Jeff Crouere

EDWARDS CHOICE AN INSULT TO WOMEN

Topic 2.
CLINTON MANIA 

Over the next few weeks, Americans will be hearing more about former President Bill Clinton than either current President George W. Bush or his challenger John Kerry. This is an unusual scenario because in the course of busy modern day life, Americans tend to focus attention mostly on the current occupant of the White House and his main challenger.  However, Bill Clinton has always been a politician that loves the limelight and he has not willingly stepped aside for anyone.  For the past few years, Bill Clinton has been a high-profile ex-President with plenty of speeches and foreign trips. Now, the publicity for Bill Clinton will hit an all-time high, for in the next few weeks, Clinton mania will grip the nation.  He will be doing a non-stop circuit of interviews to promote his book My Life, which hits bookstores tomorrow. 

To promote his book,  Bill Clinton started on 60 Minutes with the highly publicized Dan Rather interview. It was a wide-ranging interview that took place in several different settings and covered a multitude of topics. Domestically, Clinton admitted to failures in health care reform and social security reform. On the foreign policy front, Clinton expressed regrets that he was not able to apprehend Osama Bin Laden or secure Middle East peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. 

Of course, the juiciest part of the interview dealt with the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment crisis. Any interview with Clinton will have to deal with the Lewinsky scandal because it led to impeachment. It also will peak public interest and sell books, which is the purpose of all of the publicity interviews. In the 60 Minutes interview, Bill Clinton claimed that he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky "just because I could," and honestly admitted that his actions were “morally indefensible.”  Lewinsky was just one of many women who claimed to have extra-marital affairs with Clinton. In testimony and interviews, Clinton denied all of them except for liaisons with Monica Lewinsky and Gennifer Flowers.

The Lewinsky affair was the most damaging because Clinton initially lied about the affair to the American people, he lied to prosecutors and he lied to his wife and family. His perjury led to the impeachment saga. Clinton was actually fortunate because there are hundreds of felons serving sentences in federal jails for the crime of perjury. Yet, Clinton was able to not only avoid jail, he was also able to complete his term as President.

Any historical account of the Clinton presidency will have to open with the impeachment scandal because it happens so infrequently in American politics. Yet, Clinton continues to claim the impeachment process was not valid and an "abuse of power." He believes his fight against impeachment was "a badge of honor." Incredibly, he stated, "I stood up to it and beat it back. I don’t see it as a stain, because it was illegitimate." It is interesting that Clinton chose to use the word “stain.” It reminds Americans of the stain on Monica’s blue dress, the physical evidence that actually forced Clinton to admit the truth about his affair. Whether Clinton wants to admit it or not, impeachment definitely did stain the Clinton presidency. This impeachment conflict will overshadow legitimate Clinton successes like welfare reform and that scenario must outrage the former president. In addition, the whole impeachment controversy also stained the office of the presidency and brought ridicule to the office. The country just buried a man, Ronald Reagan, that respected the oval office so much that he never removed his jacket and tie in the office. Such reverence showed Reagan’s admiration for the oval office and the presidency. In contrast, Bill Clinton disrespected the presidency so much that he engaged in multiple sex acts with a young intern in the oval office.

The impeachment saga was not only an important historical event it was also an episode that allowed the American people to peek into the troubled heart of Bill Clinton. Such an insight was disturbing because it demonstrated a man lacking in truthfulness and character, a distressing situation for the American people. Hopefully, American voters will never again make the mistake of electing a President with such traits. Another president with the same characteristics could cause even more problems than Bill Clinton, and our country just cannot afford such a risk

Since January of 1999, Crouere has been a talk show host on WTIX 690 AM, a 10,000-watt radio station in New Orleans Louisiana. His daily two-hour program is called Ringside, a public affairs program dedicated to examining the top issues of the day on the local, state and national levels. Ringside offers political debate, analysis, and interviews with interesting political leaders and commentators.

Crouere also anchors a television version of the show that airs on WLAE-TV, Channel 32 in New Orleans.  On the program, the hosts and guests debate the hot issues “In the Ring” with each side looking for the perfect political knockout. The show features Crouere representing the conservative Republican viewpoint and his co-host representing the liberal Democratic point of view. For a year, Crouere was teamed with former Mayor of New Orleans Marc Morial as his co-host. For the past few months, a series of guest co-hosts have been filling Morial’s role as Crouere’s sparring partner. A permanent replacement for Morial will soon be announced.  New Orleans area television viewers can also watch Crouere on ABC-26 TV, where he has served since 2002 as the political analyst and provides his insight on local, state and national politics. 

The website for the radio and television program (www.ringsidepoltics.com) provides a web poll, political rumors, a schedule of guests and links to a variety of Crouere’s columns.  He writes commentaries and political columns for a variety of Louisiana publications and Internet sites. His features can be read in BayouBuzz.com, Kenner Star, New Orleans CityBusiness, Northlake News and Politicsla.com.  He also is the editor of a weekly e-mail newsletter, which has a circulation of 5,000 readers.  Once a month, Crouere hosts a local version of “Politically Incorrect” at Le Chat Noir theater in New Orleans called Politics with a Punch including a panel of comedians, politicians, media personalities and news makers. 

Crouere has interviewed a wide variety of interesting political figures on his program. A sampling of local politicians includes Morial, former Klansman David Duke, Louisiana statewide elected officials such as Governor Mike Foster, Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Blanco, Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, Secretary of State Fox McKeithen, Commissioner of Elections Suzie Terrell, Treasurer John Kennedy, Louisiana Congressmen Bill Jefferson, David Vitter, and Billy Tauzin and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. On a national level, Crouere has also interviewed Karen Hughes of the Bush White House, former Vice President Dan Quayle, U.S. Senators John McCain and Orrin Hatch, Radio Talk Show Hosts Pat Buchanan and Sean Hannity, former Presidential candidates Steve Forbes and Gary Bauer, and conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, among many others.  

Crouere can boast of exclusively breaking several national stories that the Associated Press, New York Times, and other news organs later quoted. Crouere revealed before any other media sources that Ex-Klansman David Duke had not paid federal taxes on his sale of his donor list to the incumbent Republican Governor Mike Foster. He also first uncovered that New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith would leave the Republican Party and run for President as an Independent. Later, he was the first to report that Senator Smith would return to the Republican fold. Three months prior to Patrick Buchanan leaving the Republican Party, Crouere was the first to report that he would join the Reform Party. In addition, he first reported that Gov. Mike Foster was to be the target of a US Justice Department probe of his transition funds. He broke the story that Gov. Foster was upset with LA Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown because, in a TV ad, Brown linked his own federal investigation to the federal probe of Foster. These and many other exclusive stories have been included on his programs and in his columns.  

Crouere’s background includes many media and politically related positions. In 1988 and 1989, Crouere was host of a local television program Point of View. Besides hosting, he produced the show and arranged an impressive lineup of guests, which included local political leaders such as the Mayor of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish District Attorney. At the same time, he was also developing a deep interest in politics. Crouere became active in the nationally respected political organization, Young Americans for Freedom. In short order he was elected Executive Director of the state organization, which soon led to his election in 1989 as a member of the National Board of Directors of Young Americans for Freedom.

Crouere has also been a leader and activist in the Louisiana Republican Party. In 1995, he ran for State Representative, running a respectable second in a field of four candidates. This impressed party officials and led to a string of leadership positions in the Louisiana Republican Party. In 1996, Crouere was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in San Diego. He has also been Chairman of the Orleans Parish Republican Party, President of the Greater New Orleans Republicans, Executive Director of the Louisiana Republican Party and Deputy Chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party. In 2000, he served as the Louisiana Chairman of the Republican National Committee Catholic Task Force. Besides party building positions, Crouere has worked in a consultative capacity with a wide array of candidates on the local, state and national levels. His clients have included such prominent politicians as U.S. Presidential contenders Senator Bob Smith, Vice-President Dan Quayle, Steve Forbes and Senator John McCain. 

Over the past decade, as a Louisiana Republican Party leader and talk show host, Crouere has been an official and unofficial spokesman for all Republicans in Louisiana. He has traveled throughout the state and spoken to over 100 clubs and organizations. He also has worked closely with local, state and national media outlets. He has been interviewed by an array of news organizations ranging from the Monroe News Star to the New York Times. He has also been interviewed for his political perspective by national radio networks such as National Public Radio, Talk America, Radio America and Catholic Radio and national cable television networks such as MSNBC.