The Man from Hopeless

SINCE September 11, whenever I’ve so much as mentioned Bill Clinton even en passant, a torrent of missives has arrived along the lines of, “Oh, come on, get over it. He’s gone, and you right- wing nuts are the only ones who haven’t moved on.” I have a bit of sympathy for this point of view. When the globetrotting high-end lounge act, making a rare appearance back in the United States, turned up on the streets of Lower Manhattan a couple of days after 9/11, he looked for the first time oddly anachronistic—stuck in the day before yesterday, like some Lite-FM disc jockey who doesn’t realize the station’s switched formats. It’s tempting to leave him there, beached by the tides of history. On the other hand, if we members of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy don’t get back to our daily routine of obsessive Clinton-bashing, then the terrorists will have won.

In 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned as prime minister, his successor Winston Churchill asked him to stay on as leader of the Conservative party and to remain in the cabinet. Chamberlain did so, serving loyally under Churchill until ill health forced him from office. He died four weeks later, a mere six months after he left 10 Downing Street, a little over a year after war was declared. Churchill paid him handsome tribute and cried at his bier. The war had accelerated Chamberlain’s cancer: In his last months, he was lost in introspection and wracked with guilt. I’m not saying Bill Clinton’s the designated Chamberlain of World War III—yet. For one thing, even Chamberlain wasn’t Chamberlain when he died: It was some while before posterity chiseled him the one-word epitaph “Appeaser.” And, in fairness to him, the overwhelming majority of the British people supported “appeasement,” just as most of the American people were happy to string along on an eight-year holiday from history. But, given his own desultory responses to Osama bin Laden’s ever bolder provocations, you’d think even Bill Clinton might find time for a little introspection and quiet self-assessment.

About the Author

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human-rights activist.

Featured Tags

Georgetown University

SINCE September 11, whenever I’ve so much as mentioned Bill Clinton even en passant, a torrent of missives has arrived along the lines of, “Oh, come on, get over it. He’s gone, and you right- wing nuts are the only ones who haven’t moved on.” I have a bit of sympathy for this point of view. When the globetrotting high-end lounge act, making a rare appearance back in the United States, turned up on the streets of Lower Manhattan a couple of days after 9/11, he looked for the first time oddly anachronistic—stuck in the day before yesterday, like some Lite-FM disc jockey who doesn’t realize the station’s switched formats. It’s tempting to leave him there, beached by the tides of history. On the other hand, if we members of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy don’t get back to our daily routine of obsessive Clinton-bashing, then the terrorists will have won.

In 1940, when Neville Chamberlain resigned as prime minister, his successor Winston Churchill asked him to stay on as leader of the Conservative party and to remain in the cabinet. Chamberlain did so, serving loyally under Churchill until ill health forced him from office. He died four weeks later, a mere six months after he left 10 Downing Street, a little over a year after war was declared. Churchill paid him handsome tribute and cried at his bier. The war had accelerated Chamberlain’s cancer: In his last months, he was lost in introspection and wracked with guilt. I’m not saying Bill Clinton’s the designated Chamberlain of World War III—yet. For one thing, even Chamberlain wasn’t Chamberlain when he died: It was some while before posterity chiseled him the one-word epitaph “Appeaser.” And, in fairness to him, the overwhelming majority of the British people supported “appeasement,” just as most of the American people were happy to string along on an eight-year holiday from history. But, given his own desultory responses to Osama bin Laden’s ever bolder provocations, you’d think even Bill Clinton might find time for a little introspection and quiet self-assessment.