President Clinton's, first ever, presidential farewell speech to the nation, less than two days before the Bush inauguration, removes all doubt about his shameless arrogance. Indeed, the man is so self-absorbed that he believes the country can't survive without him when, in fact, it managed to thrive in spite of him.

Clearly, the outgoing president is the foremost political plagiarist and manipulator of our times, taking credit for a robust economy, 7 out of 10 Republican proposals, which turned government around to balanced budgets and generous surpluses, and many other things he had absolutely nothing to do with.

But Clinton's height of arrogance came with telling the incoming president how to do his job by carrying out the so-called Clinton agenda. Certainly, he intends to conduct a "shadow presidency" against Bush. And it could even be said that his utmost passion was to be president for life as evidenced by a two-term presidency that was the closest thing to a monarchy since FDR.

Obviously, as he has done throughout his presidency and the 2000 elections, Bill Clinton intends to hog the stage to the bitter end. On the eve of the inauguration, he cut a "no indictment - no plea" deal with Independent Counsel Robert Ray, a "no disbarment" deal with Arkansas, and it should come as no surprise that his taped radio address aired on the morning of the Bush inauguration.

Indeed, William Jefferson Clinton is the luckiest, undeserving, man on the face of the earth. But he had a lot of help in getting there. Other than the Fox News Channel, the national television news media acted as his fluff biographer, publicist and press secretary through the whole, phony soap opera.

Still, his legacy should serve as a warning to the American people that only a monarch could do what Clinton did with impunity, and that he fully intends to return to the White House as the American Prince with "Queen Hillary" in 2004, no later than 2008...

Daniel B. Jeffs, founder
The Direct Democracy Center