But I doubt it. Someday we will understand that the punitive hysteria of the mid-1990s was not an accident; it was essential to Clintonism, as essential as his vaunted repeal of the welfare system. Clinton treated different groups of Americans in radically different ways—crushing some in the iron fist of the state just as others were getting bailouts, deregulation, and a frolicking celebration of Think Different business innovation.
