January 26, 1998 — HONG KONG — I just saw a soundbite on local television where the POTUS again denied any sexual affair with former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The poor S.O.B. looked like a hunted animal. He wasn't cool, he wasn't calm. He looked real mean and angry as he abruptly ended the q&a and said he would now like to get back to working for the American people.
The denial is nothing new. He has been claiming nothing sexual happened between him and Lewinsky ever since the allegations began. But the difference in his attitude I saw in this latest denial made me sit back and take notice. Here was a man under intense pressure. When the story first broke, alleged objective journalists were describing his denials as being made with "carefully chosen words." What were they trying to suggest, I wonder?
In the latest soundbite, Clinton wasn't being careful with his choice of words. The POTUS was pissed, big time. In his frustration he even stumbled as he made his statement. What I saw was one seriously angry man.
This makes me very uneasy. This guy is the one who will ultimately decide how much collateral damage will be acceptable when U.S. and British missiles slam into Iraq. My money would say it is going to happen sometime soon. The American media haven't given Clinton much choice.
Okay, so we don't like Saddam, but a whole bunch of Iraqi civilians are going to die in the next installment of the long running Gulf War drama. Exactly how many depends on the scale and spread of the missile launch. With a seriously distracted and pissed-off POTUS trying to deflect attention away from domestic sleaze attacks - the number could be unnecessarily high. Well done, Ken Starr and your gang of right-wing doogoodniks. Your obsession with presidential semen distribution will possibly result in countless more Iraqi kids being blown to hell and back. Console yourself with the thought that at least they won't suffer a lingering death because of the U.S./British backed embargo. I suppose, in a way, giving them a quick death is the humane thing to do.
Speaking as an outsider watching this soap opera unfold on prime time television, I am rather shocked and concerned to see just how far the fascist right wing will go in their efforts to destabilise the presidency. Not Clinton per se, but the office of the President of the United States.
This Lewinsky affair, even if it did happen and everyone concerned told the most unbelievable porkies* in an attempt to cover it up - it is still small beer in the grand scale of things. The POTUS, bless him, has lied through his teeth on much more important issues. I am not a Clinton apologist - read my back columns - but let's face it, he is arguably the lesser of potential evils that could conceivably reside in the White House.
But everyone has a limit. Does this so-called investigation have the potential to drive Clinton into making unwise decisions?
Not that the U.S. media appear to be concerned with the consequences of their actions. I guess their determination to 'get to the truth' on this issue is a graphic and internationally witnessed example of an allegedly well intentioned American Pie.
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