Bill Clinton Cares

As little as I may like President George Bush II, I sometimes get the urge to defend him. This is especially true now, as I've been reading a book about the Clinton presidency called Legacy. It's a clearly biased book, but it was written by the editor of the National Review, and its sources are thoroughly documented.

So I write of Africa. Bill Clinton cared about Africa. He made absolutely certain that everybody around the world knew how much pain he felt on the part of the Africans. The guy seriously radiated empathy, and we all loved him for it. To demonstrate his care, he sent over a bunch of food aid to help them out. Sure, it wound up in the hands of the very groups that were making places like Somalia shitholes -- but it's the thought that counts, right?

As for Georgie? He doesn't give a fuck about Africa, the bastard! His soul lacks any iota of empathy, and all he radiates is the chill of an unbeating heart. His only "gesture" was to spend about $3 billion annually from the US treasury to combat (yeah, he loves combatting stuff) AIDS worldwide, a disease most prevalent in Africa. But he cares so little about Africa that he dares help AIDS victims in other places, like Vietnam*!

Yeah, we all know what a moral piece of crap Mr. Bush is.

Seriously, now... the reason I wrote this is that I rarely hear about how little Mr. Clinton did for Africa, but complaints about the inadequacy of the much larger aid provided by the Bush administration (with the help and approval of Congress -- gotta give them some credit) are pervasive among liberals. Clinton didn't propose anything nearly as bold as Bush's AIDS initiative because he was too afraid of the political risk. Apparently, he was right not to.

Don't try and tell me I love the President. I don't. But it really pisses me off when people complain about him without any sense of perspective. Perhaps that's just how things go: the only way to avoid complaints about not helping enough is not to help at all. It's a great message to send to charity-minded people out there.

Another example: Bill Gates and his Gates Foundation. I don't recall Bill getting nearly as much credit as he deserved for establishing that and endowing it with tons of money (at least a billion, if not several times that).

So I suppose I'll close with a piece of advise: if you want people to like you, don't help others. Just act like you care.

* where, by the way, John Kerry served. (thanks, Opinion Journal)

More info?

The President's HIV/AIDS Initiatives

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Opinion Journal (by the Wall Street Journal)