Clinton

last updated 8 January 2015

Richard Nixon recast himself as a foreign-policy maven. Jimmy Carter built houses for Habitat for Humanity. Now, said Tina Brown in The Washington Post, Bill Clinton has found his post-presidential calling. He's serving as our nation's first 'œfacilitator-in-chief,' encouraging both luminaries and common folk to fix what ails the planet. In New York last week, he unveiled the Clinton Global Initiative, an ambitious effort to get government and the private sector to cooperate on such intractable issues as poverty, AIDS, religious conflict, and climate change. And what an event it was: During the three-day conference, benefactors pledged nearly $1.3 billion. The 'œhigh-octane' guests included Shimon Peres, Tony Blair, Barbra Streisand, Paul Wolfowitz, Angelina Jolie, 'œeven Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, for heaven's sake.' In the center of it all was a tanned and slimmed Clinton, wearing the 'œwry, judicious' look of a sage who has seen and done it all.

What a turnabout, said DeWayne Wickham in USA Today. When Clinton left office under a cloud of scandal, even most liberals were disgusted with him. But President Bush has been so inept that a wave of Clinton nostalgia is now sweeping the nation. Too bad, then, that the man who dragged the Democratic Party to the center is still playing 'œboth sides of the fence,' said Arianna Huffington in Huffington post.com. Clinton let President Bush use him for political cover for months, as he helped raise funds for the victims of the Indonesian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina; then, when the press and the public turned on Bush, Clinton began 'œpointing the finger' at his good buddy Dubya. Clinton recently declared that the Iraq war has been 'œa net negative' for the U.S., then quickly added, 'œOn the other hand, Saddam is gone.' Rather than lead, Clinton still wants to be all things to all people.