January
25, 2001
Keeping the Promise
By Tom Bevan
Is anyone shocked that the details of the Clintons' move out
of the White House last week read like a Little Rock police report?
There was a written confession of perjury, pardons for convicted
criminals who contributed to Hillary's campaign, vandalism and
graffiti inside the White House aimed at the incoming president,
packing up an obscene $190,000 in "gifts", and the pillaging
of Air Force One for presidential mementos. As if the country
needed any more reminders that the first and most important order
of business for George W. Bush is to keep his campaign promise
of restoring character and integrity to the Office of the President
of the United States.
Even for Bush, who probably has more integrity in his left hand
than Bill and Hillary have between them, it's not going to be
easy. George W. Bush will conduct his administration under the
closest ethical scrutiny in the history of our country. Even the
slightest hint of impropriety by any of his staff will ignite
a media firestorm and unrelenting cries of hypocrisy from the
left.
It seems clear that Bush understands the gravity of the challenge.
The new president used the first meeting of his first day in office
to lay out rules of ethical conduct to his staff in the most explicit
terms: "I expect every member of this administration to stay
well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct.
This means avoiding even the appearance of problems. This means
checking and, if need be, double-checking that the rules have
been obeyed. This means never compromising those rules."
It's hard to imagine that Bush won't be able to improve on Clinton's
record. Our 42nd President, who wooed the public in 1992 with
the false promise of "the most ethical administration in
history," leaves office trailing a wake of of convictions
during his tenure (33) and Fifth Amendment pleas by associates
involved in investigations (122) unequaled in presidential history.
Not that you would know any of this through the mainstream press,
which never seriously took the president to task over his corruption-riddled
administration and demurred to his cries of political persecution
by the VRWC.
Bush will receive no such accommodation from the media - nor
should he. Millions of people voted for Bush because of their
reverence of the Office of President and to reject the Clintonian
idea that the presidency can somehow maintain its honor while
being deconstructed into a position based on performance without
dignity. After eight years of Bill Clinton, the single greatest
good Bush can accomplish is to reteach America the principle that
men are meant to serve the Office of the Presidency and not the
other way around.
As the new adminstration takes flight, Bush-haters will have
to be content recycling the tiresome image of the president as
an illegitimate moron until they can pounce on the first scent
of scandal. Meanwhile, the rest of the country will keep their
fingers crossed and trust that with our new president, a promise
made is a promise kept.
Tom Bevan writes for RealClearPolitics
