LETTERS: CLINTON ADDS TO HIS UNSAVORY LEGACY

To the editor:

The police-state raid on the Gonzalez home in Miami is just the most recent example of the Clinton-Gore administration's contempt for law and constitutional rights. Janet Reno and Bill Clinton's constant reference to "doing what is in the best interest of the child" rings hollow in this situation when one considers the imminent danger that Elian Gonzalez faced during the pre-dawn raid. The danger came not from his loving relatives, but from armed federal agents.

We should also recall the Waco fiasco in which Reno's concern for children led to the incineration of dozens of those children in the disastrous raid on the Branch Davidian compound. Another example that comes to mind is the federal raid at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in which a young mother holding her baby in her arms was shot and killed by an FBI sniper.

Once again we see William Jefferson Clinton and his inept attorney general, Janet Reno, spout the "rule of law" catchphrase to justify a purely political action. We now must add the names of the Gonzalez family to the long list of persons who have been damaged or ruined by Clinton's raw political ambition. The troubling part of the most recent episode is the seemingly casual attitude taken by the public in reaction to the Miami raid. It seems that after seven years of lies, corruption and cover-up that the American public has lost its ability to be shocked or outraged. Of course, this is somewhat understandable given the liberal bias of the major news networks that have provided cover for the corruption of the Clinton administration from the beginning.

Some have speculated that the Miami raid may have been ordered by Clinton out of concern for his legacy. The speculation is that Clinton desires a normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba in hopes that this may provide a positive legacy for his presidency. The Elian case may endanger such a normalization of relations if the case is not resolved to the satisfaction of Fidel Castro. For whatever reason this blatantly improper raid was taken, it should provide a wake-up call to all patriotic Americans. We must not allow our liberties to be trampled under the feet of armed federal agents acting in the name of the rule of law.

The Clinton legacy is clear. It is one of lies and corruption. It is one of political manipulation, of broken laws and cover-up. It is one of ruined lives left in the wake of pure political ambition. It is one of a morally weakened nation and of a military stripped of fighting strength. It is one in which those entrusted to enforce the laws have ignored or violated those very laws. One hopes that in the coming November elections that the American public will vote to cleanse the White House of the taint of the Clinton-Bore administration and restore respect for our nation and its laws.

JOHN HELDERMAN

Whitewater