European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 28, 19 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 missteps spoil Clinton image As president president Clinton probably deserves better than the round of raspberries he has gotten for accept ing what he called an honorable Compromise on the Issue of Gays in the military. History will Likely Mark Thosas an important step toward eliminating one of society s last prejudices but in contemporary politics it i another disheartening symptom of the problem that is gnawing at Clinton s presidency. That problem As defined Here before is the huge imbalance Between Clinton s ambitious policy objectives and the meager political capital he can apply to achieving his goals. In the Campaign one of the Many things Clinto promised to achieve was the elimination of barriers to Mili tary service by homosexuals. That was a Plank in a comprehensive Gay rights platform Clinton proclaimed As he openly sought and gratefully accepted financial and political support from homosexuals. In history s eyes it is Linton s Davids. Broder probably Clinton open acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Gays As players in the presidential game that will be remembered Long after the details of the current controversy have been forgotten. Ronald Brownstein of the los Angeles times had it right when he reported Clinton s rally with 600 Gay activists at the Palace nightclub in Hollywood in May 1992. The most powerful statement May have been Clinton s willingness to hold such an event with Homo sexual activists in the full Glare of the National spot Light he wrote. Many in the room seemed to see the event As a dramatic statement of political arrival for the Gay  How did it turn out that Clinton s Effort to fulfil one of the key pledges made that evening became a subject of scorn and derision not Only to David Mixner the organizer of the Hollywood fund Raiser but Tomany on the other Side like sen. Dan Coats r-ind.? the answer is that once again Clinton was trying to bring about major change without having the leverage to achieve it. Facing one More time the painful Choice Between Compromise and defeat he compromised thus adding to the deadly Public perception that he is either insincere or easily thwarted but not a Man of conviction and the will to prevail. George Stepha Nopulos the president s Counselor blames it All on the availability of nexis the electronic information retrieval system that makes it easy for Jour unrest in Post i contemporary threats to the . Military. In re a article in a lists to compare Clinton s actions with his Campaign rhetoric. Without it he argues changes like getting the military to Stop asking questions about recruits sexual orientation would be viewed As major breakthroughs. But it is not that simple. The problem is not nexis but political reality. Clinton cannot bring himself to abandon his Broad goals nor can he Muster the Politi Cal firepower to achieve them so he finds himself looking feckless As he negotiates for unattainable objectives. After Only six months in office the list of people an causes that Clinton has been forced to abandon is depressingly Long. Among Many others there Are Zoe Baird Lani Guinier the economic stimulus package the Broad based Energy tax the reversal of the haitian refugees exclusion the military Rescue Effort in Bosnia. And now Youcan add ending the ban on Gays in the military. The effect of All this is to Foster an image of weakness that further depreciates Clinton s leadership potential. Realizing this Nis associates try to cover for the president. On the morning after the Gays in the military com Promise was announced a group of columnists was invited to breakfast with Secretary of defense Les a Pinand army Gen. Colin l. Powell the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The purpose was not so much to convince us of the merits of the policy As to rebut the notion that Powell and his military allies had rolled Over the commander in chief and that Aspin had been party to the coup. Powell said it was absolutely not a Case of the join chiefs persuading or pressuring the president to change his mind or abandon his policy. Aspin acknowledged that the process involved trying to come to some kind of agreement that fits the Core beliefs of the president with the Core beliefs of the chiefs who in theory at least Are Clinton s subordinates. But Aspin insisted that he had been operating at the president s direction not behind his Back and trying to protect the president s interests. I believe that is True. But once the negotiation began with Senate armed services committee chairman Sam Nunn a a and the military brass on the other Side it turned out that Clinton held 8s and 7s and the other Guys aces and Kings. Clinton made no Effort to convince the Public or Congress that he was right. A painful Public crawl Back was the result with Clinton conceding that he had failed to achieve some of Myown goals and had been forced to accept a policy that will not please everyone perhaps not anyone. Is there any Way this deadly pattern can be stopped Only i think if Clinton goes ruthlessly Back Over the goals he has proclaimed and says these will have to wait until i am stronger. These few i am prepared to fight for and not abandon win or  c the Washington Post to Harry 0. Summers column was not received in time or today s edition unwittingly Moseley Braun joined racist plot the Freedom of Choice act per haps the most disingenuously named piece of legislation since deficit reduction is Intro Ible those who support Foca s original intent abortion on demand for any reason and at any time during pregnancy Are worried. That s because Amend ments to allow for parental notification of minors and a prohibition against fed eral funding of abortion could deflect what they regard As the Stiver Bullet that would end the 20-year-old abortion wars. Perhaps the most significant defector so far is sen. Carol Moseley Braun d-i1l, who announced her withdrawal As a Spon Sor of the Foca. Moseley Braun said she could no longer support the legislation be cause of its parental notification provision and its allowance for state funding restrictions on abortions for poor women. It is especially noteworthy that Moseley Braun an african american would favor taxpayer abortion subsidies for the poor. Of All people she should be sensitive to the underlying but unspoken message that free abortions for the poo contains. An Exchange Between Ken Auletta of the new York daily news and Nat Hentoff of the Village voice exposed it. Auletta wrote of the incalculable costs of restricting abortion More future City criminals will be incubated unwanted kids entering the world without nurturing and  responded Hentoff so the Battle for abortion rights is not As we Veblen told All along solely a matter of preserving an individual woman s right to manage her life. There is an added dimension the equation of Abor Tion with a Public service response population Aown especially to keep the population in the ghetto  at the heart of much of the abortion de Bate has been a thinly veiled racism. Foursome abortion has become thereat White Hope of reducing the race  some Black leaders used to understand this but that was when the War against Black America was More visible. A 1927 Issue of eugenic Al news said today it appears an exaggeration to speak of the dying out of the White race. In two or three decades the problem will have become a vital one unless a decisive change occurs in the attitude of White  by 1936, eugenic Al news said r