The Senate voted 80-19 to expand NATO to include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Supporters called it a triumph for the Clintonian vision of a big, happy family of democracies. Critics called it a triumph for the Clintonian vision of a big family of clients for happy U.S. defense contractors. Doomsayers warned it would freak out the Russians, who might resort to nuclear weapons. Half-cynics argued that the United States' obligation to arm and defend the new members isn't worth the military help the new members will provide. Complete cynics replied that the Poles are better allies than the French. (Also check out Slate 's "Recycled.") (5/1/98) Ken Starr's Whitewater grand jury indicted former Justice Department official Webster Hubbell on fraud and tax evasion charges . Starr also won indictments against Hubbell's wife and the couple's lawyer and accountant. Analysts agreed that Starr is turning up the heat on Hubbell in order to make him finger the Clintons for allegedly directing hush money to Hubbell to shut him up about Whitewater. Contrarians argued that 1) if Starr really had the goods, he'd have won indictments of Hubbell on obstruction of justice charges and 2) the indictment shows that Starr has given up on cutting a friendly deal with Hubbell. Hubbell's reply: "The office of the independent counsel can indict my dog, they can indict my cat, but I'm not going to lie about the president." The Starr camp's spin: This connects Hubbell to Susan McDougal and Monica Lewinsky in a web of obstruction of justice. The Clinton camp's spin: This connects Hubbell, McDougal, and Lewinsky in a web of obsessive persecution by Starr. (See 4/27/98 for an earlier in the week update of Starr's recent investigation.) (5/1/98) President Clinton held his first solo news conference since the onset of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He tried to talk about economic growth and NATO expansion, but reporters focused their questions on Lewinsky--and then focused their follow-up coverage on their questions about Lewinsky. CBS spent 38 seconds showing its own reporter asking a Lewinsky question, leaving 14 seconds for Clinton's reply. The pundit consensus: 1) Clinton ducked all the Lewinsky questions. And they call this a news conference? 2) He tried simultaneously to turn the other cheek (to Starr and Newt Gingrich) and to portray Starr as the obsessed leader of a partisan vendetta. 3) His vendetta spin (which the New York Times called "self-serving") curdled the turn-the-other-cheek spin. (5/1/98) Computer programmer Larry Froistad was arrested after confessing in an alcohol/addiction-related Internet support group to murdering his daughter. Members of the support group turned him in. The media seized on the Internet angle, pondering whether e-mail is private (answer: No) and whether it's ethical for members of an online support group to breach confidentiality if they suspect a crime (answer: You decide). Big-picture theorists concluded courts will now treat Internet confessions as fair game. Skeptics argued that this case doesn't set such a precedent, because Froistad confessed to the police by phone after learning that support group members had told them about his postings. (5/1/98) Newt Gingrich escalated the Republican assault on President Clinton's ethics. Gingrich said: 1) The Clinton administration is involved in the most "complex, interlocking lawbreaking" and "the most systematic, deliberate obstruction of justice [and] coverup" in U.S. history. 2) The Clintonites "unpatriotically undermine the Constitution ... on behalf of their client." 3) If Clinton doesn't want to fire Ken Starr, "he should tell his staff to shut up." 4) Other Republicans should denounce Clinton too. Pundits said Gingrich was retaliating against obstruction of the House fund-raising investigation by Democrats, who in turn were retaliating against Rep. Dan Burton's description of Clinton as a "scumbag." Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry suggested Gingrich is in cahoots with billionaire conspiracy theorist Richard Mellon Scaife, adding that "as soon as [Gingrich] comes back to his senses, we'll do business." (4/29/98) The Federal Reserve Board says the Year 2000 problem will probably cost U.S. businesses at least $50 billion. The problem is that computers that designate years by two digits must be reprogrammed to distinguish 2000 from 1900. The bad news: It could slow down the economy enough to force a recession, as the 1970s oil shock did. The good news: 1) For this economy, a slowdown is just what the doctor ordered. 2) Plenty of companies are desperately seeking programmers. (4/29/98) Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer who won the civil case against O.J. Simpson , says Simpson murdered his ex-wife for resuming an affair with football star Marcus Allen. Petrocelli told Dateline NBC that 1) interviews with Simpson's associates always led back to Allen; 2) Simpson envied Allen for staying healthy and enjoying a longer football career than he did; 3) Nicole Brown Simpson had often used Allen to rile O.J.; and 4) her affair with Allen "made Simpson snap." Petrocelli conceded that he didn't present this theory in court because he couldn't prove it. Allen's spokesman denies that the football star had such an affair. (4/29/98) Alabama Gov. Fob James Jr. , the nation's most vigorous elected advocate of student prayer, apologized for cursing out a new Alabama law requiring a moment of silence in public schools. James, upset because the law doesn't authorize audible prayers, told its sponsor that it "ain't worth the damn paper it's written on" and "ain't going to require shit" until Congress passes a law to back it up. James later discovered that his microphone was on. (4/29/98) Iraq celebrated Saddam Hussein's birthday . Thousands of civilians marched in his hometown. Young girls sang his praises. Children staged a play for him. The Iraqi media covered the celebration nonstop. A newspaper reported that 22 million candles were lit to honor him. The U.N. Security Council marked the occasion by renewing sanctions against Iraq for another six months. (4/29/98) Kenneth Starr and his deputies interrogated Hillary Clinton for several hours at the White House. The subject was her legal work for the savings and loan at the center of the Whitewater scandal. Videotape of her answers will be shown to the Arkansas Whitewater grand jury, which will disband May 7. Pundits played up the tension between Starr and the first lady (since she recently called him "a politically motivated prosecutor who is allied with the right-wing opponents of my husband") and debated whether he will indict her. The overwhelming consensus is that he won't. (4/27/98) Paula Jones attended the White House Correspondents Association Dinner , as did President Clinton. Some pundits called her presence tacky (she was a guest of Insight magazine), and some guests booed her. The Washington Post called her dress "cleavage-coercing" and reported that her handler, Susan Carpenter-McMillan, dabbed sweat from Jones' upper lip and set aside a piece of used chewing gum that Jones handed her. Most news accounts concluded that Clinton overshadowed Jones with a funny, largely apolitical speech featuring digs at Congress ("a show about nothing"), the press corps ("I hardly have any time to read the news anymore. Mostly I just skim the retractions"), and himself ("I am so sorry ... about disco"). (4/27/98) A 14-year-old Pennsylvania boy fatally shot one teacher and wounded another and two boys. He was charged with murder and tried as an adult. The media linked the case to other recent shootings (in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Kentucky) and focused on the warning signs and the importance of taking them seriously. Two clues in the Pennsylvania case: 1) The boy had said, "I'm going to go to the dinner dance and kill some people." 2) A friend had nicknamed him "Satan." (4/27/98)