A PRESIDENT'S INDISCRETIONS HURT A NATION
By Mike Evans
Michael D. Evans is author of "The American Prophecies"
Bill Clinton, never far from the limelight, is again the center of attention with the release of his autobiography, My Life. In one of the book's more curious disclosures, Clinton abandons his testimony before the Starr grand jury and admits that what Monica Lewinsky said was true all along - that "during the government shutdown in late 1995, when very few people were allowed to come to work in the White House, and those who were there were working late, I'd had an inappropriate encounter with Monica Lewinsky and would do so again on other occasions between November and April, when she left the White House for the Pentagon."
Here's a man who has a problem with the truth. His stated belief that he did not "have sex with that woman" reveals his philosophy of life. He has taken creative license to rewrite history. I suppose in his mind, pornography is simply "adult entertainment"; terrorists are "freedom fighters"; and terrorism is a struggle for independence.
It would be merely sad if his truth problem affected only his own life. But I'd argue that the moral confusion in Bill Clinton led to an incoherent policy toward terrorists that allowed Osama bin Laden to grow strong, leading indirectly to the events of Sept. 11.
Like Hillary, Clinton blames his problems - from Paula Jones to Monica Lewinsky to the impeachment - on a "vast right-wing conspiracy." He tries to characterize the impeachment battle as the last great showdown with "a force I've opposed all my life, the right wing."
But no, his problem is moral confusion. Moral confusion happens when we can no longer discern between right and wrong, good and evil. Bill Clinton has become the modern-day godfather of moral confusion. Is it possible that his lack of moral clarity infected an entire nation and caused us not to see clear-cut issues clearly?
Clinton chose Galatians 6:8 as his inauguration scripture when he took the Oath of Office on Jan. 20, 1993: "He that soweth to the flesh shall reap of the flesh corruption." Barely a month into his first term, America received a wake-up call from Osama bin Laden's organization. On Feb. 9, 1993, a truck bomb was detonated beneath the World Trade Center. The actual plan was to topple the tower and kill 25,000 people.
In a radio address the day after the bombing, Clinton did not use the word bomb or terrorist. He never again referred to the incident in public, nor did he visit the site of the blast.Bin Laden was a small-time terrorist in Afghanistan, Yemen and Sudan at the time, but by 2000, his network was operating in 55 countries. Again and again, Clinton made only inadequate swipes at al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, he was far too harsh on the Israeli government, appeasing Yassir Arafat and approving $34 billion worth of arms sales to Arab countries, with almost $20 billion going to the terror refuge known as Saudi Arabia. The Clinton responses to the USS Cole, the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Khobar Towers bombing clearly indicate he had no interest in a vigorous approach to terrorism. Instead, his fecklessness sent a signal that terrorism pays.
I draw a direct line between this failed foreign policy and the moral relativism of which Clinton is the avatar. Such relativism has infected our nation. America's domestic decadence has affected its foreign policy and worldview like a moral Ebola virus. And one of the major vectors of that virus is the author of My Life.
During the 1990s, when Clinton served as president, America saw its culture polluted, its heroes defiled, Bible-believing Americans demonized as bigots and extremists, and God dethroned. The same moral compromise that has infected our domestic policy has also infected our foreign policy. Bill Clinton became the Pied Piper of New Age secular humanism while serving the poison apple.
If the truth sets free, perhaps lies imprison. Clinton's truth problem is deeply involved in our present struggle with terror - and with ourselves. Rush Limbaugh was so right when he called Clinton's book My Lie, rather than My Life.
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