Two Bills

　　When BillClinton and Bill Gates played golf on Martha’s Vineyard a few years ago, theydidn’t click. The President gave Gates a heavy dose of the Clinton treatment,oozing charm and seeking emotional common ground in the fact that both had recentlylost their mothers. Clinton must have been disappointed by the cool response ofGates, who saw the subject as unduly personal. Gates, for his part, was put offthat Clinton didn’t engage him on his favorite topic, technology. When thegolfing ended, the two men went their separate ways. Gates didn’t take sides inthe Clinton-Dole election a couple of years later. Clinton let his JusticeDepartment pursue a potentially devastating antitrust lawsuit againstMicrosoft.

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　　It’s not hard tosee why these two larger-than-life figures – one is the world’s most powerfulman, one the richest – didn’t become fast friends: the two Bills are asdifferent as the two ends of the baby-boom generation they represent. Clinton,who entered college in 1964, is dripping with Sixties values: a John F.Kennedy-style belief in public service as a calling; an Age-of-Aquarius focuson emotional connection; and a countercultural streak of sex, drugs, and rock’ n’roll. Gates, who came of age in the 1970s, has a Watergate-year detachment frompolitics, a mind-set more me-generation than “l(fā)ove-in”, and a passion for thegreat revolutionary force of his own decade: the personal computer.

　　But Clinton andGates are remarkably alike in other ways, particularly in their flaws. Bothhave almost limitless drive and self-absorption and a willingness to push therules to the edge – or pass it – to get what they want. When called to account,both have been dismissive of the legal process and have had a strainedrelationship with the truth. These qualities have landed both men in similarbinds: Clinton is waiting to hear if he will be removed from office; Gates isfending off the Justice Department’s effort to rein in, or even carve up,Microsoft. Their flaws will take center this week, as both men mount defensesin their respective trials.

　　Both men foundtheir callings early. Clinton was elected a senator at Boys Nation at 16. On aWashington field trip that year, he shook hands with President Kennedy – aniconic moment captured in a photo. After Yale Law School and a Rhodesscholarship, Clinton, at 32, became governor of Arkansas. The single-mindedrise to political power is a timeless story, but Clinton’s came with thedistinctive trappings of his era: The scruffy beard and antiwar protests whileat Oxford, the experimentation with pot, the civil rights movement sensibilityand the feminist wife who kept her name – at least initially.

　　兩個(gè)比爾

　　幾年前，比爾·克林頓和比爾·蓋茨在馬撒葡萄園打了一場(chǎng)高爾夫球，兩人相處不那么融洽。克林頓總統(tǒng)以自己慣用的熱烈的待人接物方式對(duì)待蓋茨，滿臉魅力，笑容可掬。因?yàn)閮扇硕夹陆鼏誓�，所以他滿以為能在兩人之間找到共同語言。克林頓結(jié)果肯定是大失所望，因?yàn)樯w茨反應(yīng)冷淡，認(rèn)為這一話題純屬個(gè)人私事，不宜談?wù)�。蓋茨也滿心不快，因?yàn)榭肆诸D沒有讓他談自己最喜歡的話題——科技。高爾夫球打完，兩人分道揚(yáng)鑣。幾年后克林頓和多爾競(jìng)爭(zhēng)總統(tǒng)職位，蓋茨沒有支持任何一方。而克林頓聽任司法部對(duì)微軟公司提出反壟斷訴訟——這對(duì)微軟公司可能是一場(chǎng)毀滅性的打擊。

　　不難看出這兩位帶有傳奇色彩的人物——世界上最有權(quán)者和最有錢者——為什么沒有成為密友。因?yàn)閮蓚�(gè)比爾稟性大不一樣，他們分別代表了戰(zhàn)后生育高峰首尾兩端出生的這一代人�？肆诸D1964年進(jìn)大學(xué)，滿腦子浸透了60年代的價(jià)值觀念：他的身上既有約翰·肯尼迪式的以服務(wù)大眾為己任的信念，也有大同時(shí)代的人所特有情感專注，同時(shí)還帶有縱欲、吸毒、迷戀搖滾樂之類反文化的個(gè)人特性。蓋茨70年代長(zhǎng)大成人，具有水門事件年代的人對(duì)政治冷漠超然的特點(diǎn)，其心態(tài)更接近”惟我的一代”，而不是頹廢派;他熱衷于個(gè)人電腦，將其視為自己這十年的一種極具革命性的動(dòng)力。

　　但在其他一些方面，克林頓與蓋茨卻明顯地相似，尤其是在兩人的缺點(diǎn)方面。兩人卻有無窮的干勁和自我專注，為了得到自己想要的東西，置各種條規(guī)于不顧，或越過條規(guī)。當(dāng)要求他們對(duì)自己的所作所為進(jìn)行解釋時(shí)，兩人都蔑視法律程序，歪曲事實(shí)。這些特點(diǎn)使兩人陷入了相似的困境：克林頓正在聽候最后的判決，不知會(huì)不會(huì)遭到彈劾;而蓋茨正在設(shè)法招架司法部對(duì)微軟公司的控制，乃至肢解。兩人的這些缺點(diǎn)本周會(huì)格外引人注目，因?yàn)樗麄儗⒃诟髯缘陌讣�中為自己辯護(hù)。

　　兩人都少年得志�？肆诸D16歲時(shí)就被選為”少年國(guó)會(huì)”的領(lǐng)袖。那年他到華盛頓進(jìn)行校外考察，曾跟肯尼迪總統(tǒng)握過手——這一具有象征意義的時(shí)刻被攝人了鏡頭。從耶魯大學(xué)法院畢業(yè)，獲得羅茲獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金之后，32歲的克林頓成為阿肯色州州長(zhǎng)。一心從政而獲取政權(quán)者是一個(gè)永恒的話題。然而，克林頓的平步青云則明顯地帶有當(dāng)時(shí)那個(gè)時(shí)代的印記：在牛津，他留著亂蓬蓬的胡須，他參加反戰(zhàn)抗議活動(dòng)，他體驗(yàn)過吸大麻的滋味，他對(duì)民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)很敏感，娶了一位主張男女平等的妻子，婚后仍保留閨名——至少最初如此。

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