Bubba Comes to Redondo Beach

Former President Bill Clinton paid a visit to the 2012 Redondo Union High School graduation ceremony, in large part because his nephew Tyler was one of the baccalaureates.

I cannot say that I was biting my lip with eager anticipation, although I am certain he could not bypass the opportunity to showcase his Southern, slick-willy charm. Even Secretary of State Hillary was on hand to stand by her man.

I like Bubba, in part because he sang the praises of the Bush taxcuts last week, in part because during his presidency he signed into law welfare reform and instituted a much-needed line-item veto as president.

I do not like Bubba, in large part because he was a tax-and-spend Centrist who soiled (no pun intended) the reputation of the Presidency. I do not like that he lied to a grand jury about his infidelities.

I do not see what this man's example could extend to the graduating class of 2012. He lied under oath, tied up the Senate and the Congress for years haggling over a single-payer system during the first two years of his presidency, then went out to fight his way out of one scandal after another.

I believe that the students of Redondo Union High School deserve better than a commencement speech from a man who majored in the minors yet minored int the majors, including the crucial importance of public service bolstered by private integrity, not ego-driven ambition.

President Clinton was also on hand to assist the Redondo Beach Education Foundation with another fundraiser. Public education does not need more money, but better management with fewer resources.
If President Clinton wants to help public education, he could start by setting the record straight on the proper role of the federal government, as he was the executive who once touted, "The Era of Big Government is Over."

Principal Nicole Wesley said that she did not want the purported arrival of the former President to overshadow the graduation ceremony: "We just want to make sure this is about all the kids," she offered.

If she was leading the school in the best interests of the students, she would not dismiss basketball coaches without cause or notice. She would take the lead to combat the raging drug problems threatening many youth on campus. She would go out of her way to press for a voucher program as well as limiting any extraneous spending which siphons money out of the classroom and into empty programs or into district officials' paychecks and pensions.