He's Had a Case All Along
Conventional wisdom says that Monica Lewinsky's immunity deal and President Clinton's decision to testify gave a desperate Ken Starr the case he'd been looking for all along. Not so fast. Starr originally received the court's permission to send a report to the House in early July -- more than two months ago and before Lewinsky and Clinton made their fateful choices. The report was going to be made July 13th, but was delayed after Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) called on Starr to get a deposition from the President. That means Starr was ready to release damaging charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and perhaps other offenses before Lewinsky and Clinton testified. Since then, Starr's report has only gotten stronger.

Sneak Peak
Several House Democrats on Friday morning are likely to propose a rule allowing the President to see Starr's report 24 to 48 hours before it's made public. Given that Republicans already have promised to release the meat of the report before then, this proposal will fail, as it should. If it isn't even offered, that will signal Clinton's weak status on the Hill; Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.) will have decided that he can't even carry his own party with the vote, and will opt to avoid embarrassment. If it is offered, it will reveal how few (and which) Democrats are preparing to carry water for their diminished leader.

A Tale of Two Troubles
NBC reported (we hear from Hotline)that former Senator George Mitchell turned down a White House request to join its crisis team. Turns out that brokering peace in Northern Ireland is easier than defending Bill Clinton.

Teacher Bill
The Liar-in-Chief has a new apology strategy: Say how sorry he is again and again, purse his lips a lot, and mention children. The Clinton administration always has been pretty good at surrounding itself with kids (and we don't mean the President's advisors and interns). Whether the issue is government-run health care or Joe Camel, the Clintonites advance the interests of big government by saying it's for the children.

Clinton on Wednesday traveled to Florida, apologized twice for his gross misconduct, and, you guessed it, mentioned children: "I was shaking hands with all these little kids out here, and this kid that reminded me a lot of myself when I was that young--he was bigger than the other students and kind of husky--he said, 'Mr. President, I want to grow up to be President. I want to be a President like you.'"

How touching. Problem is, Mr. President, nobody else wants that husky little boy to grow up to be "a President like you," as Clinton was forced to acknowledge.

One Florida resident had the perfect response, holding a big sign with the words "Resign--For the Children." It would at least teach kids that when important people do bad things, they should take responsibility for their actions. It's a lesson that nobody is in a better position to teach than Bill Clinton.