Frontiersman, June 1994

Paula Jones complains of "sexual advances" made by Bill Clinton,¹ yet every woman who struts her stuff in front of a man does no less. Women just don't see themselves the same way men do. She says Clinton made her "not trust men." If so, she ought thank him for doing what her mother should have done years earlier. She complains of "intentional infliction of emotional distress". She should look in a mirror; women are far greater culprits in this regard than men. I noticed (for example) a woman at work one morning who hadn't buttoned the top two buttons of her blouse. I watched that blouse all day, thinking "It'll fall open just any time now!" I finally gave up and pointed out the buttons to her. "Oh, no," she replied coyly. "See?" she said, giving me a little glimpse, "I have a safety pin here on the inside, where you can't see it!" Another woman wore a T-shirt with a picture of sliced grapefruit halves; the caption said "Squeeze These Please." When I headed her direction, she squealed and ran. At first, I tried to regard this kind of crap as amusing, but when women started wearing T-shirts that said "Can't Touch This" over the boobs, they crossed a line in the sand. I resent being deliberately teased and I resent women who do it. They come to work as gorgeous or seductive as possible and then slap down the men who respond. If they don't like men's behavior then they shouldn't even be there. Remember, this feminist bullshit wasn't our idea. They forced their way into the man's workplace (where they weren't wanted) and immediately began to whine and nag about the men they found there. Well, what they found is what we are, take it or leave it. I regard Paula Jones as a naive young tease who learned an important lesson at little cost to herself. Instead of whining about it, she should be thankful that she now has a realistic set of expectations about men. My advice to her is, "If you can't stand the heat out here, Darlin', get back in the kitchen!" I'll grant her that Clinton's alleged actions might have lacked a little polish, but so what? I don't like the man either, but just this once I'll say "Bravo Clinton!"

Smart Cards

In his campaign book, Bill Clinton suggested a government ID card for every American. These cards would be so "smart," he said, that they could include your entire medical record as preparation for socialized medicine. And they could be eventually used as well for the "cashless society," where the government knows about, and controls, every dime you spend, save, or invest.

The threat should have been enough to defeat him, but statist Bush didn't criticize him for it. Yet it turns out that this is one campaign pledge Clinton wants to keep. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he criticized those who say the card "smacks of Big Brotherism." Hillary Clinton is said to be working on the idea as part of her medical "reform."

Unfortunately, the Social Security card effectively functions as an ID already. So what's the real purpose? The Clinton card would have much more than a number on it. It would also contain a computer chip capable of storing 50 to 60 pages of data. That's enough for your entire federal dossier, including tax, employment, medical, legal, and other records. Ira Magaziner, the meddlesome aide who has Hillary Clinton's ear, wants to issue every American one of these cards at birth. This would allow the feds to keep careful track of us throughout our lives.

For the government, knowledge is power, and the more it knows about us, the easier it can control us. Socialist governments found that a central data base can inspire more public fear than tanks on the streets. FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Treasury Department, is the most ambitious data collection enterprise ever attempted by Western government. And it will serve as the biggest gun the government has.

The American people have a history of demanding a certain degree of privacy and independence, as Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out in the 19th century. The Declaration of Independence complained of swarms of British bureaucrats harassing us; imagine what Jefferson would have thought about government "smart cards."

I have never been more struck by the good sense and the practical judgment of the Americans than in the manner in which they elude the numberless difficulties resulting from their Federal Constitution.

— Democracy in America [1835] Alexis de Tocqueville