
The First Bill Clinton
Monday, March 26th: There was a bit of a dust-up. Two disparate visions of America baring their teeth and growling. Several left wing progressives disputed Gary Hart’s idea of America having the “moral authority” to lead the world, citing the imperial legacy of the U.S. push westward across the Continent, the support for right wing dictatorships during the Cold War, and the current war in Iraq. Frustrated but maintaining his cool, Hart held his own, arguing that America was a force for good in the world, despite having done many “bad things”. All in all, it was an interesting evening, an illuminating exchange between a liberal internationalist who supports the exercise of American power abroad and left wing skeptics who question American state power and its beneficence. Gary Hart, the former U.S. Senator from Colorado (1975-1987) and presidential candidate (1984 and 1988) whose ambitions for the Oval Office were sunk by his affair with Donna Rice, a former beauty queen, aboard the luxury yacht (the gods have a sense of humor!) Monkey Business in 1988, was in Denver to talk about his new book, Under the Eagle’s Wing, a detailed essay about U.S. National Security policy. Read on …

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