Scandal File

NO MATTER how hard James Carville and Co. spin, Bill Clinton’s Presidency is likely to go down in history as the punchline to a dirty joke. If he’s lucky. This is, all in all, a salutary development. When Clinton was first inaugurated, visions of Camelot II danced in the heads of his more youthful and impressionable supporters. Now future generations of liberals will not be able to batten on bogus memories of idealism inspired by his Administration.

Plenty of people in Washington think the scandal is bringing the Clinton Presidency to an end, either literally or practically. If they are right, the scandal will probably also wash away the distinctive style Clinton has brought to the office: the promises that contain their own retraction, the make-believe initiatives, the legalistic excuses. A political culture that finally recoils from Clinton’s relentless shabbiness is not likely to continue marveling at his mastery of the techniques of deception. Perhaps a public newly appreciative of plainspoken-ness will tear away the gauzy sentimentality in which so much of the rest of our politics is wrapped, although the chances for this are admittedly slimmer.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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NO MATTER how hard James Carville and Co. spin, Bill Clinton’s Presidency is likely to go down in history as the punchline to a dirty joke. If he’s lucky. This is, all in all, a salutary development. When Clinton was first inaugurated, visions of Camelot II danced in the heads of his more youthful and impressionable supporters. Now future generations of liberals will not be able to batten on bogus memories of idealism inspired by his Administration.

Plenty of people in Washington think the scandal is bringing the Clinton Presidency to an end, either literally or practically. If they are right, the scandal will probably also wash away the distinctive style Clinton has brought to the office: the promises that contain their own retraction, the make-believe initiatives, the legalistic excuses. A political culture that finally recoils from Clinton’s relentless shabbiness is not likely to continue marveling at his mastery of the techniques of deception. Perhaps a public newly appreciative of plainspoken-ness will tear away the gauzy sentimentality in which so much of the rest of our politics is wrapped, although the chances for this are admittedly slimmer.