Funmurphys: the Blog

Character Matters

There is a striking contrast between the current President Bush and President Clinton, and it revolves around their character. No, I'm not trying to rehash old scandals, but I want to point out that while Bush has so far been bold and decisive, Clinton was a procrastinator. He got more done in has last week in office than he had in the rest of his presidency prior. Oh, he could move quickly when he had to, when his future was at stake, as he did with Welfare reform, but by and large it's amazing how little got done during his years in office - especially when you consider that during his first two years the Democrats had majorities in Congress and could only pass a small tax increase - no universal healthcare or any other pet project. After that it was either coopting Republican programs or scrambling to survive. It wasn't because he couldn't, it was because he wouldn't -- that's a procrastinator in (in)action.

I too am a procrastinator, so I understand the long periods of lassitude followed by brief periods of intense energy when a hard deadline looms. How long should it take to clean and staighten the downstairs? 30 minutes. Therefore, I'll start 15 minutes before my wife gets home and I'll be just finished when she walks through the door. That was Bill in the final week - desparately trying to cram a four year term into 168 hours.

Now that he's off giving speaches, he's apparently giving good ones, even by the standards of Jay Nordlinger and Ralph Peters. Maybe that's the ideal role for Clinton the procrastinator -- a firm deadline, and doing what he's good at.