Clinton The Chameleon Can’t Blend In

As a society, we haven’t preserved our sense of shame. But Bill Clinton is doing his best to preserve our sense of shamelessness.

The president and his Rasputin, Dick Morris, have broken creative new ground in brazenness.

First, they snatch Republican positions, counting (not unreasonably) on the forgetfulness of voters and the expediency of Democrats who want their Republican in the White House to win. And now they both are embroiled in kerfuffles on Capitol Hill, where it takes a lot to be called shameless.

In a move that marks a new level of chutzpah in American politics, Clinton’s lawyers mentioned, in their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in regard to Paula Corbin Jones’ sexual harassment suit, that the president may be protected by the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940, which was designed to give American troops some protection from civil suits while on active duty.

“President Clinton here thus seeks relief similar to that to which he may be entitled as commander in chief of the armed forces and which is routinely available to service members under his command.”

Robert Bennett, the president’s lawyer, said he had cited the act only “as an example” that might extend to the commander in chief, not as his main argument.

But Bennett is getting paid too much to make the hideous mistake of reminding the public of one of Clinton’s improvidences (his maneuvering on the military draft) in defense of another (his wandering eye).

Some veterans groups and Rep. Bob Stump, the Arizona Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, did not care for Clinton’s opportunistic enlistment. (Hello, sailor).

Stump is sending the president a letter, signed by 170 Republicans, asking him to withdraw his “ignoble suggestion” from the brief: “The Founding Fathers wanted to enshrine the principle of civilian control of the military in the Constitution and did so by making the president the civilian commander in chief of the armed forces. You are not a person in military service, nor have you ever been.”

Also in the president’s mailbag is a letter from Republican congresswomen demanding that adviser Morris be fired for doing jury-related polling for Alex Kelly of Darien, Conn., the unsavory teenage burglar who fled after he was accused of raping two girls. Kelly was a fugitive in Europe for eight years, living the posh life of a ski bum, while his parents supported him. (Family values.)

“It is the worst thing an adviser to the president could be doing at a time when crime and crimes against women are such a deep concern to the American people,” wrote Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash.

The Republican women are attempting to spruce up GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole genderwise, but they have a good feminist point.

Meanwhile, Democrats suppressed their distress as Morris helped the Clintons shift - when first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton told Larry King “there is no left wing of the Clinton White House” and when Clinton embraced the radical Wisconsin plan to abolish welfare.

Until Wednesday, gay groups had fumed as the president slithered away from same-sex marriage. But the overly eager White House announcement Wednesday that Clinton would sign a law denying federal recognition for same-sex marriages if it ever reaches his desk was too much. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay-rights group, accused the president of caving in to the right wing and disinvited George Stephanopoulos as a dinner speaker.

So, Bill Clinton is in the Army. He’s against gay marriage. His adviser did work for an alleged rapist. Clinton moves from the left wing to the right wing because what he really believes in is the West Wing.

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