Then Came Hugh
In this commentary, CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer reflects on the latest pardon flap involving former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Mrs. Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham
I vowed after lunch on Wednesday never to opine publicly about Bill Clinton again. Then came Hugh.
If I were as smart as Bill Clinton, I’d just say this column isn’t about Bill Clinton; it is about Hugh Rodham and his sister, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and thus a wholly legitimate topic for public discourse, depending on what the meaning of “is” is.
But I’m not that smart. Not many are. So I’ll just break my dumb little vow.
What sleazes.
What else is there to say? Why spend time trying to say it more cleverly? Why bother trying to make their defenders see the light? Why quibble about the details anymore?
Well, it is kind of fun. And that’s the only honest reason left for paid-by-the-word wisecrackers to continue yammering about these unsavory people.
Who else but the Clintons of Hope, Little Rock, Washington, Chappaqua, and now Harlem bring us a cast of scoundrels ranging from Dallas reject Gennifer Flowers up through the Walrusesque Hugh Rodham?
Who else but the Clintons have the dumb luck to be pursued by bumbling weirdos like Ken Starr, Dan Burton, Alphonse D’Amato, and Newt Gingrich?
Who else enters in scandal and exits in scandal? If only they would exit…
One could attempt to write a straight piece of “political analysis” about the consequences of this latest flap on Senator Clinton’s future or ex-President Clinton’s stature. But there are no consequences for these people. Many, many writers far more eloquent and observant than I have said it a million times before: the Clintons feel no shame, embarrassment, humiliation, or remorse.
But the rest of us do.
So we wonder why we stayed with this couple so long. A good self-help book on politics would be called, Why Nice Citizens Love Bad Politicians. Why do we have such low political self-esteem? Didn’t the father of our country love us well enough?
A true blue Democrat said to me tonight, “We’ve been had.” The truth is, like most people, he said the same thing during Monica. And John Huang. And Webb Hubbell. And the Lincoln Bedroom. And the silverware. And Marc Rich.
It is not an easy thing to explain – or explain away - our tolerance of these people. But at least we look in the mirror and try.
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