Zark's

Weekend Reading - The Clinton Tapes

This weekend I was totally captivated by the 700+ page new release by Taylor Branch.  The Clinton tapes: Wrestling History with the President provides a perspective of presidential character and decisions (what was he thinking?) that has never been available before.  Very early in his presidency, Bill Clinton arranged for Taylor Branch to interview him for hours at a time.  The President kept the two tape copies of the 79 different interviews, but Taylor Branch maintained written notes and also dictated into a recorder while driving home from the White House.  (Apparently former President Clinton used these tape recordings while writing his memoir.)

Oh my gosh!  I had forgotten what a turbulent time Bill Clinton had from the very beginning.  Remember Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, and the Whitewater controversy?  Remember the Arkansas troopers who continued to provide new allegations?  And all of this was before Monica Lewinsky began an internship at the White House in 1995. 

But  that is only one narrow perspective.  Conversely, if you created a list of qualifications and conducted an exam for the Presidency instead of an election, Willam Jefferson Clinton would outscore any other candidate.  He has an off-the-charts intellect and a knowledge of history, second to none.  The man is brilliant and he understands diplomacy.

In this book, Taylor Branch allows then-President Clinton to explain his decisions about Supreme Court justices, staff assignments, domestic and foreign policy, even personal decisions.  In honest confession, he tells of Hillary's family gathered around the bedside of her father, Hugh E. Rodham.  At the time Hillary was attempting to reorganize health care for all of United States, she was confronted with the decision of whether to remove the respirator of her father. 

Branch quotes Hillary from a private interview, "You know, I always get my revenge in dreams, but never in real life."  In the midst of discussion about what to do about Haiti, the President mentions his 30th high school reunion.  Doesn't that echo our own lives?  The interviews constantly remind us that Presidents are people, and although they may not stop at the quick-market on the way home from work, they are very, very, human.

I had forgotten the Republican response to Bill Clinton was, 'Just say no.'  Full disclosure - I am a conservative, not a liberal.  Bill Clinton had to battle Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich who politically opposed any program proposed by the President.  Remembering back with recollections from the book, there is plenty of precedent (not justification) for the political brouhaha we currently witness.

The book explains the deals and promises that makes government possible.  What politician is re-elected that explains to his voters someone else better deserved a government hand-out?  Sheesh - in some ways, the discussion is akin to visiting a sausage factory.  We may enjoy sausage, but we don't want to see how it is made.

The Clinton Tapes is obviously not for everyone.  I am however, enthralled with the glimpses of humanity, decision making, and eventually history's consideration of William Jefferson Clinton.  Enveloped in history, his Presidency reads like an adventure novel.  The protagonist is very human, and you wonder why flaws that we can shake off, ensnare him. 

Mmm.  As you can discern, I admire the man - I am a student of leadership and Bill Clinton is worthy of study.

Growls from the Russian Bear

Antarctica is protected by a treaty that declares the continent a scientific refuge.  The Arctic, however, has no such treaty.  Russia plants flag under North Pole reminds us that Russia planted a titanium metal flag underneath the North Pole in mid-2007.  Russian diplomats described it as heroic effort despite the fact that the United States first sailed underneath the North Pole with the Nautilus on August 3, 1958. 

The United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland, and Russia all have claims to waters in the Arctic Sea.  Massive reserves at stake in Arctic oil claim says that there are potentially 400 billion barrels of oil underneath the Arctic ocean.  The U.S. Geologic Survey believes the Arctic reserves represent 1/4 of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.  The world consumes roughly 80 million barrels of oil a day, so the Arctic reserves represent a lengthy extension of the petroleum economy.

Ready for a fight: Russia's new security policy tells that the Kremlin anticipates war over future petroleum reserves.  The strategy paper released on Wednesday articulates a policy that Russia is willing to use its military to protect ownership of petroleum resources.  The China View tells that the proposed United States' missile defense systems in Europe threaten Russia's ability to execute this strategy.  It also explains that Russia's economic model will continue to rely upon natural resources exports.  This agrees with a scenario in 2025 Global Trends (published by the National Intelligence Council) in which Russia becomes a nationalistic, authoritarian petro-state.

Drill, Ivan, Drill tells that Russia is constructing a prototype floating nuclear power station.  This would allow giant floating oil platforms to be completely self-sustained.  Also - under proposed global regulations, those same nuclear power plants might qualify as carbon offsets for the oil being pumped from the Arctic floor.

Mmm.  If all of this sounds plausible, check out my new novel, Butterflies Escape.  There is a surprising conclusion to this scenario ...

Graves are Rolling in Europe

An idiom from the Ozarks is, "I bet she/he is rolling over in their grave," when something unthinkable to the deceased occurs in the present. 

Remember Czechoslovakia, the eastern-bloc satellite of the old Soviet Union?  From the CIA World Factbook - After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." 

Remember - this was a country flying the Soviet Union flag and completely aligned with its agenda.  After the collapse of Soviet authority, the nation split peacefully (sometimes called a velvet divorce)  into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

  'Old Europe' wary as Czechs take over EU presidency tells that the Czech Republic is about to assume the 6-month rotating presidency of the European Union.  If it sounds to good to be true, it is.  The Time article explains that the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus (I am not making this up) is a critic of the European Union and many fear what he might do in this short EU presidency.  The French even boldly suggested that their outgoing Sarkozy might need to continue some of his agendas, but that was rejected.  The biggest fear is that Klaus will do nothing, perhaps not even attend meetings.  He refuses to fly the EU flag at Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.  Also with the Europeans, old habits die hard.

Ironically, even though Klaus is a critic of the EU, Relations with Moscow could be strained by Czech assumption of EU presidency.  The Czech Republic wants to have closer ties to its eastern neighbors, something that Russia considers encroachment.  Klaus argues that it is his human duty to help them, and hence the tension. With gas from Russia all-important during these winter months, the nations heavily dependent upon Russian energy such as Germany and Italy are understandably anxious about disturbing the bear to their east.  

It is a proud moment for the people of Czechoslovakia.  Through courage and sacrifice, they turned from their past government of oppression.  They have arrived in world government with an attitude, and Europe could be interesting for the next 6 months.

Mmm -  I wonder whether the 40th President of the United States is sitting up in his grave?