I Just Met a Girl Named Lewinsky
The New York Times , Washington Post , Los Angeles
Times , and USA
Today all lead with President Clinton's agreement to testify for
Kenneth Starr's grand jury. The Wall Street Journal puts the story at the top of its
World-Wide News box. Clinton will give testimony (scheduled for August 17th)
from the White House with his lawyer present during Starr's questioning. The
interview will be videotaped and subsequently presented as evidence in Starr's
grand jury hearing. Clinton agreed to testify only after Starr withdrew his
subpoena, thus making the testimony "voluntary." Starr agreed to Clinton's
demands (videotape, lawyer present) in an effort to avoid any further delays as
Clinton sought to block the subpoena in court.
An intriguing detail is caught by the WP and NYT , but missed
by all other early editions. Monica Lewinsky will offer not just testimony, but
physical evidence: 1) answering machine messages with Clinton's voice on them
and 2) the infamous, allegedly semen-stained, sex dress. The NYT
refrains from characterizing the dress, while the WP valiantly
euphemizes, referring to possible matter on the dress as "DNA material,"
"biological material," and "scientific evidence." The WP notes that DNA
tests linking the dress to Clinton would move the case beyond a "simple,
he-said-she-said disagreement." The Post adds that the phone messages
contain nothing suggestive, but do "indicate an unusual relationship between a
president and a low-level correspondence clerk."
One of the WP 's three front-page scandal stories spins out possible
Clinton tactics. Most lawyers say it makes no legal sense for Clinton to agree
to testify, and thus he must be facing political pressure (a theory first put
forth by Monday's NYT ) The President can now: 1) Stick with his story
and contradict Lewinsky, gambling that he'll win a he-said-she-said battle, or
2) Give a preemptive public speech before his testimony, admitting that he lied
to "protect his family."
In other scandal news, Linda Tripp gave a short statement following the last
of her grand jury appearances. Tripp told the American people, "I'm you. I'm
just like you." Tripp added that she had been "vilified for taking the path of
truth," and complained that "many in the entertainment industry have chosen to
ridicule me" (presumably referring in part to a Saturday Night Live
sketch in which she was portrayed by obese actor John Goodman). The WP runs the
full text of Tripp's speech on page A10.
USAT and the NYT run front-page stories on another speech:
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' remarks before the National Bar
Association, an organization of black lawyers. Thomas lashed out at
African-Americans who criticize his views (especially his opposition to
affirmative action). Defending himself against charges of betraying his race,
Thomas said, "I refuse to have my ideas assigned to me because I am black." The
papers disagree on crowd reaction: USAT says Thomas "was given two
standing ovations," while the NYT claims that "about half the audience
applauded, some standing, while the other half remained silent." The WP
runs the story on page A03.
Everyone gives front-page notice to the death of famed ballet and Broadway
choreographer Jerome Robbins. Robbins, 79, was the artistic direction behind
such musicals as "On the Town," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Peter Pan," and--TP's
favorite--"West Side Story." TP feels pretty, oh so pretty, and TP pities any
cyberjournalist who isn't TP today.
