He Can Keep Doing What He Does

Stories have been popping up recently that Bill Clinton is either lobbying for, mulling over, or being considered for U.N. Secretary General. Apparently there is a behind-the-scenes drive to have Kofi Annan resign in the Fall; following that Mr. Clinton can take his brand of international schmoozing, hero-worship and sexual assault to the biggest stage of all.

I think this is a good idea. Look what Clinton did for the Democrats. He was able to take the Democratic Leadership Conference's brand of middle-of-the-road liberalism to the forefront of the Democratic agenda. He briefly unified his party behind him. He went global, to much acclaim and notoriety. Clinton himself prospered greatly during his administration.

But now, the Democrats are in disarray, a nearly-spent force. It was during his eight years that the Democrats suffered the greatest defections of the modern era. (Here's one summary; see Truth #9.) They suffered some big losses in 2000, when Clinton's coattails seemed to disappear, and some historic ones in 2002. His heir-apparent floundered while distancing himself from his mentor. Senator Daschle's idea of leadership was to try to obstruct everything. Nancy Pelosi, the new House Minority Speaker, is a very-far left liberal who'll only alienate more people. Most of Clinton's foreign policy work is now gone, because he was the reason and not the effector. He abandoned economic leadership during his last year, in the elusive search for his legacy, and the economy began to drift into the collapse that was due to come.

Now, as many as a dozen candidates seek the Democratic Presidential nomination (often a sign of disarray); the anti-war left in encountering strong, informed opposition; no one is leading the party. Heck, liberals and Democrats find themselves on the run on television! If only the Republicans could find some unity of their own, it would be crippling.

So, yeah, I say let Clinton do to the U.N. what he did for the Democrats. They all hitched their wagons to his star. Sadly, that star was a supernova. It burned very, very bright for a while, but burned out quickly, leaving an expanding shell of hot gas and a dark, cold husk. Now, they all get to drift around in space, waiting for the next star to come along. Serves 'em all right.