Friday, January 23, 1998

Clinton now captive to sins of past

Ann McFeatters

WASHINGTON -- Is this the beginning of the end of the Clinton presidency or a speed bump on his rendezvous with history?

Even to those of us who were in Washington during Watergate, the velocity with which rumors became conventional wisdom in recent days was stunning.

Within hours of national disclosure that independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr was investigating whether Clinton tried to get a 24-year-old former intern to lie under oath about a possible 18-month affair with him, there was talk of impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill.

Overnight, polls commissioned by news organizations indicated, understandably, the American public didn't know what to believe. Half the people said they aren't sure they believe Clinton's flat denial that a sexual relationship with the young intern took place or that he suggested she lie about it. Half the people said they doubted such a thing ever happened, convinced no president would be so stupid.

White House meetings took on the cast of a gathering of church elders after the minister has run off with the choir director. Valiantly and stoically, they pressed ahead with plans for the State of the Union message next Tuesday.

Diligently, Clinton worked on Mideast peace, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader desperately afraid his shot at a workable homeland for the Palestinians could be going down the tube.

The two leaders took turns sitting on the same yellow wing chair in the Oval Office. Netanyahu. who has had his own problems with womanizing, eventually wound up talking on TV about Clinton's sex scandal within hours of his detailed meetings with Clinton on scenarios for withdrawals of more Israeli soldiers from the West Bank. And Arafat, looking uncomfortable, listened as Clinton again told reporters the allegations of illicit sex, perjury and obstruction of justice were false.

With peace prospects looking bleak, Clinton even tried to work on war, using some of his strongest language yet to warn Iraq to comply with U.N. weapons inspections rules. The warning drifted off into cyberspace as headlines around the world shouted about Clinton and his "women" problems.

Watergate was about corruption, money laundering, tapes, a cover-up and obstruction of justice. Zippergate, as the latest scandal was inevitably, albeit drearily, dubbed, has the elements of a racy thriller and needs no interpreting pundits to dish it up.

Clinton either lied or he didn't when he gave a deposition Jan. 17 about past sexual escapades. He either had sex with Monica Lewinsky, just out of college, who worked for him in the White House, or she fantasized it when talking to a female friend. She will not talk publicly, but Vernon Jordan, an influential lawyer-lobbyist and close friend of the president, says she insisted to him she never had sex with Clinton. Finally, Clinton either talked with her to encourage her to disguise such a relationship from lawyers while she was under oath or he didn't.

If Clinton lied or if he tried to prod her to lie, he's finished as president.

But Clinton has long lived life on the edge. Whether he's been sleazy or savvy, he's been tested and survived; not for nothing is he the Comeback Kid. And proving something as skittish as a sexual affair or obstruction of justice won't be easy. Even if Secret Service logs show late-night visits by the young intern after she left the White House, that could be termed circumstantial.

When Clinton denied to Jim Lehrer of PBS, earnestly and without perspiration, that the allegations are false, he then went on at length to talk about his hopes and plans for the country. He was astonishing in his passion and depth, insisting he wanted to leave a legacy of Americans believing that government is a tool for good, not an evil in itself.

But Clinton is now captive of the sins in his past. He hedged about smoking marijuana saying he never disobeyed the law (because he didn't "inhale"). He hedged about an affair with Gennifer Flowers. Whether it's Whitewater or Bosnia or campaign finance, there always seems to be a subtext to his public comments that changes the meaning.

Americans have been tolerant about Clinton's weaknesses because of his amazing attributes. He has remarkable brain power. He has charisma. He is driven and works hard. He is visionary. And, most of all, he's been lucky.

If he is lying, that luck has run out. Overnight, it would no longer matter that going into this he had a 63 percent job approval rating. He would be out of office.

But no one yet has proved that he is lying. If and unless that happens, this all may be moot. Humiliating, embarrassing, infuriating and circumstantially incriminating, but not impeachable.

It's disheartening that in this day and age a president can no longer automatically be believed. It's demoralizing to believe that a president would even think of lying. But it's encouraging that, in the end, truth matters. And the road to truth has many hurdles.

Ann McFeatters covers the White House and politics for Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail her at mcfeattersa@shns.com.