by María L. Trigos-Gilbert

Clinton! Oh, Clinton. Before I came to this country, Mr. Bill Clinton was the president of the USA. I heard that he was the president of this part of North America, and that his wife was the one running the show. Oops, I meant the office. Then the election time came back once again in 1996. Who won it? Guess.

It seems to me that Mr. Bill Clinton as done a good job during all these years and so has his wife. Otherwise, the USA citizens are becoming desensitized to all those nasty comments about their president and he president’s wife. It is as if the USA citizens are a bit masochistic. Please don’t feel offended; I am really trying to figure things out. Believe me!

Mrs. Hillary Standing by Her Man’s Human Necessity, Sin
I read how silly it was for Mrs. Hillary Clinton to stand by her husband’s side and say the things she said, practically stating, “My husband is not guilty, period!” Uhmmm, but let us be honest; who can just turn his/her backs to a loved one? I hope that if I make such mistake, my loved one would forgive me. Otherwise, I am a dead woman, though I haven’t done that. Did Mrs. Clinton make a mistake? Honestly, I think she did right, though she may feel very upset about Mr. Bill Clinton’s human necessity, sin.

I am going to tell you in a few words right now what I am thinking. Wake up and smell the coffee. Yes, even Mr. Bill Clinton makes mistakes, and so do you! I guess that I am able to write a whole thesis of how beneficial the Bible may be. But I am going to leave that to your appointed meetings at the time that they may take place among those who make you think how right or wrong you have done, encouraging you to do what is nice at every moment.

Wanting to Blame Someone Won’t Help It
Then, what is left if we are not allowed to point at someone’s mistake? I’ll tell you what is left. You and only you. I am not talking about the song, “Only You,” by the way. I am talking about the daily mirror which tells you how bad or good you have done during all these days of your life time. I think it is simple. You want a better government; then you must want a better you. There are times when it comes in handy to have a self-examination.

Yet I won’t pretend with you; I come from a big city like New York City. There our favorite expression comes from Solomon, “. . . there is nothing new under the sun.” I think that you have read it in the book of Ecclesiastes 1:9. Then my dear lector, I am just trying to tell you these kind of mistakes are pretty old. There is nothing new about them; there is not much surprise. We are not talking about God; we are talking about Mr. Bill Clinton. Oh, have you forgotten that? Now, am I saying that it is all right? Uhmmm, I think that I am saying, “Go and leave your life of sin.”

Would You Be Optimistic? I Am!
Give me the chance to sound a bit optimistic, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” I think that I am borrowing this fine saying from someone who was pretty wise! Then let us be wise; let us try to cheer up as it has been the opposite during these long days of disgusting accusations concerning the USA president. Let us wait for the best and not for the beast!

It Seems That a Century Has Passed
Has it really been a century? No, it hasn’t, but it seems like it. We are still wondering how things are going to turn out for Mr. Bill Clinton, his wife, his daughter, and the USA. We are listening on a constant basis what all the Republicans and Democrats have to say about this issue of Mr. Bill Clinton’s “biggest mistake.” We have heard those talking on TV, on radio, and writing newspapers articles, Internet articles, and listening to a lot of common citizens.

Yet many of us are still almost speechless, perhaps some of us think that this has been taken a bit too far! It is not that I am not a North American. It is not that I don’t care if the USA president is a clean president or a corrupted one. The problem is that it is hard to believe a politician, whoever he or she may be, accusing another politician about this or that when at the end we all know that politicians are liars by profession. Please forgive my blondness.

What the World Has to Say?
You are part of the world; I am part of the world. Yet we are not the only part of the world that counts because there are still some other countries, and in those countries people who want to be heard about what the USA is going through, once again Mr. Bill Clinton’s problem. So what do they have to say? Well, I will just refer to the two countries I know the most, besides the USA. Those countries are Venezuela and Spain.

What Venezuelans Have to Say?
I have visited Venezuela two times since this mess started, and during both times people have asked me: “But what is it with the North American people? Why are they so hard on Clinton? Goodness, the case is a private matter.” Certainly I have also been told the following from other Venezuelans, “Well, the man is a liar; therefore, he must pay for what he has done.” Yet there is this other side, “I don’t understand the whole thing. Which is his woman now? I truly lost track.”

Honestly I haven’t found a single statement that will help his case, not from the Venezuelans, neither from the North Americans. I am having some mixed feelings. Those feelings tell me that Mr. Bill Clinton is just a man. The other part of me tells me that he is a man and an animal. Are men or women without sin? Yes, you know the answer very well! Are animals perfect? Yes, once again you know the answer pretty well! So what are we debating? Are we killing time? I hope not!

What Do Spaniards Think?
People from Spain are a bit more conservative than people in Latin America. I know so because I lived with both cultures for nineteen years plus I have lived in the Latin country of Venezuela, visited Mexico, and lived in Spain. Therefore, don’t think that I am just making up these assumptions! People in Spain are pretty upset at Mr. Bill Clinton, but they think that this is pretty much a North American way! I know that some of you may get kind of upset about this train of thought.

On the other hand, how can a person hide a day’s sun with a finger? Of course, this is a super rhetorical question. There is no way to avoid the shame that some of the North American people feel because it is like when a family member does something wrong. When a family member makes a mistake in the eyes of everybody, the rest of the family feels so embarrassed, so mortified, though they haven’t done anything to feel that way!

Venezuelans Do Relate to the North American People
Less than ten years ago, Venezuelans experienced something similar in the country of Venezuela. Their president, and mine, was fooling around with his private lover. This Venezuelan ex-president, Mr. Lusinchi, really put everyone looking mighty bad. He took his private lover to Spain instead of his wife. What did the Spaniard government do? They abominated him, and all Spain’s newspapers wrote about the Venezuelan president and his “private” lover. It wasn’t so private after all!

Therefore, I want to say to the North American people that everyone has something that he or she is not so proud of. Yet we should not make of it our daily bread or water! We shouldn’t take a year to decide if someone is guilty or not. It would be nice if we consider with much seriousness how the country’s money spend. At the end we are not just talking about our present, but our future. Why is it my business to say anything about Mr. Bill Clinton? Would it work if I say because I live in the USA!

Conclusion
I am not so sure. Yet there is something in my mind that keeps telling there are two sides of this coin. The side that says, people are right. He is a wrong man and indeed the wrong president for the USA. The other side tells me that I don’t trust those who are saying “bad” things about Mr. Bill Clinton because they also have their own stories! There is a side of me that says we are not without sin. We shouldn’t be so hard on people because we are also human beings.

Certainly I am afraid that letting things remain as they are, will bring a bigger problem to this country. I may be too afraid of what God would say if we don’t do something about it! It is like trying to find a righteous person who will indeed stand up from the crowd and say the right thing at the right time. Yet I haven’t seen one that I will really trust or respect since this nonsense started! On the other hand, I do want to be open-minded. I do want to give everyone a chance, including our president, your president, Mr. Bill Clinton!