No Wars, Only Scandals

The Wall Street Journal ^ | May 28, 2003 | ROBERT L. BARTLEY

[Cincinatus]

Clinton spinmeister Sidney Blumenthal inhabits a parallel universe, connected by various halls of mirrors to what most of us consider the real world. So if you're tempted to read "The Clinton Wars," his account of the scandals and triumphs of the last presidency, it's wise to bring along a guide to what actually happened. I could suggest the chronology of The Wall Street Journal's Journal's Whitewater books, available here.

[Cincinatus]

Bartley eviscerates Blumenthal. Do not miss the linked A Whitewater Chronology, a scorecard to keep events, people, and dates clear.

[goldstategop]

8 Long Years Of Sex, Sin, and Sleaze.

[TheGeezer]

And the Clinton foreign-policy record, lobbing cruise missiles at empty targets after depredations by Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, shows the same fecklessness as displayed in his sex life and reaction to scandal. The lesson of his presidency is that character counts after all.

It counts in authors too.

Well written and excellent closing sentiments.

[waxhaw]

Blumenthal is a disciple of his chosen one, Bill Clinton. Hitler had his disciples as well and Blumenthal is a prime example of how blind one can become in following a false god.

[fightinJAG]

Among the many unfortunate aspects of Blummie's book is the title, "The Clinton Wars."

In this time of actual war, Blummie's choice of words only highlights how sleazy and pedestrian the Clintons are.

[mass55th]

Blumie blames Ken Starr for North Korea's nukes? And all this time I thought it was President Bush's fault.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

even Mr. Blumenthal's account does not show any such series of questions being asked. He's proud of his lie. "My brief remarks outside the courthouse had been broadcast on every network news show and reported on the front page of almost every newspaper. The New York Times/CBS News poll showed, as the Times wrote, 'a plummeting public approval rating' for Starr. His favorable rating had sunk to 11 percent, one of the lowest ever recorded for any public figure, while President Clinton's rating had reached 73 percent."

This is just the public tip of the iceberg; recall that a lot of the time information "damaging" to the Clintons was leaked on the Clinton timetable--and anonymously--and the leaks were blamed on Ken Starr. The journalists who published the leaks obviously had to know where they were coming from.

This is a First Amendment jurisprudence scandal, in that the Constitution has been interpreted, illogically, as conferring a "protection of sources" immunity for "the press". And that illegitimate immunity allowed Blumenthal et al to smear Starr with the accusation that Starr was illegally leaking priveledged Grand Jury information. The charges were investigated, and later discredited--but the Clinton system of always keeping one step ahead of the law was served. I'm sure you'll find The New York Times smack in the middle of that deception . . .

So much for your so-called "right to know" . . .

[Lyford]

Bump

[ReleaseTheHounds]

This is a nice summary by Bartlett -- a deserved slicing of Sydney Blumenthal's contemptible "accounting" of all these events. Just reading Barlett's piece shows the difficulty related to getting the Clinton's the CONVICTIONS they deserved in all these matters: the eyes glaze over, the dates all overlap, and one loses the ability to sequence all these matters.

The one that most galls me: Bartlett properly focuses on the $850,000 judgment against Clinton by Judge Susan Webber Wright tied to his lying in the Paula Jones matter (denying sexual relations with Monica... "depends on what the definition of 'is' is" and Clinton's tortured belief that what he did didn't meet Judge Wright's definition). What Bartlett fails to note in this account: the original dismissal of that case (news of which resulted in Clinton banging the bongoes in front of FoxNews cameras -- no other media outlet showed those videos) was the reason that one of the 4 impeachment counts was not moved by the House. Lindsay Graham noted that Clinton's perjury in the Paula Jones deposition "was a moot point" because the case had been dismissed by Judge Wright (who decided not to review the matter until after the Impeachment proceedings).

So Clinton only gets impeached on 2 counts instead of 3 or 4. And then AFTER THE IMPEACHMENT, Wright makes a summary ruling in favor of Paula Jones ($850,000 + $90,000 legal fees)... I guess, in Judge Wright's mind, this was sufficient punishment for a lying, rapist President who could pay that fine with his legal defense funds petty cash account. This "delay in judgment" by Judge Wright was just a little service to her former U. of Ark. professor.

Timing was everything to the Clintons... Remember Hillary's appearance -- was if before the grand jury or just a deposition, it's so hard to remember -- after so many delays and stonewalling. Well, about 2 weeks after this appearance, the long-missing billing records were suddenly found in the First Family's private quarters in the White House by an aide... Now those billing records would have been useful for that Grand Jury appearance but they just weren't available, were they... And we wouldn't want the First Lady to be forced to testify again.

It sounds like Sydney's account ignores the $850,000 "inconvenience"... I'm sure he makes the best account for Mrs. Clinton's lying and cheating.

As I've said in many FREEP threads: it will take decades and generations to clean "Clintonism" out of the body politic of this country -- that's their true everlasting legacy.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Writing in the New York Review of Books, former New York Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld got tripped on the Lieberman detail, but makes a far more telling point: Withholding these [tax] returns was crucial to the Clinton electoral strategy. If everything had been released when the Times's Jeff Gerth broke the first Whitewater story, the commodities scandal would have dropped--perhaps fatally--into a campaign already staggering from the draft-card imbroglio and Gennifer Flowers's sexual accusations.

One more comment... this time for all those Imus fans out there: these were all the scandal stories circulating about the Clintons in late March 1992 when Rick Kaplan (then Executive Producer/head honcho of ABC World News Tonight -- he would go on to oversee the collapse of CNN during his tenure) persuaded Don Imus to invite Bubba onto Imus's popular radio show for the most feckless and superficial interview of Imus's career. Imus made Bubba out to be a "good ol' boy" -- regardless, Imus's bj-interview helped Clinton slide through all those budding scandals and win the NY primary in a landslide... all that unfortunate Whitewater, commodity futures were conveniently dropped into the memory hole for the rest of the campaign. Clinton would even acknowledge at that Washington Press Club dinner a few years later that Imus may have been the one guy most responsible for his election.

[Cincinatus]

Speaking of "ones that got away", remember when Clinton testified (by videotape) in U.S. v. McDougal? He was asked point blank during examination whether he had ever received loans from Madison Guaranty. Clinton testified that he hadn't -- which McDougal immediately recognized this testimony a lie, even though Clinton had no need to do so. Later, Starr's OIC found those papers in a car trunk in Little Rock, some of which proved that Clinton had gotten loans from Madison. In other words, Clitnon committed perjury in federal court, as President. And Ken Starr had the evidence that he did. Oh yes, this happened two years before Jones v. Clinton.

This exchange is discussed in an ancient FR thread, from the misty reaches of time, From Beyond the Grave: McDougal Speaks!.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Correction: Bartley, not Bartlett.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

So many lies! Thanks for posting.

[randita]

I'm starting to agree with Hitchens--that Blumenthal shows signs of paranoia. In a paranoiac's universe, they are right and everyone else is wrong.

Every day, there are new people disputing the facts and conclusions of this book. I hope Hill and Slick are taking notes about this reaction and are thinking twice about foisting similar tripe off as memoirs.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Stand by for more tripe.

[ken5050]

As long as the Clintons are out there trying to rewrite history and run the Dem party...it's good for the GOP.....ultimately, the Dems will have to perfrom an exorcism to rid themselves of all things Clinton..but that's decades away...