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Jewish World Review / August 19, 1998 / 27 Menachem-Av, 5758
Thomas Sowell
AT WHAT POINT DO WE FINALLY SAY: "We have been played for fools?" It is not just a
question of being repeatedly lied to and misled by the Clintons and their allies in
politics and the media. We have been told stories that would insult the intelligence of a
child.
Let's check some facts. A year ago, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr had never even
heard of Monica Lewinsky. He could not possibly have been investigating that sordid
episode for more than 8 months out of the 4 years that he has been examining Clinton's
many scandals -- most of them having nothing to do with sex.
Only within the past year has sex had anything to do with this investigation -- and only
because Clinton's sexual escapades and their aftermath show the very same pattern of
deception, stalling, hiding subpoenaed evidence and paying off witnesses that Starr
first encountered in the Whitewater investigation. Both the sexual and the non-sexual
activities of Clinton have also featured Vernon Jordan showing incredible generosity
toward potential witnesses.
It is this pattern of obstruction of justice that is the legal issue and the central issue of
any impeachment proceedings that may occur. Shouting "sex" at every opportunity -- for
months on end -- has been the way that Clinton and his political and media allies have
distracted the public's attention and played us for fools.
Special prosecutor Kenneth Starr has never once said that this investigation is about
sex. Others have said that, shouted that, snarled that. But it is the pattern, not the sex,
that is the issue.
The same "I didn't inhale" word games that Clinton played years ago have now
reappeared in his attempt to weasel out of the perjury that he committed when he
denied under oath in January that he had any sexual relation with Monica Lewinsky.
Redefining what is and is not a sexual act is now his legalistic escape route.
Obviously, it is the special prosecutor's job to follow Clinton through the twists and
turns of this word game. But trying to pin him down to specifics is now called invading
his privacy.
Perjury is not a private act, any more than tampering with witnesses and tampering
with evidence are private acts.
Why are we paying the taxpayers' hard-earned money to a special prosecutor -- any
special prosecutor -- if we are going to get mad at him for doing his job by turning over
some rocks and showing what is crawling underneath?
Maybe we would have been happier believing lies. But it is not up to Starr to decide to
overlook illegal activity that he was sworn to investigate, whether on grounds that it is
about sex or because the president has high poll numbers.
Far bigger than the legal issues or the particular individuals involved in them is what all
this means to the kind of government we have in the United States of America. A decade
from now, most of the names of those involved in these episodes will be dim
memories, if they are not forgotten completely. But the corruption of government and
the abuse of power will still be profound dangers.
If Clinton gets away with this -- if he successfully plays us for fools once again -- those
dangers will be greater than ever, not from him, but from his successors. And not just
for us but for our children and our children's children. But have we become a people
who cannot see beyond me and now?
The whole history of the human race around the world has demonstrated in every
possible way the corrupting influence of power and the tragedies that follow. Those
who wrote the Constitution of the United States understood all this two centuries ago.
That is why they went to such lengths to see that power was divided and that no one
was above the law.
They did their job. It is up to us to do ours. It is not a question of being a
"Clinton-hater." That man will be gone in a couple of years and it will not matter
whether you hate him or love him. What will matter is whether we have allowed the
laws and the Constitution to be turned into jokes, because we could not see beyond the
catch-phrases of the spin
Played for fools
Even the brief statement of Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall, after the president's
testimony on August 17th, was another insult to our intelligence. He repeated the old,
worn-out claim that the special prosecutor had spent "four years and $40 million"
investigating "the president's private life."
Taking it all in, on the NY subway system
8/17/98: A childish letter
8/11/98: Hiding behind a woman
8/07/98: A flying walrus in Washington?
8/03/98: "Affordability" strikes again
7/31/98: Random thoughts
7/27/98: Faith and mountains
7/24/98: Clinton in Wonderland
7/20/98: Where is black 'leadership' leading?
7/16/98: Do 'minorities' really have it that bad?
7/14/98: Race dialogue: same old stuff
7/10/98: Honest history
7/09/98: Dumb is dangerous
7/02/98: Gun-safety starts with
parental responsibility
6/30/98: When more is less
6/29/98: Are educators above the law?
6/26/98: Random Thoughts
6/24/98: An angry letter
6/22/98: Sixties sentimentalism
6/19/98:Dumbing down anti-trust
6/15/98: A changing of the guard?
6/11/98: Presidential privileges
6/8/98: Fast computers and slow antitrust
6/3/98: Can stalling backfire?
5/29/98: The insulation of the Left
5/25/98: Missing the point in the media
5/22/98: The lessons of Indonesia
5/20/98: Smart but silent
5/18/98: Israel, Clinton and character
5/14/98: Monica Lewinsky's choices
5/11/98: Random thoughts
5/7/98: Media obstruction of justice
5/4/98: Dangerous "safety"
5/1/98:
Abolish Adolescence!
4/30/98: The naked truth
4/22/98: Playing fair and square
4/19/98: Bad teachers"
4/15/98: "Clinton in Africa
"
4/13/98: "Bundling and unbundling
"
4/9/98: "Rising or falling Starr
"
4/6/98: "Was Clinton ‘vindicated'?
"
3/26/98: "Diasters -- natural and political"
3/24/98: "A pattern of behavior"
3/22/98: Innocent explanations
3/19/98: Kathleen Willey and Anita Hill
3/17/98: Search and destroy
3/12/98: Media Circus versus Justice
3/6/98: Vindication
3/3/98: Cheap Shot Time
2/26/98: The Wrong Filter
2/24/98: Trial by Media
2/20/98: Dancing Around the Realities
2/19/98: A "Do Something" War?
2/12/98: Julian Simon, combatant in a 200-year war
2/6/98: A rush to rhetoric
