Update
on "Interncourse" (the Clinton sex-and-perjury scandal ): 1) Clinton pal
Vernon Jordan said that Monica Lewinsky had told him she had never had an
affair with Clinton. Jordan also denied he had told Lewinsky to falsely deny
having carried on such an affair. 2) Lewinsky's deposition about her relations
with Clinton has been postponed. Before the delay, reports said she would take
the Fifth Amendment. Now she's said to be interested in negotiating for
immunity from prosecution for perjury and obstruction of justice (i.e., she
still might testify against Clinton) but negotiations have stalled. 3)
Circumstantial evidence may corroborate her story, e.g., messenger receipts
allegedly for gifts between her and Clinton, White House logs, and records of
Clinton's voice allegedly on her answering machine. 4) Prosecutors have
subpoenaed Betty Currie, Clinton's personal secretary, to seek further
corroboration. 5) Clinton reportedly admitted in his Paula Jones deposition
(see 1/19 item, below) that he fooled around with Gennifer Flowers. Naive
critics concluded that this means Clinton lied in 1992 when he denied having
had an affair with Flowers. Sophisticated critics conceded he can square his
various statements because he's a wizard with weasel words. 6) Paula Jones'
attorneys reportedly are investigating whether Clinton had an affair with the
widow of the late Ambassador Larry Lawrence, who got into Arlington Cemetery
evidently because his fake military record wasn't carefully scrutinized. (For
more on Lawrence, see earlier editions of "The Week/The Spin" and
"Cheat
Sheet." For more on how the story everyone's talking about stayed out of
the papers, see
Slate
's "Tangled Web."
Also in
Slate
: Jacob Weisberg's "Dispatches" take you to
Washington, and "International Papers" gives you reactions from around the
world.) (1/23)
Pope
John Paul II arrived in Cuba . President Fidel Castro portrayed him as a fan
of Cuban egalitarianism and an opponent of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. While
agreeing that the United States should change the embargo policy, the pope
blasted Castro's government for 1) tolerating abortions and divorces; 2)
usurping parents' authority to direct their children's education; and 3)
substituting "ideology" for Christianity. The U.S. media's spin: The pope's
visit crowns freedom's triumph over communism and "is bound to hasten" Cuba's
progress toward democracy. The Cuban spin: After the pope leaves, Castro will
go back to business as usual. (1/23)
Ted
Kaczynski confessed that he is the Unabomber, pleaded guilty to all
charges , and renounced his right to appeal rulings in his trial in exchange
for a sentence of life in prison without parole. He bought the deal because the
case against him was a "slam dunk," and he might have got the death penalty.
Prosecutors bought the deal because Kaczynski's schizophrenia diagnosis made a
death sentence unlikely. Celebrity-trial pundits reacted with dismay to the
abrupt end of the trial they had regarded as their next meal ticket.
(1/23)
Abortion activists marked the 25 th anniversary of Roe vs.
Wade
. Neither side said anything new. Vice President Gore gave
President Clinton credit for saving Roe . Liberal editorialists vouched
for Roe 's wisdom and lamented its political vulnerability. Conservative
editorialists vouched for Roe 's political invulnerability and lamented
its unwisdom. Journalists, having planned substantial coverage of the
25-year-old Roe case, canceled that date in order to pursue 24-year-old
Monica Lewinsky. (For an overview of the abortion debate since Roe , see
Slate
's "Frame Game.") (1/23)
Israeli
President Benjamin Netanyahu
met privately with
evangelical
Christian leaders , many of whom oppose President Clinton. He also attended
a rally at which Jerry Falwell, whose TV show has promoted a video implicating
Clinton in murders, spoke. Falwell told Netanyahu in the meeting that he would
mobilize evangelical churches against those who put pressure on Israel to give
the Palestinians more West Bank territory. Cynics called it a payback for
either 1) Clinton's refusal to meet with Netanyahu recently or 2) Clinton's
support for Netanyahu's opponent in the last Israeli election. Clinton
reportedly was furious but told Netanyahu they should put past snubs behind
them. Lost in the Falwell story: House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Clinton's
treatment of Netanyahu "below the dignity of the United States."
(1/21)
Cloning
news: 1) Scientists announced that they have engineered the births of
two
cloned calves , George and Charlie. The spin: It's a
commercial rather than a scientific advance, suggesting that the agriculture
and drug industries are capitalizing quickly on cloning technology. 2) The Food
and Drug Administration claimed it has the authority to regulate human cloning.
This has led to a dispute between politicians who want to ban human cloning and
biotechnology-industry groups, which think cloning regulation should be left to
the FDA. (1/21)
The
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum invited Yasser Arafat to visit and to
receive a special tour by the museum council's chairman. This reverses the
museum's previous reversal of its offer to receive Arafat. Arafat says he's now
"keen to visit this museum." Anti-Arafat pundits heaped scorn on museum
officials for succumbing to the woolly headed notion that terrorists are
educable. The museum's defenders argued that there's nothing to lose in trying.
(For reactions from the Middle East from earlier in the week, see
Slate
's "International
Papers.") (1/21)
Carl
Perkins, who helped inspire Elvis Presley and the Beatles, died. The official,
credentialist obituary spin: He wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" and three songs picked
up by the Beatles. The more substantive spin: He popularized the fusion of
black (rhythm-and-blues and gospel) and white (country) music.
(1/21)
The
Iraq crisis is lurching toward military confrontation. First, Saddam
Hussein threatened to expel U.N. weapons inspectors if the United Nations does
not lift sanctions within six months. In response, Republican congressional
leaders called for a massive U.S. air assault on Iraq if Saddam does not stop
obstructing the inspections. Then Iraq's vice president told Iraqis to report
for training for a "holy war" against the sanctions. The U.S. media are now
focusing on a military scenario, even as they continue to question its wisdom.
(1/19)
Pope
John Paul II picked 22 new cardinals . He has now picked 106 of the 123
cardinals who will elect the next pope. Analysts agreed that by stacking this
electorate with conservatives--particularly on questions of sex and birth
control--John Paul has guaranteed that his successor will share his views. The
backspin: The United States and Canada have gained more cardinals, and to woo
them, candidates for the papacy will have to be more sensitive to American
Catholics' dissent from papal teachings on divorce, remarriage, and women in
the priesthood. (1/19)
President Clinton gave a
six-hour deposition in the Paula Jones case . With Jones "staring him in
the face," he reportedly testified that he hadn't exposed himself to her and
didn't recall meeting her. The media used the deposition as an opportunity to
publish additional tales of Clinton's philandering. Jones' lawyers went on
several TV shows, threatening to raise further allegations in court. The
official Clinton spin, from attorney Bob Bennett: silence. The unofficial spin,
from James Carville: Jones is a puppet of greedy right-wingers, and besides,
Clinton is whipping her in the polls. The 1996 White House spin: Testifying in
the Jones case would wreak havoc on the president's schedule and imperil the
republic. The 1998 spin: The deposition was a minor distraction. Bottom line:
This was the worst part for Clinton, so he'll scrap settlement talks and
proceed to trial May 27. (1/19)
