Special to the Town Crier
Book review
The last sentence in former Clinton insider George Stephanopoulos' new book "All Too Human" tells all in one sentence.
"Now as I watch from far away, wondering what might have been - if only this good president had been a better man."
All political memoirs are self-serving, and this one is no exception. Without Stephanopoulos, it's possible Bill Clinton might not have been elected in 1992, and the reward for his campaign work was a senior adviser's position.
Stephanopoulos, presently on the speakers' circuit, will appear at the Foothill College Celebrity Forum Speakers Series this Friday at Flint Center in Cupertino. He shares the program with ultra-conservative columnist Pat Buchanan.
Stephanopoulos presents himself as a former altar boy, still torn between the immigrant's drive to succeed and the priest's desire to serve. Forced to respond to allegations about Clinton's past, he soon found: "Crisis management was starting to consume my time and define my character. I needed Clinton to see me as his defender, not his interrogator, which made me his enabler."
One comes away from this book with the distinct impression that it was not principle, but defeat, in the power struggles inside the Clinton regime, that finally pushed him to resign shortly after the president's reelection in 1996.
"All Too Human" serves as a political education for the reader. It provides great insight into what is going on behind closed doors in today's White House.
Whether you love or hate the Clintons, come Friday night, we can expect the Stephanopoulos "spin," which is: "Don't accuse. Don't defend. Analyze."
Both Stephanopoulos and Buchanan are scheduled to appear 8 p.m., Friday, at Flint Center and 7:30 p.m., Monday, at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available for the Monday program, which will be sold jointly with the Molly Ivins lectures, April 30 and May 3. For tickets and more information, call 949-7176.