Subtitle: Or How Bill Clinton’s Golf Game is once again relevant

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, a “mulligan” is when a golfer, having determined his first shot really, really sucked, asserts the time honored tradition of ignoring what he just did, and announcing that his horrible, terrible, very bad shot shouldn’t count, and that he is entitled to a “do-over” as it were.

Strictly speaking, a mulligan is not permitted under the sacred and time honored Rules of Golf. To be blunt, its cheating. Nonetheless, millions of golfers, rich, poor and in between proclaim their right to take a mulligan or two (or three) each round they play. Many see this as a merely harmless and permissible practice that enhances their enjoyment of the game. Purists, however, see mulligans as an abomination. It’s a rule violation, pure and simple, they say, and what is more, it’s irreproachable evidence of low character and loose morals by anyone willing to grant him or herself this undeserved boon on the golf course. The idea being that how one behaves while playing golf exposes that person’s essential character and moral fitness in a way that nothing else can. Not performance at work or business, community service or church attendance is as reliable an indicator of a person’s character as 18 holes of golf.

During the eight years of Bill Clinton’s presidency, and aside from righteous slings and arrows directed his way by self-proclaimed Republican moralists and their enablers in the media regarding his sexual peccadilloes with Monica Lewinsky (“It isn’t about the sex, it’s about the lying!”), nothing drew the ire of his critics more than the Big Dog’s propensity for taking mulligans on the golf course.

Oh, the shame of it! they railed, that we have a President of such ill repute and low morals that he stoops to taking mulligans when he plays golf. You couldn’t watch a televised golf tournament in the 90’s without hearing at least one reference by the broadcasters to Clinton and his mulligans. It became a running joke for most network golf analysts, most of them former pro golfers and solid Republicans no doubt dissatisfied with their federal income tax bills as high earners.

However, the “mulligan factor” wasn’t limited to has-beens whose greatest insight usually amounted to nothing more than telling us what a great “golf shot” Tiger Woods had just hit (as if golfers ever hit anything other than golf shots when they play golf). Even allegedly serious opinion makers and pundits would bring up of Clinton’s reputation as a cheat at golf in order to bash his character and fitness for office. They even turned it into a metaphor for Clinton’s entire misbegotten presidential career. Here’s just one example in this article from 1999:

Mulligan a symbol of Clinton presidency?

President Clinton stepped up to the first tee at Farm Neck Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard the other day and shanked the ball into the wrong fairway. “Aw, I killed it,” the president blurted to himself. “I need help.”

Without hesitation, Clinton fished another ball out of his pocket, placed it on the tee and lined up a second shot.

In golf parlance, the do-over is known as a mulligan, which is common among weekend duffers who will gladly take one or even a handful of do-overs if their fellow players assent.

But Clinton never asked the permission of anyone in his foursome. Apparently being president means never having to say double bogey. His second shot mimicked the crooked path of the first. “Aw, I did it again,” Clinton said, stomping toward his golf cart. […]

As this vacation season draws to a close, the mulligan presents itself as the perfect metaphor for his presidency. The voters — and wife Hillary — have given the Comeback Kid more than one mulligan.

Most past presidents were golf purists who wouldn’t contemplate even asking for a mulligan, let alone taking one. President George Bush apparently never took a do-over. For him, it was more important to put the game out of its misery; he once bragged that he raced through 18 holes in 1 hour, 42 minutes. […]

During his Martha’s Vineyard vacation in August 1997, Clinton hammered three straight tee shots into the woods near the first fairway. Afterward, White House press secretary Mike McCurry dutifully reported that the president had carded a seven-over-par 79. Journalists demanded to know how many mulligans the president had taken.

McCurry, as they say, “declined to comment.”

At the time, John Omicinski, a commentator for the Gannett News Service, admonished, “In golf, as in life, he’s got to learn to take his punishment and learn from his mistakes, rather than covering them up.” That was five months before the world was introduced to Monica Lewinsky.

Yes, mulligans in life are a bad thing, especially when it comes to Presidents. Why, if people keep giving Presidents “do-overs” after every mistake they make there’s no telling what could happen. Is there.

Bush told an end-of-the-year press conference that the deaths [of military personnel in Iraq] distress him.

“The most painful aspect of the presidency is the fact that I know my decisions have caused young men and women to lose their lives,” Bush said.

Asked about the 3,000 figure, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said Sunday that the president “will ensure their sacrifice was not made in vain.” […]

In a statement Bush released Sunday to wish the troops and all Americans a happy new year, the president said the nation depends on the men and women in the armed services and are mindful of their dedication and sacrifice.

“Last year, America continued its mission to fight and win the war on terror and promote liberty as an alternative to tyranny and despair,” Bush said in the statement released from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he and first lady Laura Bush are spending New Year’s Eve with friends.

“In the New Year, we will remain on the offensive against the enemies of freedom, advance the security of our country, and work toward a free and unified Iraq,” he said. “Defeating terrorists and extremists is the challenge of our time, and we will answer history’s call with confidence and fight for liberty without wavering.”

I don’t know if President Bush takes mulligans on the golf course when he plays, and frankly I don’t care. Golf is a game, not a substitute for real life, and it certainly is not an appropriate indicator of the character or ability of the individuals who serve President of the United States when it comes to the performance of their official duties. But in one sense, the “mulligan” is the perfect symbol of George Bush’s incredible series of missteps and misadventures when it comes to the ill fated war in Iraq for which he ultimately bears full responsibility.

So, I have one question for all the politicians, Democrats and Republicans, and all the assorted pundits, newsmakers, television news anchors not named Keith Olbermann, publishers, editors, reporters and media executives who have, after each failure, each lie, each newly announced military or political strategy, consistently given Mr. Bush cover for what one extremely thoughtful and intelligent commentator has called the “worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States.”

Isn’t it time they tell President Bush that he has no more mulligans to take in Iraq?

I think we already know the American people’s answer to that question.

0 0 votes
Article Rating