Now that the Lewinsky-Clinton affair has played out, and we know the full story, it is obvious that a huge deal was made over a small and sordid affair. What begs another look is why this got played out at such a public level. It goes far beyond the fact that Clinton is President. Let's look at the whole episode from the archetypal level and see if there might be a teaching for the nation, perhaps for the world, in these events.
Here is a president who survived assault after assault from outside his campaign for president and his administration. No scandal stuck enough to destroy him, from New Hampshire and the Gennifer Flowers revelations when he came in second and was dubbed the "come-back kid", to the White Water land deal investigation. He seemed invincible, and no matter how hard his enemies and detractors tried, nobody could bring him down.
He had his finger on the pulse of the issues that mattered to the American people. He had triumphed domestically, in foreign policy, and was riding herd on an economy that has most Americans singing with joy. He wrote the blueprint for undermining the Republican party by usurping their agenda. He let them hang themselves with the public when the government shut down over the budget. Time after time he left them shaking their heads and looking foolish while he seemed above the fray, while he seemed, well...presidential. Yet rather than learn the lessons being sent his way about cleaning up his act, despite the years of hired guns coming after him and failing, he created his own downfall and destroyed his own presidential legacy.
Maybe he thought he was invulnerable. Maybe he was too secure with the way he had side-stepped disaster over and over in the past. And even though he was acquitted of the charges, he was impeached. He was exposed as a liar and a cheat.
But not even Bill Clinton can undo what he himself has done to his presidency, his legacy, and the country. He has played out for all of us what happens when we allow our personal excesses to over-rule our better judgement. He teaches us that loyalty and self-discipline can mean the difference between what is, and what could have been. Not even the most powerful person in the world can use their power forever to keep the lid on a personal life that is out of control.
Bill Clinton teaches us that personal responsibility is the keystone to personal success. Are we, as a nation, being personally responsible for ourselves, or are we papering over excess with the good news from Wall Stree?. Are we cheating on each other instead of behing loyal to our own? Are we lying to and misleading other nations to cover our own butts?
Because his approval rating is still high, and the Republican party is still reeling from coming off looking like a bunch of petty puritans, it would be easy to overlook the significance of what happened. That would be a mistake. When such basic life lessons get played out on a stage that large, that public, we should all pay attention and see if there is a lesson here for the country itself.
Copyright March 6, 1999