-Caveat Lector- <http://chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/wycliff/> THE CLINTONS' PROLONGED 15 MINUTES DON WYCLIFF March 1, 2001 First a phone caller, then an e-mail correspondent made the same complaint: Why did you run that huge, quarter-page photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton on Page 1 Friday at the same time you were running a (relatively) tiny picture of President Bush? Why did you give lead-story treatment to Clinton's remarks about her brother's role in some disputed pardons while placing the story about Bush's press conference comments on Iraq and a tax cut below the fold? These complaints echoed those that washed over us like a tsunami during the presidential campaign last fall: Why are you running big pictures of Al Gore and little ones of George W. Bush? Why did you have Gore on Page 1 and Bush in the obituaries? Gore/Clinton. Hugh Rodham/Roger Clinton. Hillary/Bill. To Bush partisans, they're all the same: characters from a canceled sitcom who still insist on showing up in prime time, stealing scenes from the new leading man and his ensemble. But this is more than just a partisan complaint. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported last week that 53 percent of Americans felt there had been too much news coverage of Bill Clinton and his works and pomps since he left office. Add in Hillary and Al Gore and the rest of that madcap gang and the figure might get up to two-thirds. So why do the media continue to thrust them all before the public, to the dismay of readers and viewers and to the neglect of "more important" stories, like Bush's tax-cutting plans or his Iraq policy? More specifically, why did the Tribune give such prominence to the Hillary picture and story Friday, to the disadvantage of the Bush picture and story? The latter is the easier to answer. Quite simply, Bush's remarks on taxes, Iraq and the other topics he covered during his first White House news conference were not really new; he had said it all before. Indeed, the news conference story was only marginally a Page 1 story. It was made so mainly by the fact that it was his first as president--the sort of event that ought, at some level, to be memorialized. Hillary Rodham Clinton's press conference, on the other hand, was real news and was about a matter as serious as a heart attack: What did this newly elected United States senator and former first lady know about the circumstances of some foul-smelling pardons granted by her husband? Were pardons in effect sold? Who (besides the people pardoned) benefited and how? Obviously her husband was involved in the business, but what about Sen. Clinton? You can argue about the size of that striking Hillary photo, but not, it seems to me, with the fact that it belonged on Page 1 and, given the potential gravity of the situation she was addressing, that the story of her remarks deserved the treatment it got. As to the larger question--why does the press keep throwing the Clintons and their shenanigans up before the public?--the answer is unsatisfying but inevitable: because it's good for you. I mean that in the same way your mother (and mine) meant it when she told you that your spinach or broccoli or--ugh!--Brussels sprouts are good for you. Every edition of a newspaper involves a balancing of what readers want to know with what they need to know as citizens. And weary of the Clintons though most of us may be, we need to know about this pardon story. As of Wednesday, two principal actors in the story had taken the 5th Amendment. That suggests that they, at least, fear criminal prosecution for their actions. Another principal, Marc Rich, has declined any cooperation with the various investigations. If the Monica Lewinsky brouhaha stemmed from an unfaithful man's attempt to conceal his infidelity, this Pardoner's Tale appears to have grown out of something far more crass and venal and pernicious: the trading of a uniquely presidential favor for money. At least it looks enough like that to have prompted a formal investigation by the Clinton-appointed U.S.attorney in New York. Only 42 people have ever enjoyed the privilege of granting a presidential pardon. With rare exception, nobody has exercised it in so obscene a fashion as Clinton. Yet members of Congress are talking of altering or curtailing the privilege--by altering the Constitution--to prevent such abuses in the future. That's serious, serious business. And it's the reason that, as much as the majority of Americans may want to be done with the Clintons, we cannot be--at least for awhile. You need to know about this story. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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