C L I N T O N C R I S I S JFK wannabe By Camille Paglia Unsinkable Bill By Alexander Cockburn What's on the tapes By Jonathan Broder Horowitz: It's his character, stupid D A I L Y+Q U O T E Exit laughing R E C E N T L Y Revolutionary suicide? By Scott Corey Mad or not, there is a logic to Theodore Kaczynski's actions. (01/21/98) Where's the beef? By Erik Marcus What's wrong with Oprah Winfrey swearing off hamburgers? It's libelous, according to rich Texas cattlemen who are suing her for $12 million (01/20/98) The odd couple By Richard Rodriguez Castro and the pope have more in common than the West thinks (01/19/98) The end By Jonathan Broder Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Clinton will likely sink the Middle East peace process altogether (01/16/98) The worst show on earth By Ros Davidson Ted Kaczynski should be in a mental hospital. Instead, he's about to become the star in a grotesque courtroom circus (01/15/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		The Clinton crisis WE'RE ABOUT TO WITNESS EITHER THE END OF THE PRESIDENT -- OR OF HIS ENEMIES. BY ANDREW ROSS | In the matter of the Clinton scandals, the rubber has now met the road. If the latest allegations concerning the president of the United States and a former White House intern are true, then the president is history, and rightly so. If, as has been stated in news reports, Clinton suggested that Monica Lewinsky lie under oath about the alleged affair, then the president suborned perjury and he should be impeached. At this point, no smoking gun has been made public. We have only the allegations reported in today's Washington Post and the heated denials from the White House. But one thing seems certain: The long-running sub-drama of the Clinton presidency is coming to a head. Depending on the evidence that emerges over the next few days, either the Clinton administration will be brought to a shattering conclusion or his howling enemies on the right will finally be silenced. Either the president's defenders, including me, will be finally proven right -- and it will be clear that the Clinton "scandals," from Whitewater on down, were manufactured by vicious, politically motivated enemies, abetted by a lazy, sensation-seeking press corps. Or his detractors, ranging from independent counsel Kenneth Starr to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, will be vindicated in their feeling that this man is rotten to his moral core. Reading between the lines of the news stories so far, there is one indication that Clinton's detractors may triumph. Monica Lewinsky denied, in a sworn deposition in the Paula Jones case, that she had an affair with the president. But if she didn't, why did her lawyer at first refuse to comment when asked about the possibility of a sexual relationship between the two, and then say, "At this time, she stands by her declaration." (Italics mine.) What might she do the next time? There is other reported "evidence" that appears mighty troubling, most notably the 17 tapes Lewinsky's Pentagon colleague, Linda Tripp, is supposed to have made, including Lewinsky's "graphic" description of the affair and her description of the president's alleged subornation of perjury. Before calling for Clinton's head, however, we must be sure that these are tapes of Lewinsky talking, that they have not been tampered with, and finally, that Lewinsky, if she said what she is supposed to have said, is of sound mind. There are a great many crazies involved in the Clinton scandals, and it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that Lewinsky is one of them. And, of course, Tripp herself, who was a Bush appointee, might have her own political agenda. There are grounds for skepticism about the charges. Could Bill Clinton, whose sexual behavior has been under a microscope since he began running for president, really have been so reckless, stupid, arrogant or downright mad as to have carried on a sexual affair in the White House? And would the president himself, in the shadow of the Paula Jones case, actually get on the phone with the 24-year-old woman and open himself up to criminal charges? Yes, if it turns out that the president of the United States, like so many powerful politicians (Richard Nixon, Gary Hart), has all this time been obsessively flirting with self-destruction. If it was more important for him to ape the sexual behavior of his hero, John F. Kennedy, than it was to keep his dick in his pants in order to preserve his own presidency. If he was in the grip of a sexual addiction even more powerful than his overweening ambition. Is this the Bill Clinton the nation entrusted with the reins of power? Or are his political enemies so vicious that they will pursue any avenue, no matter how desperate and deceitful, to bring him down? We are about to find out. Jan. 21, 1998 T A B L E+T A L K Discuss the allegations in Table Talk. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PHOTO BY AP/WIDE WORLD