Why do I let myself in for these things? VAST right-wing e-mail bag on this. Samples:

—-”You’ve expressed your reservations with Attorney General Ashcroft and

the USA Patriot Act. Under the terms of the new Act, would it be legal for

President Bush to get possession of the confidential FBI files of his

political enemies, or is that just as illegal now as it was before?”

—-”Why did the Rose Law Firm’s billing records show up in your private

area of the White House 2 years after they were subpoenaed?”

—-”As a lawyer, how important do you think it is for person’s appearing

before a court to honor their oath to tell the truth?”

—-”Do you think your husband did any permanent damage to our judicial

system by lying under oath?”

—-”Why did you vote against the Senate Medicare Prescription Drug benefit

compromise?”

—-Ask her to list her qualifications as an executive, not a legislature

but a buck-stops-here executive.

—-”Why did you choose to run for Senator in New York State instead of

either your home state of Illinois or your adopted state of Arkansas?”

[She’s probably been asked and answered that question, and deflected it

somehow with some sort of fluff, but a real interviewer would probably come

back with a good hard follow-up like, “Isn’t it really because you didn’t

have a prayer of winning in either state, and New York is famous for

electing non-resident liberals like yourself?”]

—-”Senator Clinton, some say you showed a remarkable degree of credulity

regarding the President’s early denials in his highest profile scandals.

The account in your book seemed to reinforce rather than dispel this

perception. Can you reassure us that you aren’t especially prone to being

misled in other situations?”

—-”Do you think that federal law should legally recognize the notion of

race?”

—-The problem with Hilary isn’t the initial question, it’s the failure to

follow up. Q. “You claimed that the story about sex with an intern came

from the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy.’ Would you like to retract that?”

HRC: “It was a very difficult time for all of us.” [Or some such evasion.]

Q. (moves on) Q. [should say]. “Yes, it was difficult. But do you wish to

retract that claim, or is it still your opinion?”

—-”What do you think of school vouchers for DC?”

—-”One of the pivotal moments early in your husband’s presidency was the

vote on the proposed BTU tax. Would you support a measure to introduce that

tax now? If so, why? If not, why would it have been appropriate then and

not now?”

—-”When you were running Arkansas education, why was it so bad?”

And then there were some less-serious suggestions:

—-”Have you read ‘Living History’ yet?”

—-”When – WHEN – can we expect you and your husband go away and leave us

ALONE?”

Finally, one reader would like to recycle P.J. O’Rourke’s finely-phrased

question used in a mock-interview situation he composed regarding the

Savings and Loan crisis a few years back: “What the ****, huh? I mean,

just what the ****ing ****?”