Up From Zen, part 1 of 4: Roshi Phil Jackson Torpedoes the Presidents +^

[Disbasing Zen Stories]

Up From Zen: Roshi Phil Jackson undermining the Presidency ...

Part one of four:

____ Background for Toxic Zen Stories _____________________

https://groups.google.com/group/alt.zen/msg/b4ad0ce368728934?hl=en

____ Introduction ________________________________________

Nichiren Daishonin quotes from T'ien-T'ai of China in his description of the effect of the very first famous Zen man and what happened to the admiring crowds.

From "The Opening of the Eyes", Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 276 ...

http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=276

... The seventh volume of Great Concentration and Insight
... states: "In the past, the Zen master of Yeh and Lo [Note
... 200] became renowned throughout the length and breadth
... of China. When he arrived, people gathered around him
... from all directions like clouds, and when he left for
... another place, they formed a great crowd along the
... roads. But what profit did they derive from all this
... bustle and excitement? All of them regretted what they
... had done when they were on their deathbed."
...
... [Note 200: Later commentators identify the "Zen master
... of Yeh and Lo" with Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen in
... China. T'ien-t'ai, however, does not mention him or any
... other contemporary figure by name.]

What follows is the history of Zen Roshi Jackson's toxic effect on the office of the Presidency. That effect grows over time as the Zen man's stature looms over his peers (other NBA coaches past and present). And as he leaves ever greater chaos and disaster in the world following in his wake ...

Zen Roshi Phil Jackson has recently taken up the cause of Detroit, after which they went into bankruptcy and now all their treasures are up for sale. When will they learn? How much devastation is necessary to finally stop extending the welcome to this disaster?

Then Gracie Gold touted his book as her guiding light: Phil Jackson as mentor in her search for Olympic Gold in the Women's Figure Skating Event. No Gold, no Silver, no Bronze, just a missed opportunity.

Now the New York Knicks, highest value franchise in the NBA have fallen into Phil Jackson Hell.

From Wikipedia: On March 18, the Knicks and Phil Jackson announced that he had been named President of the organization with Steve Mills remaining General Manager. Both Jackson and Mills will report directly to MSG chairman James Dolan. On April 21, 2014, over one week after the conclusion of the Knicks' season, Mike Woodson and his entire staff were fired. The Knicks finished the season with a disappointing 37-45 record and finished 9th in the Eastern Conference standings.

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____ The Knee-capping of George H.W. Bush (41st)
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Lee Atwater was Bush-41's strategic hole card in any election. He found his start in Senator Strom Thurmond and other South Carolina campaigns and was an expert on the Southern Strategy, speaking racism in code (cutting taxes and other methods that work to the disadvantage of the programs helping African Americans) and wedge issues. The Willie Horton commercial that crushed Michael Dukakis in the 1988 general election was an example of Lee Atwater's best work. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater>

As Michael Jordan became the phenomenon undergirding his Zen master's rise to prominence, and the Bulls finally started to dominate their division in the 1989-1990 season, Bush-41 was clearly a fan. The President's public statements talked about Jordan's ability and Zen master Phil's management technique and superior organizational style, which was a model for how to compete in business. In the Spring of 1990 the Bulls were headed towards the playoffs with a chance to make the finals for the first time in Chicago Bulls history.

On March 5, 1990, Lee Atwater collapsed at a fundraiser for Senator Phil Gramm and it turned out to be astrocytoma, an aggressive brain cancer. (Wikipedia)

On May 1990, the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Eastern Conference Finals (4-3) knocking the Chicago Bulls out of the playoffs.
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Friday, Nov 2nd, 1990: Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls kick off their 1990-1991 season, Phil's 1st Championship season against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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On the 5th of November 1990, Bush-41 got the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, which "balanced the budget at the expense of his "No New Taxes" pledge." (Wikipedia) This angered the Republicans, and his poll numbers briefly dipped near 50%, but then continued to climb to the heights. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bush_I_approval_rating.png>

By the end of his second year (December, 1990) in office, Bush-41 "was told by his economic advisors to stop dealing with the economy, as they believed that he had done everything necessary to ensure his reelection." (Wikipedia)

At this same time a 6 month recession started. A month later (January, 1991) the Gulf War I began, which was brief and spectacularly successful.

On March 29, 1991, Lee Atwater died, and after his loss to Bill Clinton in the 1992 election, Bush-41 always said the same thing, that he would have crushed Bill Clinton in that election if Lee Atwater had not died. (Frontline)

On the day that Atwater died, Bush-41 was at his peak of his approval rating numbers at almost 90%. This would start to rapidly and steadily drop like a rock, down to 30% on election day. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bush_I_approval_rating.png>

The Bulls and their Zen Master were roaring that Spring, and their dominance would not be denied. Bush-41 repeated his public admiration of their virtues and Phil Jackson's brilliance.

As The Zen Bulls soared, the Bush-41 White House plummeted. When the Bulls won the finals achieving the Zen man's first championship ring, Bush-41 had dropped 17% in the polls and was down to 71%.
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Victory call by Bush-41 to Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, June 13, 1991.
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3 days later, "former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was indicted on five felony counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements, for the Iran-Contra scandal." (Wikipedia) At the end of his administration, Weinberger's pardon would be the most infamous, because that pardon capped off any chance by the prosecutors of reaching higher in the leadership chain.

On "July 8, 1991, Bush-41 nominates Clarence Thomas as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court." <http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/timeline.php?id=41>

On July 31, 1991, in Moscow, Bush-41 "and Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), reducing, for the first time, the strategic nuclear forces of the two superpowers." (Wikipedia) This is what Zen is trying to prevent by its "Jackson victory call" attack on June 13, 1991.
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Bush-41 White House victory visit by Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, October 5, 1991.
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On October 30, 1991, Bush-41 "opens the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid, Spain." (Wikipedia) This is what Zen is trying to prevent by its "Jackson victory visit" attack on October 5, 1991.
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Friday, Nov 1st, 1991: Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls kick off their 1991-1992 season, Phil's 2nd Championship season against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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"By 1992, interest and inflation rates were the lowest in years, but by midyear the unemployment rate reached 7.8 percent, the highest since 1984." (Wikipedia)

On February 20, 1992, H. Ross Perot enters the Presidential race as an independent. In June 1992, Perot led the polls with 39% (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). (Wikipedia)
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Victory call by Bush-41 to Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, June 15, 1992.
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On July 16, "Perot unexpectedly dropped out. Perot eventually stated the reason was that he received threats that digitally altered photos would be released by the Bush campaign to sabotage his daughter's wedding. His supporters went to Clinton's campaign in large numbers." (Wikipedia)

[Scott Barnes, the private investigator who made this story "revealed in 1997 that he had deceived Perot about the existence of the photos, and that he had created the hoax with others who weren't involved with any political campaign. Barnes was a Perot supporter, and believed if it were revealed that Republicans were involved in dirty tricks, it would harm Bush's candidacy." (Wikipedia)]

In September 1992, the "Census Bureau reported that 14.2 percent of all Americans lived in poverty. At a press conference in 1990, Bush-41 told reporters that he found foreign policy more enjoyable." (Wikipedia)

Just before election day, November 3, 1992, Bush-41 has his lowest approval rating of 29%. Consequently, Bush-41 loses his bid for a second presidential term.
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Friday, Nov 6th, 1992: Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls kick off their 1992-1993 season, Phil's 3rd Championship season against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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On December 24, 1992, Bush-41 "grants pardons to Caspar Weinberger, former assistant secretary of State Elliott Abrams, Clarridge, Fiers, George and McFarlane." (Wikipedia) Now there is no one for the Iran-Contra prosecutors to to plea-bargain and turn against the higher-ups.
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Victory visit to the Houston (Rockets game) by Bush-41 to Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, January 29, 2003 (delayed due to election in Fall).
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To summarize:

George H.W. Bush's man-crush for the Zen Man Phil Jackson and his Zen men of the Chicago Bulls knee-capped his Presidency. His stunning accomplishments during a single term:

1. The toppling of the Berlin Wall, the Warsaw Pact combined armies and nuclear forces, and the Soviet Union without firing a single shot.

2. The total rout and humiliating containment of Saddam Hussein's forces in the Gulf War, and the incredible brilliance (in hindsight) of his strategy of containment and continued nuclear inspection of Iraq, instead of the invasion of Iraq. His son has dutifully and thoroughly silenced all critics of the absolute correctness of Bush-41's handling of Saddam Hussein.

3. The creation of the Internet, signing Senator Gore's legislation that brought the Arpanet to the American people and the world.

All of these accomplishments were undermined by his man-crush on the Zen Man, Roshi Phil Jackson. After his defeat in the 1992 election, Bush left office in 1993 with a 56% job approval rating, his numbers shooting up just as he walked out the door. That was his final humiliation.

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____ The Double Evisceration of Bill Clinton (42nd)
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. Round One (1992-1993)
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Bill Clinton came to office with such potential, having made huge promises to solve the healthcare crisis, and with a large Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Remind you of anyone?
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Friday, Nov 6th, 1992: Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls kick off their 1992-1993 season, Phil's 3rd Championship season against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Bill Clinton also had a decided man-crush on Michael Jordan, disciple of Roshi Phil Jackson and his Zen Chicago Bulls, who were in the Spring of 1993 on the brink of their "three-peat", the third consecutive NBA crown. Bill just couldn't keep his mouth shut about these guys. Later, his enemies would be similarly unsparing of comment, or efforts regarding his Presidency.

January 20, 1993: "Clinton takes the oath of office, becoming the first president born after World War II." (presidentialtimeline.org)

January 22, 1993: "[Clinton} Signs orders overturning Reagan- and Bush-era restrictions on abortions." (ABC News)

January 25, 1993: "Clinton announces the formation of The President's Task Force on National Health Reform. The job of the task force, he says, is to 'prepare health care reform legislation to be submitted to Congress within one hundred days of our taking office.' He also announces that his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, will head the task force and that Ira Magaziner will be named its day-to-day operating head. A blanket of secrecy is imposed on task force operations. Magaziner objects but is overruled by George Stephanopoulos and others on the White House communications team. ------ The appointment of the First Lady sends a clear signal to all in the administration and players in both parties on Capitol Hill that Clinton places great importance on Health Care. It also serves instantly to limit how far cabinet secretaries and White House aides can go in pressing their views. One person watching from close range will later tell Johnson and Broder: 'They went about this exactly in the right way, with one exception. The person who's in charge shouldn't sleep with the President, because if you sleep with the President, nobody is going to tell you the truth.' Key economic advisers who have grave reservations about the direction of Clinton's reform plans from the very start are forced to ask themselves, 'Do I want to take on the President's wife?' ------ In order to meet their hundred-day deadline and win swift congressional passage the Clintons intend to fit the health care proposal into the presidential budget and pass it all in one gigantic package. An advantage to this strategy is that under Senate rules the reconciliation bill can be debated for only twenty-four hours before it comes to an up-or-down vote." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

February, 1993: "Distant Clinton cousin writes memo suggesting she and a colleague take over the running of the White House travel office." (CBS News)

February 5, 1993: "[Clinton] Signs his first law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers at large companies to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to attend to family concerns." (ABC News)

February 17, 1993: "Bill Clinton delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress. While his focus is on the economy, the budget and taxes, he uses the speech to make the policy link between health care reform and deficit reduction. The initial positive response breeds false optimism within the White House. Stephanopoulos and other advisers with Capitol Hill experience argue for a one-two punch: First, win a great budget victory in April or May; then follow up immediately with the introduction of the health care plan." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

February 22, 1993: "A White House aide alerts Hillary Clinton to danger signals emanating from Capitol Hill over rumors that the White House is considering a two-bill strategy. The consensus among Democratic congressional leaders is that there's nowhere near sufficient support for going to the well twice for difficult votes on health care and budget cuts." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

February 26, 1993: "A tower of the World Trade Center in New York is damaged by a terrorist bomb." (presidentialtimeline.org)

Early March 1993: "Sen. Robert C. Byrd, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, and a recognized guardian of Senate procedure, blocks the Clinton reconciliation bill strategy. He is convinced the strategy amounts to a 'prostitution of the process' by pushing through 'a very complex, very expensive, very little understood piece of legislation.'" (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

March 20, 1993: "Hugh Rodham, Hillary's father, suffers a stroke. The First Lady leaves immediately to be by his side at a hospital in Little Rock and spends most of her time there until he dies on April 7. Her absence presents a serious problem. Magaziner has come to depend on her to run interference for him with cabinet departments. At the same time President Clinton -- and most of his staff -- is preoccupied with the budget battle on Capitol Hill. Without Hillary's presence, few decisions can be made." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

April 13, 1993: "Leaks to the press become a problem. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala tells USA Today's editorial board that a value-added tax is one of the ideas under consideration. Her slip sparks a wave of controversy." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

April 19, 1993: "The Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas, is destroyed by fire following a 51-day standoff between federal authorities and followers of religious cult leader David Koresh." (presidentialtimeline.org)
"Attorney General Janet Reno authorizes a federal raid to end a standoff at the compound of a Waco, Texas, cult, resulting in a fire and dozens of deaths." (ABC News) This would be quoted by the terrorists who destroyed the Federal Building in Oklahoma in 1995, as the reason for that attack.

April 30, 1993: "Hillary Clinton meets behind closed doors with Republican and Democratic senators. She implores them to tell her what she is doing wrong and tells them she is having trouble meeting with Republicans. It is common knowledge among many of those present that the staff of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole has told Republicans they are not to meet with the First Lady." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

May 3, 1993: "A chart that has been leaked to the New York Times detailing possible methods of implementing reform and highlighting their impact on national spending, appears in the paper. Not only has the chart been leaked, but its appearance has been altered to make it seem as if Clinton is calling for $150 billion in new taxes." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

May 19, 1993: "All seven workers in the White House travel office are fired after questions of financial impropriety are raised." (CBS News)

May 20, 1993: "The first of four scheduled internal health-policy debates takes place at the White House. Clinton asks everyone present to keep the meeting private but the very next weekend accounts of the session appear in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The next three debates are indefinitely postponed. This incident, and others, make the Clintons and Magaziner feel they are being subjected to intentional acts of disloyalty." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

May 28, 1993: "Bill Gradison, the head of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), writes a letter to the First Lady restating his support for universal coverage but complaining of three recent occasions in which Hillary has attacked the health insurance industry for 'price-gouging, cost-shifting and unconscionable profiteering.' Gradison is actually playing a double game. He wants to diminish public support for a Clinton plan that can adversely affect the industry but he also is eager to appear accommodating so that he will be able to make adjustments in the reform bill he believes will ultimately pass." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

May 31, 1993: "The Clinton Health Care Task Force is officially disbanded." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Spring 1993 - The HIAA begins a three-and-a-half-million-dollar advertising campaign promoting its own approach to reform. HIAA pollsters also conduct foc groups to find certain phrases that resonate well with the public. Two of the mos likely are: 'They choose, you lose' and 'There's got to be a better way.'

At the same time the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) starts mobilizing its forces to kill a key element of the Clinton plan -- the 'employer mandate' that would require all businesses to provide health insurance for their employees. From its Washington headquarters the NFIB dispatches a constant stream of 'Fax Alerts' and 'Action Alerts' to tens of thousands of small-business owners who are also members. More than two million pieces of mail are sent. They also conduct seminars in states that will be critical when the time comes for Congress to vote. In Montana, they launch an unrelenting campaign against a Democratic Senator whose initial public comments have been favorable to the Clinton plan. They force the Senator to send a letter to Montana small-business owners pledging to vote against any bill that he feels hurts small business. When the employer mandate comes up the Senate Finance Committee, the Senator is one of five Democrats who join nine Republicans in killing it. The NFIB applies the same tactics in Louisiana, Washington, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Florida, and elsewhere." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Early June 1993: "Worried that they have no effective political support team, the Clinton administration sets up a 'War Room' -- a replica of the Little Rock nerve center of the Clinton presidential campaign -- to monitor media, orchestrate responses to attacks on the Clinton plan, and schedule administration and congressional visits to forums being held around the country." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

June 15, 1993: "House Democrat Jim Cooper -- who introduced a bill in 1992 based on the principle of managed competition -- meets with Hillary Clinton to explore their differences over health care. He has serious problems with employer mandates and universal coverage that are part of Clinton's plan and expresses his concern that the administration is being pushed to the left by liberals in the House. Cooper says he will not be able to support the Clinton plan unless changes are made." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)
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Victory call by Clinton to Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, June 20, 1993.
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June 1993: "Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster files three years of delinquent Whitewater corporate tax returns." (washingtonpost.com)

June 25, 1993: "Clinton's budget measure squeaks through the Senate with Vice President Gore casting the tie-breaking vote. Clinton is holding on to his agenda by his fingertips, and health care reform is shunted off until another day. Attempts by Magaziner to schedule meetings with key members of the administration's economic team are consistently rebuffed." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Early Summer 1993: "Bill Clinton tells the DNC to gear up a grassroots effort to support the reform plan. The DNC first tries to set up a tax-exempt 'educational' foundation, separate from but allied to the DNC. When word of the plan leaks, critics say it will allow power brokers with their own agenda to curry favor with Clinton by secretly financing his pet project. The DNC backs off and offers to run the program itself -- and disclose the names of all donors -- but they lack a budget for any serious grassroots effort. Clinton's political consultants, including Mandy Grunwald, Paul Begala, and James Carville, argue that the grassroots effort should be junked in favor of a media campaign." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Mid-July 1993: "David Gergen urges that the health care plan be delayed until 1994, but Hillary Clinton and Magaziner are convinced this would amount to a death sentence for health care reform. Among White House political strategists, the belief is that the legislation has to be introduced in September to have any chance of winning passage before the 1994 midterm congressional elections." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

July 19, 1993: "After disputes over whether to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, Clinton proposes a 'don't ask, don't tell' compromise with military leaders. The policy allows homosexuals to serve in the military if they do not reveal their homosexuality and refrain from homosexual conduct." (ABC News)

July 20, 1993: "White House attorney Vince Foster is found dead." (ABC News) "Foster is found dead in a Washington area park. Police rule the death a suicide. Federal investigators are not allowed access to Foster's office immediately after the discovery, but White House aides enter Foster's office shortly after his death, giving rise to speculation that files were removed from his office." (washingtonpost.com)

August 6, 1993: "Clinton's budget is approved with Vice President Gore casting the tie-breaking fifty-first vote. Clinton's presidency is saved, but by the slimmest possible margin of victory. It is a clear and dramatic warning about the growing difficulty of passing anything in a bitterly divided Congress." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

August 7, 1993: "Magaziner begins rounding up the Cabinet and economic team to discuss health care. Now that the budget battle is over he hopes high-level decisions can be reached before the Clintons begin their vacation. Acrimony reigns in meetings of senior advisers over the next few days, and discussions on how best to improve coverage while containing costs are tense." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Aug. 10, 1993: "Clinton signs first federal budget -- which calls for reducing spending and increasing taxes to reduce the deficit -- after it narrowly gained Congressional approval. (ABC News)
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg sworn in to replace Justice Byron White, becoming the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court." (ABC News)

August 11, 1993: "Unhappy that his advisers are in disagreement, Clinton decides not to make any decisions until after his vacation. Magaziner is devastated. When Congress returns after Labor Day he will still have no plan to give them." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

August 16, 1993: "Despite the fact that major questions remain unsettled, Bill Clinton gives an outline of his health care reform plan to the National Governors' Association. Before hearing from Clinton, John Motley -- vice president and top Washington lobbyist of the National Federation of Independent Business -- addresses the group. Motley attacks the 'untried, untested' approach Clinton is preparing and charges that thousands of small businesses will go bankrupt, threatening a national recession. Taken aback by the bold, bare-knuckles assault even before the administration plan has been formally introduced, Clinton -- listening nearby in a small 'holding room' -- huddles with the First Lady and other advisers and hurriedly rewrites his speech to respond to Motley's attack." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Late August 1993: "In a memo about Bill Clinton's upcoming health care speech, Ira Magaziner advocates a moderate, centrist approach stressing political flexibility, openness to new ideas, and a true bipartisan spirit. Magaziner also suggests emphasizing that this is not merely a 'Clinton plan,' but the work of many Republicans and Democrats over the years. Ironically, while Clinton planners privately stress a conciliatory, middle-ground approach for reform, the public and many on Capitol Hill are beginning to form an impression -- painted in part by opponents and in part by the Clinton team's own actions -- that the administration's plan is a liberal, secretly concocted, Big-Government scheme that will dictate how people get their health insurance and medical treatment." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Early September 1993: "Magaziner and his staff complete a rough draft of the plan embodying Clinton's final decisions on alliances, proposed price ceilings on insurance premiums, and the extent of Medicare cuts. He and Hillary go to Capitol Hill to brief members of Congress and their staffs. Pete Stark, of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, throws a tantrum and demands a copy of the draft plan. Soon after Stark receives it, the supposedly secret plan is leaked to the press and to anti-Clinton lobbying groups.

The HIAA begins running its powerful 'Harry and Louise' television ads featuring the focus group phrase 'They choose, we lose.' It quickly becomes an American advertising classic. By moving early, aggressively, and publicly, HIAA has become a major player in the debate." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

September 2, 1993: "Clinton's political and policy advisers agree on an explicit congressional strategy. Rather than start from the center, writing a bill that will appeal to conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans (while telling the liberals this is the best deal they can get), Clinton decides to follow a strategy of starting from the left and moving as far to the center as is needed to reach a majority. The advisers do not know that Newt Gingrich is determined there be no Republican support for any Clinton-designed reform and that the whole effort be derailed." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

September 11, 1993: "The New York Times and the Washington Post run stories describing and analyzing Clinton's secret draft plan." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

Mid September 1993: "Relentless pressure continues as Clinton's staff struggles to prepare his upcoming speech to launch health care reform. Political strategy meetings on how best to employ appearances by the President and the First Lady after the speech also produce conflict. Decisions are made, revised, and remade again about what TV shows cabinet members and Democratic members of Congress will appear on. The result, according to one of those involved, is 'piss poor planning and disastrous conflicts.'" (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

September 13, 1993: "Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sign accords providing for initial steps toward Palestinian self-rule at a White House ceremony hosted by Clinton." (presidentialtimeline.org) This is the focus of the October 1993 Zen attack.

September 19, 1993: "Pat Moynihan, speaking on Meet the Press, dismisses the economic calculations in the Clinton plan -- which has not even been formally launched -- as 'fantasy numbers.' He also joins with Republican critics and strikes at the very heart of reform by saying there is 'no health care crisis.'" (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

September 21, 1993: "Clinton signs the bill creating the National Service Program, which provides $1.5 billion over 3 years to enable students to repay federal educational aid through community service." (presidentialtimeline.org)

September 22, 1993: "Bill Clinton, delivers his health care speech to a joint session of Congress. Despite an initial snafu with the wrong text being loaded onto the TelePrompTer, the speech is a smash. The President's delivery is superb, powerful, and compelling. Response is overwhelmingly favorable. During TV interviews immediately afterward, House and Senate Republicans criticize Clinton for failing to provide specific details. HIAA and NFIB lobbyists, as well as lobbyists for other organizations, condemn the President's remarks and repeatedly charge that the Clinton plan will lead to a 'tremendous dislocation of employees' and prevent American families from keeping the health care they already have." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

September 28, 1993: "Hillary Clinton begins several days of testimony on health care before five congressional committees. Her appearance is both dramatic and triumphant. Its very success, however, triggers new and intense activity among opponents who see in her a foe whose defeat will require their most determined efforts." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

October 3, 1993: "The President and First Lady -- who have been appearing around the country to drum up public support for health care reform -- depart for California in what they hope will be a final push before delivering their plan, in legislative form, to Congress." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)
"Clinton orders military reinforcements to Somalia after an attack on United Nations peace-keeping forces leaves 18 U.S. servicemen dead. U.S. forces are withdrawn from Somalia over the next 6 months." (presidentialtimeline.org)
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Clinton White House victory visit by Zen Roshi Phil Jackson and the Bulls, early October 1993.
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October 6, 1993: "Jim Cooper and Fred Grandy introduce the updated version of Cooper's health care bill. Privately Cooper is convinced the White House will have to bend and accept his position." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

October - November 1993 - Ira Magaziner is besieged by interest group representatives and members of Congress, all demanding last-minute adjustments to the Clinton plan. Heavy pressure comes from inside the government -- particularly from career bureaucrats who are worried about parts of the bill that will ease government regulations. At the same time, Magaziner is under pressure from the people who are writing the actual legislation to stop the changes and let them finish their work." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

October 27, 1993: "Clinton, in an attempt to recapture public support, formally presents his plan to Congress in a staged media event in the old chamber of the House. Press commentators quickly point out that the ceremony is taking place under false pretenses. Though it is billed as the moment when the Clintons will deliver their revamped Health Security Act into the hands of Congress, the legislation remains to be drafted. House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois stuns observers with a forceful, bold, and unsparing attack on the very premise of the Clinton plan. Even those who have not closely followed the debate immediately understand what this laying down of the gauntlet by a moderate like Michel means: It is a clear signal of all-out Republican opposition." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

November 1, 1993: "Hillary Clinton launches a scathing attack against the insurance industry to counter the highly damaging 'Harry and Louise' ads. She accuses the industry of greed and deliberately lying about the reform plan in order to protect its profits. She specifically denounces the ads' claim that the Clinton plan 'limits choice.' Rarely, if ever, has a First Lady publicly attacked any American industry or industry group -- and certainly never in such strong language and in such a furious manner. Her assault makes front-page newspaper stories, network TV news shows, and calls more attention to HIAA's role and message.

The success of HIAA ads give an immense boost to the organization's fund-raising. In the space of a few weeks, the budget for the campaign expands fivefold from $4 million to $20 million. In the end, HIAA raises and spends about $30 million more than its normal annual operating budget of $20 million -- a grand total of almost $50 million to the lobbying effort. The money HIAA accumulates for the fight pays not only for the Harry and Louise ads but also for a grassroots campaign that dwarfs anything the interest group has ever done. The effort produces more than four hundred fifty thousand contacts with Congress -- phone calls, visits, or letters -almost a thousand to every member of the House and Senate." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)" (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

November 20, 1993: "The Health Care bill is finally presented to Congress. It is the last day of the 1993 session. The legislation comes under immediate criticism from opponents -- including many Democrats -- who see in its length and language proof that their claims are correct: This is government-run health care." (PBS Healthcare Timeline)

November 30, 1993: "Clinton signs into law the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, named for James Brady, President Reagan's former press secretary who was critically wounded in an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981." (presidentialtimeline.org)
"Clinton signs the Brady Bill, imposing a waiting period and background checks for purchasing handguns." (ABC News)


December 8, 1993: "Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions between the U.S., Canada and Mexico over 15 years." (presidentialtimeline.org)

After this point, the Clinton first term never really recovered. Healthcare slowly failed to pass and hope for it continued to drag down the Democrats into political desolation.

Healthcare became Travelgate, Troopergate, and Whitewater. Healthcare became the Special Prosecutor. Republicans early on exercised perfect unity (wagoso, unity following the priest) in never breaking ranks, never compromising in even the tiniest way. Their goal was to take back Congress and in 1994 they did. Then their goal was to destroy the President, and they nearly did, this time with the help of (once again) Zen Roshi Phil Jackson.

Michael Jordan had abandoned his Zen Master until his return to the team in the summer of 1995. His return sparked a resurgence of the Zen Bulls in the Fall 1995-Spring 1996 season and continued the rise of his Zen Master to prominence. This would bring on the last and nearly fatal round of attacks upon the Clinton administration by Zen.

End of part one of four ...

LS Chap. 16 .....

All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.
At that time I tell the living beings
that I am always here, never entering extinction,
but that because of the power of an expedient means
at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not,
and that if there are living beings in other lands
who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe,
then among them too
I will preach the unsurpassed Law.