
 |
|
May 20, 2013
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
July 6, 2007
/ 20 Tamuz, 5767
Hair-raising stuff from good ol' Bubba
By
Wesley Pruden
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Who would have thought that such a quaint and happy place like Arkansas, where nothing much happens to torment the razorbacks, disturb the boll weevils or curdle the barbecue sauce, could furnish the modern definition of "chutzpah."
"Chutzpah," a Yiddish word more often heard in Brooklyn or the Bronx and not easily recognized by the several varieties of Baptists in the land of deep, dark nights and the magic huckleberry, has heretofore been defined as "the attitude shown by the man who kills his parents and begs the court to shower mercy on a poor orphan."
Now comes Bill Clinton, who auctioned pardons in the last hours of his presidency, and his shrill surrogate to berate George W. Bush for reluctantly commuting the prison sentence of Scooter Libby. The president stopped short of granting a pardon. Scooter had nothing to offer a president but a plea for mercy. (He paid the $250,000 fine yesterday.) But the Clintons' record for never having shown shame for their perversions and peccadillos remains unique, intact and unchallenged.
Most men in his position would go miles out of their way to avoid talking about pardons, but good ol' Bubba, with his skill at mangling and manipulating the language and parsing phrases ("it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is"), was eager to talk about how he conducted his auction. "I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted," the former president said. He should know. He was indicted once himself for high crimes and misdemeanors, and beat the rap only because several jurors were more eager to preserve the tattered dignity of the presidency than to mete justice. Scooter, having fallen into a trap baited by the special prosecutor and an obliging judge, had no confederates on his jury.
Bubba offered a hair-raising account of George W.'s sin. "You've got to understand, [the Libby commutation] is consistent with [the Bush] philosophy, they believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, that the law is a minor obstacle." Scooter was saved from prison, he said, only to protect Dick Cheney. "What we know is that Libby was carrying out the implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as well, in the further effort to stifle dissent."
Even Al Gore, who canceled his scheduled blast of hot air at a save-the-planet rally at Wimbledon in the wake of the arrest of his son in a Los Angeles drug bust, chimed in with a ringing plea for tough justice (for Scooter): "It's different because in his case the person involved is charged with activities that involved knowledge of what his superiors in the White House did." Say what? Anyway, different. Just take Al's word for it.
The Marc Rich pardon actually is different. Mr. Rich is first of all a Democrat, and once indicted beat it out of the country just ahead of the sheriff and the posse. He decided to stay in Switzerland, trade in his old wife for a young blonde model, change the name of his company and start a new life. He assigned the discarded wife to lean on Bubba for another "do-over" for the indicted swindler. Denise Rich, the old wife, had raised $1 million for the party and had contributed $10,000 to the Clinton legal defense fund, and even gave Hillary $7,300 worth of tables, chairs, pots, pans and maybe even a mop for the new house. Bubba was raising money for his library in Little Rock and needed friends like Denise and Marc. What was one more pardon for generous friends in the final hours of a day when you were dispensing 140 pardons. Aren't friends nice?
The White House had a little fun with the Clintons yesterday. "I don't know what 'Arkansan' is for 'chutzpah,' but this is a gigantic case of it," Tony Snow, the president's press agent, said. When someone reminded him that Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, chairman of one of the House committees assigned to harass people, had scheduled hearings on the Libby commutation, he replied: "Well, fine, knock himself out. I mean, perfectly happy. And while he's at it, why doesn't he look at Jan. 20, 2001." He could ask Denise Rich. That's the day she took her checkbook to auction.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
Wesley Pruden Archives
© 2007 Wesley Pruden
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|