earnwings1@... wrote: Liars, Inc.
By Lawrence Kudlow
Friday, February 23, 2007
Whatever the mighty Clinton spin machine is saying about the front-page
catfight between Hillary, Barack Obama, and David Geffen, the fact is, the
Geffen-Obama forces put a big hurt on the presidential aspirations of the former
First Lady. This brouhaha blossomed when Geffen, the left-wing media mogul,
told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that “Everybody in politics lies, but
[the Clintons] do it with such ease, it’s troubling.” He said a lot more that
was derogatory specifically to Hillary Clinton, but that’s the key statement
since Geffen is obviously referring to both Clintons. After all, it was Hillary
who enabled Bill’s lies time and again. Now, America is being told -- and by a
former Clinton benefactor no less -- that there’s more where that came from.
Geffen’s shot across the bow, with its huge media echo chamber, reminds folks
what it was like when the Clintons were in the White House. Geffen has
single-handedly pried the lid off the rusty old can
of Clinton lies, reminding voters of what will happen if this truth-challenged
couple ever returns to the Oval Office. Does the American electorate want to
go through this all over again? Have we forgotten the lies? Go Google the
simple phrase “Bill Clinton lies.” When I do so, this is what I quickly turn up
(and from various sources): -- Clinton lied under oath to a Federal Grand
Jury. (That’s perjury, of course, and perjury remains a felony.) -- Clinton
continues to lie about his 12-year affair with Gennifer Flowers. -- Clinton
still denies he sexually harassed Paula Jones. (Even though he paid her $850,000
in hush money.) -- Clinton persists in dismissing the Whitewater scandal as
a “land deal where I lost money.” (Despite the fact that a dozen of his close
associates landed in jail over the matter.) -- Clinton illegally obtained
FBI files on his political opponents, and lied about that, too. -- On the
golf course, Clinton has an
incredibly difficult time playing his ball where it lies. According to close
observers (Tiger Woods among them), Clinton exhibits questionable math when he
tallies his scorecard. -- And according to Washington Post reporter John
Harris, Clinton was so upset about his inability to lose weight in 2000, that
following his annual physical he instructed aides to release a bogus number that
made him five pounds lighter. David Geffen also has turned our attentions
back to the days of the Lincoln bedroom scandal, when White House sleepovers
were regularly offered in exchange for large political contributions. I could be
wrong, but I don’t recall a single instance of this happening while George W.
Bush has been in office. Same for Bush Sr. and Ronald Reagan. For that matter, I
don’t recall any Lincoln-bedroom sales during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter,
Gerald Ford, or Richard Nixon. Just the Bill Clinton presidency. It is
highly ironic that the very liberal Mr.
Geffen has put all this front and center. It seems that Geffen is still jilted
by the fact that President Clinton failed to pardon Leonard Peltier, an American
Indian activist who was convicted and sent to jail for killing two FBI agents.
I’m speculating here, but the “ultimate” lie may have been that Clinton promised
Geffen a pardon for Peltier, reneged on the deal, and instead pardoned Marc
Rich, the currency manipulator and money launderer who is the husband of Clinton
pal Denise Rich, who is also a suspected Clinton paramour. The trigger for
Geffen’s Hillary insurrection, and the bile-filled remarks he served to Maureen
Dowd, may have been lingering resentment. Everyone’s attempting to call this
fight. Geffen, of course, is now solidly in the Obama camp, and he’s bringing
his rich Hollywood pals with him. As for Obama, his alleged sin is that he won’t
reprimand Geffen, as the Hillary camp demands. As a conservative with no skin in
this Democratic game, I’d have to
say the Geffen episode has bloodied Hillary’s nose much more than Obama’s.
Why? Because David Geffen, unwittingly or not, reminded voters of the moral
impoverishment and constant chicanery of the old Clinton White House. Do
voters really want to watch this low-grade C movie once more? I’ve always
believed that the Clinton White House past would be Hillary’s biggest problem in
the future. Now, suddenly, it’s been put into the campaign in startling
Hollywood Technicolor.


Larry is CEO of Kudlow & Co., LLC, an economic and investment research firm in
New York City.






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