From: Blythe Systems <nytransfer%igc.apc.org@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Subject: NEWS:Clinton Wins Suppt from RightWing Biz
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 21:55:39 GMT


Via The NY Transfer News Service ^ All the News that Doesn't Fit


        Clinton Wins Applause from Rightist Business Heads

                          By Andy Stapp

Bill Clinton will not be afraid to march the country off to war
any time, any place. He will "defy and defeat those who would
threaten us." That's the gist of his Aug. 13 address to 2,000
business leaders at a World Affairs Council meeting in Los
Angeles.

The speech was a real spellbinder -- if you enjoy arrogant bullies.
It even had "humor" aimed at the misguided people hoping for a
peace dividend. Or as Clinton so cleverly depicted them, "those
who see defense cuts as largely a piggy bank to fund domestic
wish lists." Like child care, apartments for the homeless, good
public schools, a comprehensive health plan, full employment and
other stuff almost everyone wants.

Leapfrogging over Bush to capture the turf of the political right
wing, Clinton virtually accused his Republican rival of going
mushy on communism. Bush wasn't aggressive enough in pulling the
Ukraine and Baltics away from the USSR. Bush supported Gorbachev
over Boris Yeltsin. Bush sympathizes with Chinese Reds. Bush
actually "coddled Iraq." Bush "gave short shrift" to separatists
"in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia."

Clinton's approach to Yugoslavia? "I would begin with air power
to restore the basic conditions of humanity." Nothing like a
little basic humanitarian bombing. And oh yes, Cuba. In Clinton's
eyes, Bush is too weak there also. Said Clinton, "I think the
Bush administration has missed a big opportunity to put the
hammer down on Fidel Castro." George Bush restrained about
hammering Cuba? Is Clinton on the same planet as everyone else?

Show Clinton any billion-dollar weapons system and it's love at
first sight. He used his talk to champion the cause of the V-22
Osprey, even though the Pentagon itself has soured on the thing.
The Osprey, which is supposed to take off like a helicopter and
fly like a plane, keeps crashing. In military jargon it
"experiences an involuntary conversion."

On July 20, an Osprey abruptly "converted" over the Potomac
River, killing all seven people aboard. Despite this plane's
difficulty staying aloft, Clinton couldn't pass up a chance to
promote it, along with the ultra-expensive C-17 aircraft and the
Seawolf submarine. General Dynamics' Seawolf was designed to
"stalk" Soviet subs, a somewhat thin mission these days.

The Democratic candidate sees trouble looming in Moscow. Should
Yeltsin's government collapse, Clinton anticipates "the risk of
new threats from the former Soviet republics." That might
"require the use of force."

Enemies abound everywhere. Another potential menace emanates from
Latin America, especially in Peru. Bill Clinton is prepared to
face this peril as well. He pointed out that he once dispatched
the Arkansas National Guard down to the Honduran-Nicaraguan
border to challenge the Sandinistas.

Turning toward the Far East, Clinton pressed for a Radio Free
Asia, which would beam counter-revolutionary broadcasts 24 hours
a day into China, Laos, Vietnam and People's Korea. He pledged to
maintain U.S. military bases "in both Europe and Asia."

Repression at home, war abroad

In an obvious reference to the recent Los Angeles uprising,
Clinton reassured the crowd of well-heeled whites that he would
strengthen the National Guard and Army Reserve. Warming to his
subject, the governor reminded them that both world wars were
fought under the command of Democratic presidents who rose to the
White House from governorships.

He didn't mention that on the eve of the U.S. entry into World
War I, Woodrow Wilson's re-election slogan was "He kept us out of
war." Candidate Clinton evidently admires that kind of hypocrisy.

He continued: "We still need a resolute leader who will wield
America's might. Every president in the last half-century has had
to confront the fateful decision to send Americans into combat. I
do not relish the prospect, but neither do I shrink from it."

Two decades ago, Clinton certainly didn't relish the prospect of
getting his tail blown off in Vietnam. Few should blame him for
that. Knowing the war to be unjust, many avoided conscription if
they could. You can be sure that Clinton's plan to escape
induction was one "fateful decision" he made rather easily.

Back in 1969 it was, "Colonel, thank you for saving me from the
draft." Not, "Dear President Nixon, thank you for letting me get
shot at in this swamp." But now Clinton is older and wiser. Any
reminder of long-gone youthful idealism is simply an
embarrassment. Today this "resolute" man boasts that he wouldn't
"shrink" from ordering younger folks to fight and die in some
distant land.

By its very nature, all big-money politics is dirty and
shameless. Even so, given his own well-known opportunism,
Clinton's pitch was more than a little repulsive. His affluent
and comfortable audience, however, seemed absolutely delighted.
James Solloway, the chief executive officer of a market research
firm, remarked: "I can live with him as president. And that
surprises me because I'm to the right of Marie Antoinette."

                               -30-

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted
if source is cited. For more info contact Workers World,46 W. 21
St., New York, NY 10010; "workers@igc.apc.org".)

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