Last January, after Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky became public
knowledge, Dick Morris took a poll that said we could forgive him for the affair, but not
for perjury or obstruction of justice. Clinton replied, "Well, we will just have to
win, then."
This started the 13-month propaganda war that resulted in record job approval ratings,
despite becoming only the second president to ever be impeached. Clinton gained ultimate
victory when the United States Senate failed to remove him from office. No more than half
the Senate was willing to look at the facts, the law or the Constitution. I must
congratulate Slick Willie to living up to his name once again by snatching victory from
what should have been the jaws of defeat.
Politics is much like a sporting event. In sports, Vince Lombardi summed up the goal
when he said, "Winning isn’t everything; it is the only thing."
I could probably write a book on the numerous examples around the country from
pro’s all the way down to little league where we have looked the other way at the
crimes and indiscretions of those with great athletic ability. The example that hits
closest to home was the situation with Lawrence Phillips a few years ago at the University
of Nebraska. Phillips got in trouble when he beat up his former girl friend and threw her
down the stairs of her apartment building. This wasn’t the first or last scrape for
Phillips, but he was eventually allowed to return to help the team win another
championship. The school did receive a lot of criticism, but most Nebraskans were willing
to look the other way because Phillips was a winner on the field, no matter how big a
loser he was off the field.
If you look back at history, Americans have been willing to make heroes out of
criminals. Speak to just about any old timer in Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and
Minnesota, and they will all have a tale about Jesse James having some direct contact with
an ancestor or their communities. Go west to the Rocky Mountain region. You will hear
similar tales about Butch Cassidy. Most of the stories are told with admiration or humor
rather than fear or contempt. How many movies have you seen that immortalized crooks?
"Bonnie and Clyde," the four "Godfather" movies, and "Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" are just a few that come to mind.
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as too great a surprise that Bill Clinton’s
victory over his enemies keeps him popular, despite being the second president to be
impeached and most people believing he is a criminal and morally degenerate. If you want
to really understand Bill’s success, you don’t need to study public opinion or
some head shrink. It all came clear to me when I pulled my old college book of world
literature off the shelf. I turned the pages of time back hundreds of years to read The
Prince by Machiavelli, which is the political equivalent to Lombardi’s statement
about winning. I don’t know whether Clinton intentionally followed Machiavelli’s
advice or not, but he could have. At least Machiavelli’s insights help explain Bill
Clinton’s success.
A good share of the Clinton defense went like this: "Nobody is without sin. All
married people commit adultery, then lie to hide it." The truth is, we are all
sinners; but many of us are faithful in marriage and wouldn’t lie under oath, if we
had been unfaithful. However, Machiavelli argued that because people are bad, they will
destroy a good man. He said, "Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to
come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence, a prince who wants to keep
his post must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it
as necessity requires."
I don’t know about you. To me, that sounds a lot like Bill Clinton and his
strategy to retain his power. If that didn’t convince you, try this one:
And furthermore, he should not be too worried about incurring blame for any vice
without which he would find it hard to save his state. For if you look at matters
carefully, you will see that something resembling virtue, if you follow it, may be your
ruin, while something else resembling vice will lead, if you follow it, to your security
and well-being.
Probably, Machiavelli’s most famous statement from The Prince says,
"It is better to be feared than loved."
With James Carville and Larry Flynt leading the way to attack and dig up dirt on
political opponents, there is an undeniable effort by Bill Clinton and his followers to
discredit people and keep them from revealing any damaging information about him. The IRS
has audited almost every conservative special interest group in the country. Every former
lover or attempted sexual conquest has received threats or been subjected to a smear
campaign. There is a clear Machiavellian pattern, even without mentioning the dozens of
mysterious deaths of people surrounding Clinton controversies or the bombing of aspirin
factories. As Machiavelli said, "Returning to the question of being feared or loved,
I conclude that since men love at their own inclination but can be made to fear at the
inclination of the prince, a shrewd prince will lay his foundations on what is under his
own control, not on what is controlled by others."
Bill Clinton should have followed the second part of Machiavelli’s advice about
fear. Machiavelli warned that "a prince should make himself feared in such a way
that, even if he gets no love, he gets no hate either; because it is perfectly possible to
be feared and not hated, and this will be the result if only the prince will keep his
hands off the property of his citizens and off their women."
Bill didn’t heed this warning, and it almost cost him his power. Bill has clearly
failed to keep his hands off the women. He has taken in his share of property through the
largest tax increase in history. Good times and the failed opportunity of his opponents to
take advantage of his vulnerability saw Bill not only survive, but also come out a winner
from his philandering. However, he has generated a lot of hatred, which still could prove
to be his undoing, if he doesn’t generate enough fear.
Bill Clinton has followed the Machiavellian advice about being honest better than any
other. It seems to have worked, as Machiavelli promised it would. "How praiseworthy
it is for a prince to keep his word and live with integrity rather than by craftiness,
everyone understands; yet we see from recent experience that those princes have
accomplished most who paid little heed to keeping their promises, but who knew how
craftily to manipulate the minds of men. In the end, they won out over those who tried to
act honestly."
This study in winning the Machiavellian way raises the question: Can goodness win out
over the Machiavellian principle of ‘the ends justifies the means?’
As he said, "Let a prince, therefore, win victories and uphold his state; his
methods will always be considered worthy, and everyone will praise them, because the
masses are impressed by the superficial appearance of things and by the outcome of an
enterprise."
Bill Clinton has been an expert disciple of Machiavelli and, at the moment, seems to
have the upper hand. But, I still believe that you don’t have to follow a
Machiavellian approach to win in America. In part two of this article, I will address how
I think Machiavellian disciples like Bill Clinton can be defeated.
Speech
by Charlton Heston at Harvard
The
Key to Republican Victory
To
Be or Not to Be Republican
To Joe's
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