1998 and All That

‘We’ve been over and over this.” That’s what George Stephanopoulos would say. That’s what any other Clintonite would say. That’s what they always say when confronted with inconvenient facts or questions. Stephanopoulos pioneered this technique in the 1992 campaign, when he tried to make Gennifer Flowers go away. He pretty much succeeded, too. Isn’t the public weary of this? he would say. Can’t you get on to something else? What are you, some kind of obsessive? A Clinton-hater?

We have, it is true, been “over and over” the Clinton messes, including the Lewinsky affair. But not well enough. The Clinton fog machine belches day and night, trying to obscure what ought to be plain. The president himself revises and spins at every opportunity. He will likely spend the rest of his life beclouding the events of his presidency—portraying himself as the would-be victim of a lawless rightwing cabal. The American Society of Newspaper Editors had a taste of his act at a recent meeting. Clinton put on a remarkable performance, and a typical one. He knows his lines to a T.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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‘We’ve been over and over this.” That’s what George Stephanopoulos would say. That’s what any other Clintonite would say. That’s what they always say when confronted with inconvenient facts or questions. Stephanopoulos pioneered this technique in the 1992 campaign, when he tried to make Gennifer Flowers go away. He pretty much succeeded, too. Isn’t the public weary of this? he would say. Can’t you get on to something else? What are you, some kind of obsessive? A Clinton-hater?

We have, it is true, been “over and over” the Clinton messes, including the Lewinsky affair. But not well enough. The Clinton fog machine belches day and night, trying to obscure what ought to be plain. The president himself revises and spins at every opportunity. He will likely spend the rest of his life beclouding the events of his presidency—portraying himself as the would-be victim of a lawless rightwing cabal. The American Society of Newspaper Editors had a taste of his act at a recent meeting. Clinton put on a remarkable performance, and a typical one. He knows his lines to a T.