Clinton Ascendant?
The Shining One, again.

Mr. George is an editorial page writer for the New York Post
February 14, 2001 1:25 p.m.

t is Tuesday and the opening segment on CNN's Inside Politics is all about, yes, you-know-who. It's about that Jefferson guy, "movin' on up" to a slightly less deluxe apartment in the sky than the one he had picked out a week or two ago.

But it matters not a bit. Regardless where he walks, he is a deity — or a demon. How could we ever forget who once fell from the heavens. He was named Lucifer, "Shining One."

He's crossing 125th Street, hobnobbing with the hoi polloi. He is Bill Clinton and he is the former president of the United States of America. "Former," yes that is the word, and for many of his ideological and cultural foes, it is all that matters.

The current president of the United States of America, you know, that Walker (Texas Ranger) guy, is only mentioned once in the opening segment. That mention is reserved for expressing his wish that the nation "move on" from consideration (obsession?) of all things Clinton.

That's where we are — and it's all because Clinton, well, to be honest, sucks. Clinton sucks — all the air, all the media attention, all the focus — from everyone around him.

George W. Bush wants to talk about defense this week. The Republican Congress is talking about Marc Rich, talking about pardons, talking about more hearings. Bush's attorney general is asked about granting immunity to Denise Rich. Broadcast stations, cable, satellite, newspapers, websites, it matters not. It's inescapable: The world has become CNN — Clinton News Network, 24/7. Even conservative web journalists have gotten into the act — one columnist even giving Clinton advice on where he should move (a different instinct from the conservatives who have been telling him where to go for, lo, these many years). To purposely confound the issue — the Shining One takes the conservative web-journalist's advice. Completely co-opted, said journalist writes another column taking credit for the words of wisdom. Clinton's name leads another article. The media virus becomes an epidemic — and we are all infected. In the context of damage control, Clinton's move to Harlem is quite canny. The Carnegie Hall Tower floor was conflating too many post-presidency scandals in one. Its cost alone raised issues of bilking the taxpayer. That, in turn, made people think of the gifts to the former first couple as they departed the White House. Yet, most important, Clinton's offer to pay a portion of the rent on the office from his "foundation" raised too many more questions.

Connect all the dots: Denise Rich gives money to Clinton's presidential library; it's then revealed that money originally solicited for the library goes to Clinton's foundation; Clinton announces that the foundation will pay for a portion of the rent on the Carnegie Hall Tower office. Meanwhile, the actual price for the office spirals from $600,000 to $800,000 to well above that figure. When it was $600,000, Clinton announced that the foundation would pay for half of it. When the adjusted cost was revealed, Clinton stood firm.

Then, Congress started investigating. Denise Rich took the fifth. Too much for the Slick One, he immediately de-camped, taking the one public relations nightmare that he was in control of out of the news. Moving to Harlem, working among those who have been his most loyal supporters, Clinton is received as a conquering hero, not a possible perp on the run.

He momentarily stops his bleeding. Besides, once the current flap subsides, this would be a perfect place from which to launch a run for mayor of New York, right?

Regardless, like many a knife fight, blood is shed on both sides. There is serious danger in all of this for Republicans. Though impeachment eventually took a toll on Clinton's legacy — most significantly with Gore's election loss, the fact remains that in the short-term, congressional Republicans were pummeled in the polls and even lost members at the '98 mid-terms.

Bush's fear that a prolonged investigation into Clinton's Rich pardon will raise the specter of out-of-control Republican scandal machine is a reasonable one. Yet, Denise Rich's taking the fifth makes the situation impossible to ignore.

There is one alternative: New York U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White is apparently furious that Clinton never consulted her before pardoning Rich. White had been a lead investigator on the original case. She has threatened to open a criminal investigation of her own. Frankly, this might be a better option than having yet another congressional probe. The rationale behind impeachment was that Clinton had committed offenses that warranted consideration of his fitness for office. This is not a question any longer.

No, he can't be impeached again (Arlen Specter, please take note). But, if he has committed crimes (such as accepting a de facto bribe from Denise Rich), he can certainly be indicted at this point. But, it would remove Congress as the face of Clinton's accusers. To the suggestion that Clinton "volunteer" to testify in a hearing to explain himself: What? Doesn't anyone remember the release of the grand jury testimony? Doesn't anyone remember how Clinton came off as sympathetic? Do Orrin Hatch and Arlen Specter really want to give Clinton yet another moment in the spotlight? Any guesses how many of the broadcast networks would interrupt afternoon soap operas to televise this soap opera?

For the first couple of weeks of the Bush administration, all the attention on Clinton was a boon. Bush couldn't but compare favorably to the tawdry departure. But now, it's gotten a lot more tight. The pardons are overwhelming everything else. If Clinton has become George Jefferson moving on up, Bush is in a different position. He is in danger of losing the agenda, becoming George Jetson stuck on the runaway treadmill — "Get me off this crazy thing!"

And Heaven help me, here's another column devoted to the Shining One. I too have been corrupted, as he rises above it all.