Senate
Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch offered to spare President Clinton
impeachment if Clinton admits to an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Hatch
suggested that if Clinton had lied about the affair but not committed a more
serious offense, he could avert impeachment by admitting to it, apologizing,
and "pouring his heart out to the American people." The conventional wisdom is
that if the FBI finds Clinton's sperm on a dress Lewinsky has turned over to
prosecutors, Clinton will admit to the affair, issue a "mea culpa " by
Aug. 17, and remain in office, but as a diminished president. (: Clinton's
chances of survival.)
(8/4/98)
The
case of the switched babies took another bizarre turn. Last week, the
University of Virginia Medical Center confirmed it had accidentally switched
two newborn girls in 1995. This raised ethical questions about whether the
girls should be restored to their respective biological parents, which raised
the age-old question whether custody should be determined by the rights of
biological parents or the children's need for stability. Now USA Today
reports one of the sets of biological parents died in a car crash July 4. The
high-minded spin: The respective extended families should seek a "Solomon-like
compromise" that serves the best interests of the girls. The cynical spin: Good
luck, since the pseudo-grandparents of the pseudo-orphaned girl are already
fighting "a bitter custody dispute" over her. (8/4/98)
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr asked an FBI lab to test Monica Lewinsky's
purportedly "semen-stained" dress for President Clinton's DNA. New reports
say the dress, which had been dismissed as a myth, was actually concealed in
the apartment of Lewinsky's mother (to outwit investigators' search of the
daughter's apartment) and has now been turned over to prosecutors. The other
purported physical evidence of a relationship--the tapes of Clinton talking to
Lewinsky's answering machine--reportedly are innocuous. White House aides are
happy Clinton remains high in the polls but are surprised by the disclosure of
the dress and worry that it will turn the public against him. The big questions
now are: 1) Did the dress actually contain Clinton's DNA? 2) Did Lewinsky
launder the dress, and if so, did that destroy the evidence? 3) Will Starr
withhold the DNA test results in order to set an additional perjury trap for
Clinton when he testifies Aug. 17? (For earlier in the week happenings on the
Lewinsky scene, see other items below.) (7/31/98)
After
completing her testimony before the Lewinsky grand jury, Linda Tripp gave a
prepared statement to the press, from whom her apologia drew sarcasm and
incredulity. (: Why her message fell flat.)
(7/31/98)
Monica
Lewinsky reportedly has agreed to testify that President Clinton told her
how to cover up their relationship. In exchange for near-total immunity
from prosecution, Lewinsky allegedly has told Independent Counsel Kenneth
Starr's office that she will say that: 1) she and Clinton discussed
hypothetical ways to keep their relationship private, including falsely denying
what they did unwitnessed; 2) Clinton told her he would deny they had a
relationship in his deposition in the Paula Jones case; 3) Clinton encouraged
her to say she visited the White House to see Betty Currie, not Clinton; 4) she
wrote the "Talking Points," without the help of anyone at the White House. The
spins, in order of descending breathlessness: 1) Clinton is finished. When the
public hears Lewinsky say he lied, it will turn on him. 2) Lewinsky's testimony
goes beyond perjury to witness tampering and obstruction of justice. 3) Clinton
will wait out Lewinsky's testimony and shape his story to avoid contradicting
hers. 4) Testimony that Clinton and Lewinsky had sex will surprise nobody, and
Lewinsky will say the president did not tell her directly to lie. 5) Lewinsky
has cleared the White House of the most serious charge: writing the Talking
Points. 6) Where Clinton differs from Lewinsky, it will just be "he said/she
said," and Clinton will get the benefit of the doubt. 7) If necessary, White
House spinners will destroy Lewinsky just as they destroyed Starr.
(7/29/98)
General Motors and the United Auto Workers have agreed tentatively to
end their strike. The work stoppage lasted eight weeks, cost GM $12 billion in
sales (the worst company loss ever caused by a strike), cost UAW members $1
billion in lost pay, and slowed U.S. second-quarter economic growth by an
estimated half percentage point. The optimistic spin: Once both sides realized
they had escalated manageable material disputes (e.g., factory closures and
investments in equipment) into an unmanageable war over principles (e.g.,
moving jobs overseas), they settled the material disputes and ended the strike.
The pessimistic spin: The escalation reflects a deep distrust between GM and
the UAW that will cause an even worse strike when their national agreement
expires next year. (7/29/98)
Bell Atlantic is buying
GTE for $53 billion in stock. This threatens to reduce the
telecommunications market to four giants: Bell Atlantic (GTE), SBC (Ameritech),
Worldcom (MCI), and AT&T. The spins: 1) Telecommunication companies must
merge lest they be destroyed by others who have already merged. 2) This shows
the 1996 Telecom Act has failed to promote competition, which may lead Congress
to overhaul it next year. 3) The solution to merger mania isn't regulation;
it's the market, which downgraded Bell Atlantic and GTE's stocks after the
merger. The New York Times says this could be "the pin that burst the
telecommunication stock bubble." Other spins on the drop: 1) The stocks fell
because the market thinks regulators are sick of mergers and are about to crack
down on them. 2) GTE agreed to the buyout not because it's good for GTE
investors but because it's good for GTE's chairman, who insisted on keeping his
job. (7/29/98)
