From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Christmass Day, December 25, 1999 Dear Rumor Mill News Readers, Does Helen Thomas know something about the President's schedule that she is not sharing? Is she trying to clue us into something by letting us think the typist made a mistake? This is an excerpt of an article published by the UPI "He has one more Christmas to celebrate in the White House before he begins packing for a Jan. 20, 2000 departure for private life a life he knows will never be as fulfilling as when he was the nation's chief executive" Am I mistaken when I think that President Clinton is scheduled to step down as president on January 20, 2001? Have I gotten my years mixed up? Did UPI make a mistake? Or is Helen Thomas telling us to get ready for something? You must remember that Lou Dobbs, who left the United Nation's network, CNN, under acrimonious circumstances, has either bought UPI or is about to. Could UPI become a voice for truth? Someone who has more time than I do needs to look into this and report back. May I offer this Holiday Season wish to all Rumor Mill News readers: May Y2K and the Terrorists miss your home and family and town! Here is the whole article--- Pull it up quick... before UPI takes it down or changes the date. <A HREF="http://headlines.about.com/news/1999/12/25/up/0000-0051-us-clinton.html" >Top News from About.com NewsCenter</A> Sat, Dec 25, 1999 Beginning of The End for Clinton HELEN THOMAS United Press International - December 25, 1999 UPI White House Reporter WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) It's the beginning of the end for President Clinton, who sees his presidency slipping away. Clinton has always said, ``even the bad days are good,'' which indicates his love for his work as the President of the United States, and he clearly rages against the dying light. He has one more Christmas to celebrate in the White House before he begins packing for a Jan. 20, 2000 departure for private life a life he knows will never be as fulfilling as when he was the nation's chief executive. In a recent interview with CNN's Larry King, Clinton said that he wanted to ``work'' and to do the things that were still possible in his final year in office. He feels he still has, in the words of Robert Frost, ``promises to keep and miles to go before he sleeps.'' He wants to savor every moment and to take every advantage offered in a post that has demanded everything, and given him great rewards and immense suffering. Historians will grapple over his place in the pantheon of presidents. But if the past is a prologue, the assessment of his administration will be kinder as time goes on. It happens to most of them. There is no doubt that Clinton went the way of all flesh in succumbing to the temptations of an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The scandal led to his impeachment and acquittal at a Senate trial, but it marred his administration, hurt his credibility and disappointed so many of his aides, supporters and admirers, and inflicted pain on his wife and his daughter Chelsea. After his election in 1992 during the transition period before his inauguration he held a news conference at which he announced that as president he was ``not going to live in a bubble.'' He was dreaming, of course, thinking that he could have privacy in the Oval Office, perhaps like some of his predecessors. But he had forgotten the world had changed and no one could protect his folly in the information age. He had forgotten he lived in a goldfish bowl. His resilience and his philosophy of ``never give up'', which is very Nixonian, helped him through his ordeal. He is a survivor and believes when you are knocked down, you get up, brush yourself off and live to fight again. In the aftermath, he said he prayed a lot and had the help of ministers who counseled him, his family, consoling telephone calls from world leaders and letters from little children. Lyndon B. Johnson used to say ``it's easy to do the right thing, if you know what the right thing is.'' Few can deny that Clinton wanted to do the right thing, and his heart was in the right place on the social issues. As a new president, he was indecisive on the questions of war and peace. He had avoided the Vietnam War draft like so many of the current presidential candidates, except for Arizona Sen. John McCain, who became a prisoner of war, and Vice President Al Gore. Early on he had a tough time being accepted as the commander-in-chief by the military. His first two years in office were a debacle. He had a ``20- something, and 30-something'' staff who were out of their league when it came to running affairs of state. He wavered and waffled in making fateful decisions on the turmoil in the Balkans and the tribal and civil wars in Africa, and put domestic matters on the front burner. On the home front, Clinton put his wife Hillary in charge of drafting a universal health care plan, which the health and insurance industries blocked by pouring millions into scary commercials and lobbying Congress. But he successfully laid the groundwork for the nation's prosperity with a budget that was opposed by every Republican in Congress. The 1994 election giving the GOP control of Congress for the first time in 40 years was a severe blow to the administration, and particularly to Clinton, who saw his chances of reelection going down the drain. As a result, the president moved to the center, stole some of the Republican's long cherished agenda, including a balanced budget, and put the GOP on the ropes. What followed was a highly unpopular federal government shutdown, which was blamed on the GOP. Clinton has made education a top priority since he took office. He has opened more doors to college than any president and has advocated more opportunities to be prepared and trained for the 21st century. His social goals include the Family Medical Leave Act and the Brady Gun Control bill, among others. Throughout his presidency, Clinton has been investigated and it still goes on. The special prosecutor's office has relentlessly investigated the Whitewater land deal the Clintons were involved in many years ago in Arkansas. Clinton has called the continuing inquiry ``a total fraud.'' There also were investigations of the wholesale firing of the White House travel office and the access the administration obtained to FBI records of former administration officials. A final report is yet to be made by the special prosecutor's office before it shuts down under a law that has expired. There is no question that Clinton grew in office as he dealt more and more with foreign affairs, and he began to act more decisively. Kosovo is a case in point where he led the way in pushing for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia to stop the Serbian slaughter of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. He also has had some successes in the peacemaking department in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. And Clinton has made a lot of friends among world leaders. Personality-wise, he is the eternal optimist and an extraordinary charismatic politician. He has not changed his habits. He is perpetually late. He loves campaigning and rapping with friends. No holiday would be the same for him if he did not have all his family with him. Like most presidents, his mother had the most profound influence on his life. Few presidents have been as in command of the facts and figures as Clinton, who was amazingly adept at news conferences and indeed faced personal questions no other chief executive has had to deal with. He lacked the knowledge of history that Harry Truman had, as well as the brilliance of some of John F. Kennedy's stable of speechwriters, but he has been at his most eloquent in black churches. Clinton is working on his millennial State of the Union address and his next budget. He is expected to urge Congress to complete the unfinished business of acting on the administration's proposals for a patient's bill of rights, stronger gun control and a minimum wage increase. He does not intend to let his lame duck status take him out of play. With instant helicopters and Air Force One at his disposal for a while longer, Clinton plans to be on the road a lot with domestic and foreign travels. A major foreign journey will be to India and Bangladesh in March. Pakistan, which had been on the itinerary, may be skipped because of the military coup that overthrew the elected regime of Sharif Nawaz. There may be more trips to the Middle East, Ireland and Europe in the coming year. Clinton will be a bachelor president for the many months when his wife Hillary has moved to their new home in Westchester County, N.Y. while she campaigns full time for a Senate seat from New York. She plans to return to the White House at times to perform her first lady hostess role at state dinners. During the campaigns leading up to the national conventions, Clinton will sty out of the fray. He is expected to address the Democratic National Convention and probably will hit the hustings for various Democrats if he is asked. Otherwise he will be playing a lot of golf, meeting with his presidential library planners, arranging future high-paying lectures and negotiating with the highest bidder for his memoirs. He should have a lot to say about the highs and lows of his presidency. But his legacy will be for others to decide. Copyright 1999 by United Press International. All rights reserved. Top News Stories Islamic Group Claims Responsibility for Hijacking Chechens Say Russians Advance Into Grozny Christmas Coup in Ivory Coast More Top Stories � 1999 About.com, Inc. All rights reserved. � 1999 About.com, Inc. "MiningCo.com" and "About.com" are trademarks of About.com, Inc., a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "BOUT." For more information on About.com, visit Our Story, Be a Guide, Be an Advertiser, or Investor Relations. For rules of use, read our User Agreement; for privacy concerns, read our Privacy Policy. Having a Problem? Report it here. --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests! 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