LETTERS: ASSESSING CLINTON'S BEHAVIOR

To the editor:

I have been researching the chief characteristics of adult children of alcoholics, also known as ACAs, and comparing them with frequent questions which have been brought forth concerning Bill Clinton. The results have certainly given me an insight as to why he has acted the way he has. This is by no means an attempt to excuse him from his actions. Clearly, however, it indicates the need for one to get professional help if he is from a dysfunctional family or an ACA.

Question: Why didn't Clinton do the normal thing a person would do and confess his faults and ask for forgiveness?

Answer: ACAs guess at what normal is.

Question: Why is it that George Washington could tell nothing but the truth, while Clinton can tell nothing but a lie?

Answer: ACAs lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth.

Question: Why did Clinton continue to be a womanizer after it was clear he had been exposed?

Answer: ACAs have difficulty having fun and with intimate relationships. ACAs are impulsive. They tend to lock themselves into a course of action without giving serious consideration to alternate behaviors or possible consequences. This impulsivity leads to confusion, self-loathing and loss of control over their environment.

Question: Why has Clinton associated himself with people of questionable character and remained loyal to them even in the face of adversity?

Answer: ACAs are extremely loyal, even when the loyalty is undeserved.

Question: How can a person have what it takes to reach the office of the presidency and then find himself in such a mess?

Answer: ACAs are super-responsible or super-irresponsible -- or, for some such as Clinton, both.

Question: Why did Clinton get a dog and name it Buddy?

Answer: ACAs judge themselves without mercy, They are very hard on themselves. ACAs take themselves very seriously, even when others don't. ACAs constantly seek approval and affirmation. Only Buddy could meet these needs.

Question: Why has Clinton viewed Ken Starr as one who is pursuing an innocent victim with an unfair attack?

Answer: ACAs overreact to changes in which they have no control, and they feel they are different from other people.

Question: What are the prospects of Clinton hanging on to the presidency?

Answer: ACAs have difficulty following a project through from beginning to end.

RON FARROW

Cape Girardeau