For my Valentine's Day column I thought I'd write about the most famous love affair in recent history, one that has embedded itself in our very culture. Rest easy, I'm not talking about Bill and Monica. I am talking about Bill and his relationship with the mass media. Even after leaving office he remains the most talked-about figure in our country. Our former president has a knack for finding his way into the spotlight, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. Just as they did while he was still in the White House, accusations of corruption have followed Citizen Clinton around since his departure from office. Not just one but a multitude of issues have arisen surrounding the Clintons' move from Washington to New York, including that they allegedly stole $28,000 in furniture intended to be left in the White House and used it to decorate their new home. It now appears that public pressure will force the Clintons to return the furniture to the White House.
In a separate issue, former Clinton senior adviser Dick Morris wrote a column in the Washington Post this past week alleging that Mrs. Clinton herself disclosed few if any of the personal gifts she received during her time as First Lady. Morris claims he is aware of items totaling at least $10,000 that were given to Senator Clinton and were not reported. It should be noted that, since leaving the White House staff, Morris has been one of the Clintons' sharpest critics.
Then, of course, there is the infamous pardoning of fugitive financier Marc Rich by Mr. Clinton only several hours before President Bush was officially sworn in. Since circumstances surrounding the pardon were released, Clinton has come under fire. His assailants, who are many and come from both sides of the political spectrum, are alleging that this pardon was a trade-off for large financial contributions by Mr. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, to the Democratic Party and more specifically to Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign. Without going into greater detail, it is safe to say that nearly everyone, including some of Mr. Clinton's most loyal defenders, is outraged at this abuse of presidential power. Perhaps political comedian Lewis Black from "The Daily Show" summed it up best when he said, "It's like Clinton was just about to stop pissing on the presidency when he said 'Oh wait! I missed a spot!'"
Although no rational person is contesting that a wrongdoing has been committed, there is considerable disagreement over how to deal with the series of indiscretions that has marked the final days of the Clinton presidency. Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican, has actually stated that, in theory, Clinton could be impeached again, this time as a "Former President," a civil office created after Harry Truman left office. Few people are going as far as Senator Specter, but going through another impeachment, this time of an ex-president, would be unthinkable.
So where do I, a traditionally harsh critic of Mr. Clinton, stand on this issue? Surprisingly, especially to myself, I have come to realize that the best thing to do at this point is to leave him alone. Senator Hillary Clinton is another matter. As a member of the Senate she should still be held to certain moral standards. However, I do not feel that there is enough credible evidence against her right now to warrant further investigation. Her conduct since being elected could best be described as toeing the line between unethical and criminal, but any fair-minded person knows that this is nothing new, so let's leave her alone and let her try to do her job.
The media will not do this, however, and neither will the many Clinton-haters out there. This has to do with the love affair I mentioned earlier. Clinton is arguably the most charismatic and camera-friendly president we have ever had. Throw in his numerous ethical shortcomings and sex-related scandals and the man has basically been media candy for the past eight years. Asking the media to stop covering Clinton altogether is like asking someone to quit smoking cold turkey. It just isn't that easy to do. He produces a new story or at least a new wrinkle to a story every day, practically doing the reporters' jobs for them.
So who is the victim in this affair? It certainly isn't Mr. Clinton. Not only is the man incapable of being embarrassed or shamed, he has the same nicotine-like addiction to being in the spotlight as the media does to put him there. The real victim here is our new President, George W. Bush. It seems like every time Bush has introduced his plans to deal with important issues like education and health care, the story has been trumped in the news by a $700,000 New York townhouse or a $19,000 couch. For the first time in a long time our government is having constructive discussions about important issues and it seems like we might see some meaningful reforms passed. If we let the most divisive political figure in recent memory continue to dominate the headlines we will waste this unique opportunity and the petty partisan bickering will return before we know it.
