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Introduction: Clinton's Cultural Revolution
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11137 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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10 / 1993 |
584 Words |
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The presidential candidate who campaigned as a New Democrat promising to break the gridlock in Washington, D.C., and get the economy moving again has turned out to be a Kulturmeister committed to radicalizing the social fabric of America. From gays in the military to condoms in the schools to federal funding for abortions, President Clinton and his administration are clearly intent on carrying out a cultural revolution in America.
That the great majority of Americans does not want such a revolution does not seem to trouble the cultural elite of the Clinton administration. Like all social planners, the Clintonites are convinced they know what is best for the people they supposedly serve.
The ability of the administration to effect sweeping cultural changes will depend, in large part, on the response of the Republican Party. To date, the GOP has sounded an uncertain trumpet, because several of its leaders remain convinced that George Bush lost the presidency because of cultural issues like "family values."
No one denies that American cultural institutions like the family have been greatly weakened over the past several decades. But will the various Clinton proposals strengthen or weaken them further? And is it the responsibility of the federal government to try to reshape the culture of our nation?
A radical vision
President Clinton was barely in office when he signaled his radical vision of America by trying to end the ban on gays in the military and rescinding restrictions on federal funding of abortion counseling. He quickly followed with the appointments of Joycelyn Elders, who wants sex education to start in kindergarten, and Roberta Achtenberg, a lesbian rights activist.
As Larry Witham of the Washington Times points out, the president is a product of the 1960s' counterculture, having lived through the sexual revolution, evaded the draft, attended elite schools, and embraced the latest cultural force, feminism. Unlike most middle-class Americans, says Witham, Clinton proposes no moral fetters in his social agenda.
Cultural radicals run three powerful federal agencies that affect the daily lives of millions of Americans: Donna Shalala at the "Domestic Pentagon," the Department of Health and Human Services; Sheldon Hackney at the National Endowment for
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