actually left to him by the previous Administration but I didn’t realize it at the time), Haitian refugees and a few other issues. I was drifting away from him but the Republican takeover of Congress quickly brought me back to my senses. I saw Gingrich and his cronies pursue their agenda of ideological zeal and hate and Ken Starr with his perverted witch-hunt against the Clintons and it truly disgusted me and increased my sympathy for, and affiliation with, President Clinton. I also saw how President Clinton deftly outmaneuvered the Republicans on the budget shutdown and showed Gingrich for the inflated ego that he was. And he kept exposing the Republicans for what they were during his presidency and I really admired him for the way that he did that. I also admired the way how, despite all the obstacles and ideological politicking that the Republicans threw at him during his presidency, he managed to accomplish so much in domestic and foreign policy

Clinton was a passionate visionary in foreign policy. He thought it possible to bring peace to Northern Ireland and he took the steps to ensure that outcome was achieved. During the Clinton presidency, Israel and the Palestinian territories enjoyed seven years of relative peace. Clinton refused to allow the obstacles to peace in the Middle East to daunt him. There were several times during his presidency when the Mid-East peace process threatened to collapse but Clinton invested the necessary amount of personal diplomacy and conflict resolution skills to bring all the parties involved back to the negotiating table. While I agree that his inaction to the crisis in Rwanda was deeply regrettable and a key mistake of his presidency –something even he now acknowledges –his subsequent interest in combating poverty and conflict resolution in the African region was taken to an extent that had never been seen before by an American President.

Clinton restored America’s image around the globe and took it to new heights. Believe me, as a foreigner I know. I personally witnessed people who had been hostile to America and American foreign policy for decades speak glowingly about Clinton and his foreign policy. I went to university during the final year of the Clinton Administration and I can testify that people of my generation –who spent their formative years growing up under a Clinton presidency –harbored none of the prejudices and negative attitudes toward the US that many of their parent’s generation (who had witnessed the Vietnam War, Nixon and Reagan did). The Clinton Administration fostered an amazing amount of goodwill and warmth toward the US

I remember when President Clinton visited Australia in 1996. Australia was at that time undergoing a period of underlying racial tension at that time and our right wing Prime Minister (who is unfortunately still in power but hopefully for not much longer) was engaging in his subtle encouragement of the racism and intolerance toward immigrants. During his visit President Clinton addressed a crowd in Sydney and he delivered one of the most passionate, eloquent and heartfelt speeches defending immigrants and pointing out how much they had benefited Australian society that I have ever heard. His speech was so beautiful that many people in the audience were moved to tears. I will never forget that speech and indeed the other speeches he made in Australia vigorously denouncing racism and how much that meant to me and a whole lot of other Australians at the time

Sure, Clinton committed mistakes during his presidency –DOMA, some of the bills he signed to appeal to the Republican Congress, the whole Monica Lewinsky thing and the like –but he did a whole lot of good and restored America’s reputation around the globe to an all-time high. I am profoundly thankful for him for allowing me to spend my teenage years in an environment of peace, prosperity and hope and idealism for the future and for showing me what a great President could be like.
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