Lip Service

IT’S normal for a President under siege to call scandal a “diversion,” but Bill Clinton is the first President whose scandals are diversions from his other scandals. His critics are so focused on his lawlessness in his personal capacity that they may have lost sight of a far worse scandal: his subversion of the Constitution on matters of policy. The firings at the Travel Office, the abuse of FBI files, even the subornation of perjury and the obstruction of justice all pale beside this President’s consistent refusal to obey constitutional requirements in at least five respects.

1. Defying the Supreme Court. Clinton claims that his Administration has performed a top-to-bottom review of its affirmative-action programs to conform with the Supreme Court’s decision in Adarand Constructors v. Peña (1995). In fact, he is refusing to comply with binding precedent.

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Daniel E. Troy

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Bill Clinton

Constitution

Constitutional Government

IT’S normal for a President under siege to call scandal a “diversion,” but Bill Clinton is the first President whose scandals are diversions from his other scandals. His critics are so focused on his lawlessness in his personal capacity that they may have lost sight of a far worse scandal: his subversion of the Constitution on matters of policy. The firings at the Travel Office, the abuse of FBI files, even the subornation of perjury and the obstruction of justice all pale beside this President’s consistent refusal to obey constitutional requirements in at least five respects.

1. Defying the Supreme Court. Clinton claims that his Administration has performed a top-to-bottom review of its affirmative-action programs to conform with the Supreme Court’s decision in Adarand Constructors v. Peña (1995). In fact, he is refusing to comply with binding precedent.