China broadcast President Clinton's criticism of the 1989 Tiananmen
Square massacre. In a joint press conference with Chinese President Jiang
Zemin, Clinton said, "I believe, and the American people believe, that the use
of force and the tragic loss of life was wrong." He also advocated free speech,
religious tolerance, and dialogue with the Dalai Lama about Tibet. Clinton
continued his appeal for freedom in a speech at Beijing University. Pundits
agreed that Clinton's remarks and China's decision to air them were bold and
made up for 1) Clinton's previous timidity and 2) China's petty, repressive
gestures earlier in the trip. Optimists lauded Clinton's message that economic
freedom goes hand in hand with political freedom. Cynics argued that Chinese
students have given up the idealism of 1989 for the materialism of the Clinton
era. (
Slate
surfs through China. Click here.)
(6/29/98)
A
friend of the family of Monica Lewinsky says she has told the grand jury
that Lewinsky told her that President Clinton limited their sexual relationship
to foreplay. The friend's lawyer says that according to her testimony, Clinton
ruled out completion of sex so that he could technically deny they had had sex.
Newsweek broke the story. Cynics replied that 1) other people have
already said Lewinsky told them the same thing; 2) it confirms only that there
was sex, not that there was obstruction of justice; and 3) the public has
already decided it doesn't care about the sex. (6/29/98)
The
Supreme Court issued two rulings on sexual harassment . 1) An employer
can be sued for the sexual misconduct of its supervisor-level employees, even
if the employer didn't know about the misconduct. 2) Even if an employee does
not suffer adverse job consequences for rejecting a supervisor's advances, the
employer can be held liable unless a) the employer shows it "exercised
reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing
behavior" and b) the employee "unreasonably failed to take advantage of any
preventive or corrective opportunities." The New York Times praised the
decisions for their balance. The Los Angeles Times lauded their
coherence. The Washington Post warned that they set unreasonable
standards for employers and might prompt them to suppress employees' civil
liberties. While hyping the idea that the rulings might revive the Paula Jones
case, the media reluctantly reported otherwise. (6/29/98)
More
from the Supreme Court: 1) The court ruled that the attorney-client
privilege continues after the client is dead. The media spun this as a
setback to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr (who was seeking notes from Vince
Foster's lawyer), giving short shrift to the decision's broader ramifications
for old folks. (
Slate
's "Explainer" pondered the question.) 2) The court ruled that the
Americans with Disabilities Act bans discrimination against people who carry
the AIDS virus . The media spun this as a triumph of compassion, giving
short shrift to the broader implications of the court's expansion of
"disabilities" to include reproductive troubles. 3) The court upheld a law
imposing decency standards for federal arts grants . The media focused on
allegations that the court was firing a shot across the bow of
artists--overshadowing the subtler theory that the court was actually firing a
shot across the bow of Congress. (6/26/98)
Scientists found a planet near a star only 15 light-years away . It is
the closest planet we have found beyond our solar system. The superficial spin:
It might be warm enough to support life. The sophisticated spin: It probably
can't support life, but its discovery indicates there may be billions of other
planets near us. Meanwhile, other scientists say they have found bacteria
living in Antarctic ice, raising the possibility that life exists on planets
previously dismissed as intolerably cold. (6/26/98)
Miscellany: The Supreme Court struck down the line item veto . ...
White House aide Sidney Blumenthal told the press his grand jury testimony
about President Clinton's private remarks concerning Monica Lewinsky "supports
completely what the president has told the American people, and is contrary to
any charge that the president has done anything wrong." ... The United
States finished the World Cup 0-3. The sun rose. (6/26/98)
AT&T is buying TCI for $32 billion. It is the third biggest
telecommunications merger in history. AT&T will also assume TCI's $16
billion debt. This gives AT&T a network through which it can sell local
phone and high-speed Internet service to millions of homes. The early line is
that regulators will approve the merger because, unlike other recent telecom
deals, it will finally deliver some of the competition that was promised after
the industry was deregulated. (For a less sanguine view of the potential
benefits of telecommunications competition, see Jodie T. Allen's "Living in a
Second-Best World.") (6/24/98)
A
federal appeals court overturned a court injunction against Microsoft. The
injunction would have prevented Microsoft from requiring computer makers to
package Internet Explorer with Windows 95. The court ruled that under its
previous consent decree with the Justice Department, Microsoft could add
features to Windows that provide "advantages unavailable if the functionalities
are bought separately and combined by the purchaser." Analysts agreed this
sharply reduces DOJ's chances of winning its suit against Windows 98. The spins
from Microsoft's critics: 1) Now Microsoft will resume twisting the arms of
computer makers. 2) Since the ruling only pertains to the consent decree, it
doesn't hamper the broader case that Microsoft has violated basic antitrust
law. 3) Who cares? Windows 98 looks like a bust. (6/24/98)
CBS is dumping Susan
Molinari as co-anchor of CBS Saturday Morning after just 10 months.
Friends say she found the job insufficiently substantive. CBS executives say
they wanted her out because she was stiff and amateurish and wasn't helping the
ratings. (6/24/98)
