Clinton-era staffer at CSUF: This era will be known as 'Age of Paradoxes'

By Krisse Mansfield

America is a country full of contradictions, and nothing will change until its leaders are willing to take risks, a former Clinton-administration staff member said Thursday night at Fresno State.

“ People say we are beginning the ‘Age of Information,’” said Leon Panetta, who spoke to a crowd of about 100 regarding the challenges of today’s leadership as part of the University Lecture Series. “I believe this will be known as the ‘Age of Paradoxes.’

“ We have the strongest economy in the world, yet we are running record deficits at the federal level. We have the strongest military system in the world, yet we struggle to find stability in Iraq. We have the greatest democracy in the world, yet less that 50 percent of those qualified to vote turned out for the election.”

According to Panetta, the problems in America will not end until leaders are willing to stop governing by crisis and start taking political risks.

“ We [the government] didn’t deal with the energy problem until the blackout,” Panetta said. “We knew there was a problem with energy 20 years ago, but didn’t do anything. We don’t govern by leadership. We govern by crisis. If the leadership is not there, crisis will drive policy.”

Panetta said the change should come from the “bottom up” and encouraged becoming more active in civil life.

“ As long as normal people see politics as a spectator sport, nothing is going to change,” Panetta said. “We need to find a way to get the younger generation involved. I think that eventually, as is the case with California, people will just get frustrated with the fact that nothing’s changing and then will finally do something about it.”

Panetta’s message struck a chord with some students in the audience.

“ He was very inspirational,” said senior Erik Wakefield, a communication major. “I hope that a lot of students will really take what he said to heart [about getting involved].”

Senior Anna Melendez agreed with Wakefield.

“ He was right on target in that we need to get students [and the younger generation] involved in the public arena,” said Melendez, a political science major. “I think it would be beneficial to everyone involved.”

“ We had a little competition tonight with the basketball game going on, which is disappointing because it’s such a rare opportunity to have someone here with such a prestigious political career,” said university Provost Jeri Echeverria. “He comes highly recommended as a speaker, so we wanted to get him over here.”

Panetta has served in the House of Representatives for 16 years, in addition to his role as Chief of Staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration. He now serves as the director of the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at CSU Monterey Bay.