Earthworks
For months, White House allies have dropped veiled hints that any congressional action against Bill Clinton would be met with exposure of his critics' sexual indiscretions. And these threats have pretty clearly had an effect on some leading Republicans. But congressional Democrats shouldn't take heart; in fact, it could backfire on the White House, too.

Remember when Newt Gingrich was said to be insinuating that Tom Foley was gay? Barney Frank went on Crossfire to say that he was willing to "out" ten closeted gay Republican congressmen. Without missing a beat, Pat Buchanan chuckled and said, We'll see your ten, and raise you ten. Sooner or later, rightly or wrongly, some hotheaded Republican type is going to threaten congressional Democrats that any White House action against Republicans will immediately be visited on them.

Does the White House really want to see a bipartisan congressional party with a common interest in seeing Clinton gone?

David Brock: The Implosion Continues
Writing in the September issue of the fashion magazine George, ex-conservative David Brock names Hillary Clinton as one of the twenty most fascinating women in politics. (This is not good news for the First Lady; the actress who plays Buffy the Vampire Slayer on tv also made the list.) "She was right from the beginning about the need to reform the health care system," writes Brock, who is now evidently demonstrating he's a free thinker by trashing free markets. Stranger yet is Brock lauding the First Lady for having "the guts to go on the Today show and call the vast right-wing conspiracy by its name." Brock apparently believes that being stubbornly wrongheaded and having the courage to earn everyone's ridicule makes people fascinating; perhaps that explains why he continues to think he still has a career ahead of him.