Clinton: Don't tell us you're surprised

Clinton: Don’t tell us you’re surprised

Editorial

It’s been a strange week to be an American.Independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s $30 million fishing expedition into President Clinton’s past has finally borne fruit, although perhaps not in the manner that most of the country was expecting. Starr’s investigation, which began as an inquiry into alleged financial misdeeds committed by Clinton while he was still Governor of Arkansas, has now been transformed into a sleazy tale of alleged adultery, perjury and obstruction of justice. Just call him Kenneth Starr, P.I.The subsequent electronic lynching of the President at the hands of the media – CRISIS in the White House screamed the networks – was predictable, if not necessarily lamentable. In a strange way it seemed almost… fitting. Appropriate.That this President should be so shamelessly assaulted with pointed, borderline vulgar questions concerning his sex life is really no one’s fault but Mr. Clinton’s. It’s the unfortunate public which has had to sit through the painfully surreal images of Ted Koppel discussing intercourse and Peter Jennings explaining the legal distinctions governing adultery and oral sex. God, how the mighty have fallen.We hold Bill Clinton personally responsible for the erosion of the American Presidency. It’s been said that Clinton is continually preoccupied with questioning what his ultimate place in history might be. Sadly, his legacy is likely to be a deepened American cynicism, suspicion of government and widened schism between politics and private life. A President cannot expect to spend his time demystifying both the office and himself – saxophone playing on Leno, admissions of marital infidelity on network television – and expect to be insulated from these types of inquiries. We forgave before, but not again. Not anymore.There is a large cadre of the American populace that is going to have a hard time understanding why this is such a big deal. He had sex, so what? Twenty-one is young, sure, but it’s not that young. After all, he’s only human.Unfortunately for Mr. Clinton sex isn’t the issue, at least not entirely. We live in an era where, more often than not, the idea of a “cover-up” is far more repugnant to the nation than the initial offense could ever be. And it’s painfully obvious to all but the most obtuse of observers that Clinton is lying about something.We’ve also heard the argument that it’s unfair to hold our politicians to a higher ideal than we expect of ourselves, that we could never live by the standards we set for our nation’s leaders. You’re damn right. Americans don’t need a drinking buddy who continually hits on the babysitter to share their problems with and we sure as Hell don’t need our President to “relate” to us. We need a leader who can stand up and say, “I’m you, only better. Follow me and we can make this country great. I’ve got a few ideas.”There was a time we thought Clinton was that man. Finally we thought we had a man who might electrify the nation, one who might bring back a touch of empathy and dynamism, a commitment to public service and to one another. Instead, it’s been business as usual in the beltway; Clinton abandoned idealism somewhere midway through his first term in favor of a sort of middle-of-the-road, all things to all people brand of leadership. It’s an abandonment some of us will never forget or forgive. We apologize. We must confess to a certain amount of ambivalence towards this issue and this president. It’s really sort of funny if you think about it. Clinton, the man who spent so much time cultivating his youthful image, attempting to appeal to the ever elusive twenty-somethings has been brought low by one of our own.Serves you right.