Clinton Cash

Bill Clinton was president for two terms from 1993 to 2001, so for more than one-third of what I think of as my youth.  Clinton’s presidency was seminal (both definitions 1 and 4), and I got to watch a lot of it unfold.  Clinton’s time as president was filled with scandal, whether it be his affair with Monica Lewinsky, the Watergate real estate scandal, campaign finance controversy involving the Lincoln Bedroom, or allegations of sexual misconduct in his past.  Like Romania’s Communist dictator being overthrown, I got to watch as President Clinton was impeached.  It was interesting to watch the country split along the line of which side one was on regarding the impeachment.  As I watched, I detected a certain level of hypocrisy coming from the American Left and the media, who told Americans that much of Clinton’s conduct did not affect the job he was doing as president (which may have been true), but were then adamant that Republican politicians accused of similar or even lesser crimes resign, be impeached, or be prosecuted in court.  This approach to the way politicians conduct themselves in America changed the political landscape because the Right has often decided that fighting fire with fire has been more effective than rolling over.

Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich by Peter Schweizer (ISBN: 978-0-06-265943-9) talks more about Bill and Hillary Clinton after the Clinton presidency than during it, but the story told would not have been possible if it weren’t for Bill Clinton having held America’s highest office first.  After leaving office after eight years, the Clintons decided to stay intimately involved in politics.  Hillary was elected to the Senate, ran for president, and was secretary of state under Obama.  In the book, Schweizer chronicles how the Clintons leveraged their proximity to power to rake in piles and piles of money.  The author points out that there is nothing technically wrong about that fact.  What was so suspicious was the timing, amount, and source of much of that money.  The book carefully points out the machinations that often took place under the radar.  When certain shady businessmen wanted to get involved in the Kazakh mining business, big donations were made to the Clintons’ foundation, Bill made a high-profile visit to Kazakhstan, said some stuff that, in some ways, legitimized Kazakhstan’s dictator, and suddenly those same businessmen had a deal.  When Russia wanted in on buying American uranium and Hillary sat on a Senate committee that was involved in the approval of that plan, those involved in the deal were donating to the Clintons.  Similar actions took place when India wanted to get nuclear technology.  The Clintons had shadowy dealings in South America and in Africa.  When the Clintons were in a position to possibly affect the outcome of a decision, they and their friends seemed to benefit and America seemed to lose.  Schweizer ends his book with an appeal to those who have the legal authority to investigate these suspicious dealings.

I found the book a very interesting read.  There were times when it seemed a little heavy on dollar amounts and obscure names (people described as things like “mining royalties expert[s]” are quoted in the book), but the picture painted was fascinating.  Politicians around the world of every political persuasion engage in this type of behavior.  This is not unique to the Clintons, so it was neat to see these types of concrete examples and see how power and position can be bought and how little one’s word seems to mean to many if they can achieve power or riches.  Given the track record established by Bill while in the White House, none of the things here seemed particularly surprising, but the in-depth nature of the book added to the gravity of the seriousness of what is going on.  I was also reminded that no matter how many rules, laws, regulations, and agreements are made to fight corruption in politics, if someone’s willing to pay the right price, there’s a politician ready to wheel and deal.  The book is as much an indictment of the Clintons as it is a call to everyday citizens to vote out career politicians and take their countries back.

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