Since the Cole happened on the tail end of Clinton's term he was limited on his options for a response. Especially looking back in hindsight, we can agree he should have done something but Bush also left it untouched too.
I don't agree with you about the idea that Clinton took the easy way at every turn. In the wiretap thread in the politics forum I've shown where Republicans in the House had stripped his anti-terroism bill that he pushed for.
