The news, of late, has been filled with President Clinton stories. It’s almost as if he is more newsworthy out of office than he was his last few weeks in office. Granted, all the stories being printed about Clinton’s last days have uncovered a lack of taste, class or grace on his part, but enough is enough. Bad Clinton! There, can the country be done with it now?
The most recent, and perhaps most egregious example of Clinton’s lack of style (and possibly Clinton’s breaking of the law) is the Marc Rich pardon story. Rich has been living in Switzerland since being indicted on 51 separate charges and is wanted in connection with more than $48 million worth of tax fraud. Rich’s ex-wife donated millions of dollars to the Clintons in various capacities (the presidential library, election campaigns, etc.) and then Rich received a pardon. This smells bad, looks bad and tastes bad. But is it worth fighting over any longer? For the sake of the country, no.
Earlier stories focused on the Clintons’ last day or so at the White House. Staffers supposedly removed the letter “W” from computer keyboards, left hidden surprises in refrigerators and generally ran amok in the office. Was this funny? Maybe, in a sophomoric way. It would have been funnier as a skit on “Saturday Night Live” than it was acted out for real. Shame on them; it reflects poorly on the Democrats, now that the Clintons are de facto leaders of the party.
More stories were printed about the Clintons’ alleged sticky fingers. Items of value were missing from the White House. Apparently, Air Force One was stripped of everything not bolted down. Could the Clintons have done a better job of playing into and perpetuating the “Southern White Trash” stereotype? To the Clintons: Here’s a dollar; go buy some class.
All of these things are somewhat interesting, somewhat salacious, and they provide a bit of a snicker of derision. But these stories also raise some questions. Do the Clintons care about the country that they served (some would say that they served very well)? Does Hillary realize how poorly all of this reflects on her as a new senator? And perhaps most perplexing, how could a Rhodes Scholar act with such a lack of intelligence or forethought? Surely the Clintons were aware of the press coverage such acts would provoke.
But now, it’s time to let it go. There are many more important topics that should be taking up space in newspapers and on TV. The political world needs to get on with the business of rebuilding bipartisanship and working on the country’s problems. The Emerald editorial board doesn’t want to read any more about Clinton’s last days of gracelessness.