Chatterbox

Hillary’s Jewish Problem: The Local Angle

What a blunder! The First Lady’s inopportune comments to an audience of Arab and Israeli teenagers could dramatically affect the outcome of the historic talks at a critical moment. Which talks? The Flytrap talks, of course! The ones between Monica Lewinsky and Kenneth Starr!

Remember, back in the early days of the scandal, when it looked as if Monica might tattle on the President, that her lawyer William Ginsburg gave an interview to the Israeli paper Yediot Ahronot? In the interview, Ginsburg offered this reason why he and his client didn’t want to see Clinton forced out of office: “We are both supporters of Clinton and appreciate his positions and policy toward Israel. Clinton is very positive toward Israel and the Jews, and Monica and I are Jews. … I don’t want the president to resign. Who knows who will come after Clinton and what his attitude toward Israel will be.” Sure enough, shortly thereafter Ginsburg began making condescending, avuncular noises about how the president would survive his clients’ testimony. He met with Clinton attorney David Kendall. He cranked up his tirades against independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Eventually, it became clear that Ginsburg’s client wasn’t willing to incriminate the president by saying he urged her to lie. Ginsburg, who’d initially blasted Clinton as a potential “misogynist,” practically became a member of the president’s defense team.

But now that Monica has lost her bid for immunity–at the very moment that Starr is renewing the pressure on her– what does Hillary Clinton do about the Middle East issue that Ginsburg, Monica, and Monica’s father Bernard care so much about? She calls for a Palestinian state! If there was a single stroke calculated to get Monica to turn against the Clinton presidency, this may be it. Even now, Ginsburg may be realizing that we know perfectly well “who will come after Clinton.” Gore will. At least he will if Clinton and his Israel-pressuring spouse should resign before the end of their terms. And Gore is surely “very positive toward Israel.” Hmmm. … On the other hand, maybe Hillary knew exactly what she was doing, and this is her cunning revenge on her husband! … O.K., that’s a longshot. …

Memo to Mercedes: Did you notice, in the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue, that only one 1998 Chrysler product had better-than-average predicted reliablity, that Chrysler as a whole was the least reliable American manufacturer and the third-to-last among all 16 major manufacturers that sell in the U.S., behind only Mitsubishi and Saab? Or did your issue get delayed crossing the Atlantic? … Maybe not. Word is you tried to merge with first-ranked Honda before settling for Chrysler. …