One of these things isn't like the others. (I think your analysis also underrates Bush Senior, but let's get back to that some other time.) Clinton's basic scuzziness was by no means unprecedented in the White House; even the canonized JFK had a distinct component of that in his character, and he wasn't the first president with it and Clinton won't be the last. However, it only became a national-well-being problem when the Republican-controlled Congress decided to use it as a tool to beat him and his fellow Democrats up with. And it didn't look like nearly the disgrace world-wide that it did to his detractors domestically, at least not until it began to cut into his effectiveness. There was a joke current around the mid-to-late 90s that makes this point:Sareth wrote:Sorry. Not that I'm a GW fan (I'm not *shudder*) But I do have a little issue with the idea that the previous presidents were respectable. Clinton was busy making a laughing stock of the White House in the eyes of a world that viewed our leader as a womanizing con man, GW the 1st waged a war that failed to do anything and managed to raise taxes enough even Democrats were asking WTF and managed to fail to get re-elected while running against a little known yutz from redneckville. Reagan was viewed by many as some trigger happy cowboy who was none to bright but had smart advisors. Prior to that we had Jimmy Carter (does ANYONE think he was a GOOD leader?) Before that we had Ford, who was never elected to the job and whose one notable deed was to pardon Nixon. Nixon... Yeah. Do I even need to bother? Lyndon B...
Three diplomats, one French, one "African" (usually, no specific country was mentioned) and one Russian, are walking around the UN talking, and the subject of Monica Lewinsky comes up. The French diplomat says, "Zut alors! The big question here is, what is the big deal? Why do people notice this?" The African says, "No, the big question is, why did he not make her pregnant?" And the Russian says, "Nyet. You are both wrong. The big question is, why is she still alive?"
Obvious national stereotypes aside, there's a definite point to that joke, and it's one reason why I earlier opined that the presidential race isn't the only thing we should (must) be paying attention to: we must also drain the stinking swamp that is Congress. The Clinton Administration's policies certainly weren't above reproach, although I personally think he got more things right than wrong. But discussion of those policies, at least in terms more substantive than "you're a liberal, nyah nyah nyah," not only stopped in public, it also stopped in Congress -- which in fact kinda led the way in the decline in both civility and substantiveness. Until that can be fixed, and the body politic can get back to reasoned debate of the important stuff, it almost doesn't matter who's in the Oval Office. And it's going all but unremarked during this election season.