Chatterdump: How to Stop Drudge, Etc.
THEY MAY have finally found a way to neutralize Matt Drudge--make him
famous! Since the Monica Mess broke, Drudge has apparently been so busy giving
interviews and making television appearances that he's had no time to write his
famed dispatches. The last one was Jan. 21...Did you notice on Meet the
Press how Drudge's face seems to curve from top to bottom like a giant
half-moon letter "C"? Peyronie's Disease of the chin?.... While Chatterbox
loves Drudge (except for that nasty Sidney Blumenthal business), on TV he does
come across as one mighty weird fellow...
MUCH CHATTER about what a relaxed good mood Vice President Al Gore
was in when he showed up at a dinner last Wednesday honoring the Associated
Press. The Monica story had broken that morning...
CHATTERBOX WAS GOING to predict that Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of
New York would be the first prominent Democrat to suggest that Clinton might
have to resign....Really we were...But Moynihan beat us to the punch with his
declaration in the New York Post that Clinton could not survive
admitting an affair with Lewinsky. The Post said Moynihan's comments
"carry special clout" because "he is one of the Senate's most respected
members, seen as a leader on matters of ethics and values." In truth,
Moynihan's remarks were as predictable as the sunrise. He's been getting press
by stabbing Clinton in the back since before Clinton's election. Moynihan
endorsed Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey against Clinton in the 1992 primary. Later he
publicly undermined Clinton's health care plan. Then he undermined Clinton's
welfare plan. Anyone who reads Moynihan's recent book Miles to Go will
see he strongly dislikes, if not loathes the president. He may have good reason
for this disdain, but it means his resignation talk doesn't carry much weight
at all. He probably thought Clinton should resign before the Monica
scandal.... Like the anti-Republican "Republican analyst" Kevin Phillips,
Moynihan is a convenient figure reporters know they can count on for a
faux-contrarian remark...Who will be next to stick in the shiv? Chatterbox
predicts Kerrey, who knows he shouldn't but who won't be able to resist...
DEPARTMENT OF GROVELING: Bill McMichael e-mails about a Chatterbox
item speculating that Gary Hart must be happy at Clinton's troubles: "That was
a very cheap shot against Hart, and my guess is that he is gloomy over the
whole mess, not experiencing any schadenfreude." If so, Hart is a bigger man
than Chatterbox. But Chatterbox magnanimously concedes McMichael has a
point....
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
editorial page Monday goes on about
"anti-social personality disorder, as psychiatrists now call it," only to
conclude "in Mr. Clinton's case a strict diagnosis does not hold..."
