-Caveat Lector-
THE PERILS OF PARDONS
New York Post-Tuesday
January 30, 2001
By Dick Morris
THE Clintons are giving nouveau riche a bad name. Having made off
with all the furniture their moving van could carry, one assumes
that each of these couches, chairs and dishes will have their own
little plaque identifying the name of the donor. Like the seats
in the Metropolitan Opera House.
Apart from their little gift caper, worthy of Rooster Cockburn
and Mrs. Hanagan from the play Annie, the Clintons pardoned four
Hasidic criminals in return for 1,400 votes for Hillary and
pardoned Marc Rich to appease former White House Counsel Jack
Quinn, who knows all their secrets.
But this time, unlike after many of their previous shenanigans,
the media is onto them and their credibility is taking a beating.
Why can't the Clintons spin their way out of these latest
scandals? Why are they shipping water, their reputation swiftly
sinking?
The Clinton formula for damage control is well known, but it
can't work when he's out of the White House and she's a lowly
junior senator. Consider why. Normally the Clintons:
1) Put out a press spokesman to handle things and stay out of
sight.
Usually, a spinner on the order of Mike McCurry or a
damage-control specialist as good as George Stephanopoulos is
around to spin the media. Without the White House staff to flack
for them, the Clintons are helpless. Meanwhile, they can't stay
out of reach of the media. A president can hide for days. A first
lady can lie low for weeks. But a senator is fair game every time
she shows up for work and a private citizen is open to questions
whenever he walks the dog.
2) Let the story out when nobody is paying attention.
Usually the Clintons release bad news over a holiday or, at
least, on a Friday night. The Clintons goofed in letting these
stories out when everyone was glued to television as this unusual
transition came to a close and a new president was peacefully
inaugurated.
While we were all paying close attention, we read about Hillary's
book contract, their second multimillion-dollar home purchase,
Clinton's plea deal, the pardons, the trashing of the White House
and the Clintons' gifts, one after the other in a continuous
sleazy tableau.
3) Distract the nation with a new story.
Able to control the national news cycle, the Clintons could
always divert attention from bad news by making good news happen.
When former Arkansas Chief of Staff Betsey Wright was quoted as
saying that Clinton arranged for state troopers to get him women,
we in the White House generated stories to cover the flap.
Clinton intervened in the baseball strike, he announced possible
sanctions against China and he put out other important
announcements that weekend. Now it is beyond their ability to
create hard news. They have to let the media talk about what it
wants, none of it good for their reputations.
4) Distance themselves from bad events.
Blaming subordinates, colleagues, co-workers or friends for bad
stories has been a staple of the Clinton damage-control
operation. But these gifts are so personal, the pardons so
clearly a presidential decision and the plea deal so directly
Clinton's that it isn't possible to blame the McDougals or the
Tuckers or Vince Foster or various other hapless friends. They
have to take the rap themselves.
5) Put off bad news. Procrastinate.
The Clintons love to delay decisions that are bound to backfire.
But they ran out of time. They put off the pardons until the last
minute and decided to reveal their gifts only after Hillary was
elected. So, they had no choice but to make all this bad news
public at once in the final moments of his terms in office.
6) Focus on appeasing public opinion.
Above all, the Clintons always cared deeply what we think of
them. But now that she is elected for six years and he is out of
public life, they are adopting the Cornelius Vanderbilt school of
press relations - "the public be damned."
Over the years in Washington, the Clintons have become addicted
to money and luxury. The money from her and his - soon to be
announced - book deal is burning a hole in their pockets.
Determined to cash in on their opportunistic friendships while
they still had the White House to sell, they decided to take
their plush lifestyle with them, the devil with the consequences.
Without the White House to hide behind, the Clintons have no
choice but to take these shots on the chin, with inevitable
damage to their public standings.
=================================================================
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
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