Lee Dresselhaus / L’Observateur / August 2, 2000

So’..you know, the Founding Fathers were some pretty clever lads.Somewhere along the line they decided that a President should only hold office for two terms. Then he should go on his merry way and let thevoters put someone else in office that they’ll be heartily sick of by the time his second term is up. It was a wise choice, and the proof of thatwisdom can be summed up in one word.

Clinton.

Is it just me, or is it time that Bill and Hillary get out of our lives? I mean, I realize that every presidency has its little quirks but, come on, folks. These two have taken the American people for a ride that’s partkiller roller coaster, part soap opera, and part snake-oil sideshow. SinceClinton’s been in office we’ve been treated to adultery, accusations of sexual assault, lawsuits, lies (I did NOT have sex with that woman), an impeachment circus, and pure unadulterated sleaze, right down to depressingly graphic descriptions of Oval Office sex and a stained blue dress. Amazingly, he survived it all, at least so far. So, yeah, I think it’s high time ol’ Bill hitched up his britches and moseyed on down the trail. Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers theClinton legacy will soon be a bad memory and a bad joke. There’s just oneproblem with all that, though.

Bill may be about to ride off into the sunset – or to various indictments once the protective umbrella of the presidency is removed, whichever comes first – but it looks like Hillary has decided to ride herd on the American people for just a while longer. As we all know, Hillary is acandidate for a Senate seat in New York. Which, if she gets elected, shouldhenceforth be known as The Gullible State. She just up and decided tomove to New York and become a senator so, by golly, she did just that.

She’s not even from New York and, as far as I know, has never been a resident there, at least not lately. Yet she’s managed to get the people ofNew York to nominate her for the Senate. Which tells me one thing. This is not a woman to be taken lightly.

If we think Mr. Bill has been slick (they don’t call him “Slick Willie” fornothing, you know) just sit back and watch what little Mrs. Clinton can do.A graduate of Wellesly and Yale law school, this is a woman with the intelligence and, more importantly, the drive to succeed. Combine thosethings with a lack of scruples and an absolute lust for power and you have a formidable person. And maybe even a dangerous one. Hillary Clinton can dance with the best of them. When Bill was caughtwith his hand in Monica’s cookie jar, and caught in a very public way, Hillary was asked why she didn’t leave Bill in the dust. Her answer wassome mumbo-jumbo about family loyalty and stuff like that. Yeah, right.The fact is that Bill is her meal ticket, her backstage pass to the power play, at least until he has to leave office. This woman is not stupid. Shewasn’t about to dump her hubby over a little thing like infidelity, especially when she’s probably known all along about Bill and his philandering ways. She needed Bill and his power until she could find theright time to jockey herself into a powerful position of her own.

Well, she’s about to do just that. With the aid of the good people of theGullible State, of course.

It will be interesting to see if she keeps Slick Willie around after she’s elected to the Senate. It looks as though Bill is Hollywood-bound afteroffice and Bill being Bill and Hollywood being Hollywood, the potential for even more scandal is huge. He may become a millstone around her neckinstead of a lucky charm, and if that happens you can bet she’ll dump Bill like an unwanted cat. She’d play the aggrieved wife well, but not in aweepy, poor-poor me way. In a calculating, very efficient way. Whateveroccurs she’ll make it work for her.

So, no. We’re not through with the Clintons just yet. Don’t be surprised ifHillary makes a run at the Presidency, or at least the VP job within the next few years. You gotta hand it to her. She ain’t scared.Actually, as annoying as she is I have a sneaking admiration for her. Notthat I’d vote for her, because I wouldn’t, except at gunpoint. Her brand ofblind liberalism is sucking this country under. But you have to admit she’sfun to watch.

So much fun to watch I wish she’d go on a TV show like “Survivor.” Theycould put Hillary, Jane Fonda, Diane Feinstein, Maxine Waters, and Susan Sarandon on a deserted island with Al Sharpton, Alec Baldwin, Al Gore and Jessie Jackson. That’s a nice mix. And then forget to go get them. Maybe they’d eat each other.

LEE DRESSELHAUS writes this column every Wednesday for L’Observateur.

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