All I can say is...

That was a great post... and I mean that.

I know we are never going to agree on this topic 100%... much like New Deal or Andrew Jackson, there is too much baggage between us to see the full picture through the other's eyes. However...

I want to say that the ultimate responsibility for the entire Lewinsky debacle is Clinton's fault... no question. He cheated, he lied and he got caught. No getting around it, and your OJ reference did NOT go unnoticed or unappreciated. Ken Starr is not now, nor was he ever, considered (by me) as "guilty" of creating any of the mess he uncovered... that was Bill's doing entirely.

I only want to make two small points to illustrate, if not explain fully, my point of view on the whole mess:

1) I REALLY did like the OJ reference... and it was more than a little apropos, believe me. OJ's trial was even more of a circus than the Clinton impeachment and the investigative drama leading up to it... with parallels running between them left and right. One huge difference, though (besides the nature of the crime, of course) is that the "trial" of OJ was directly related to the crime being investigated by the LAPD.

I still think that Starr took the investigation far beyond the scope it was intended to take (and YES, I know he was authorized to do so by Clinton's own AG... sheesh), not because he suspected that Clinton WOULD lie about the affair, or that the affair was in some way tied to the Whitewater real estate dealings... but because his "job" was to find out anything that might make the President look bad.

Now, Ryan is going to scoff about "conspiracies and black helicopters" and crap like that... I can hear him already... but that is my gut feeling. Starr was a political "pit bull" and he'd been sicked on Clinton by people who wanted him discredited (at the very least).

2) For my last point, I have to give you an analogy from my place of employment... please, bear with me.

When we opened the joint last June, I was working with a pit boss whom we'll call Carmine. Carmine had worked in AC all his life... in fact, he'd spent 26 years working just at the Sands Casino in AC, from its first day to its last. He had mountains of experience in the gaming industry, and he had mastered a way with people (employees and public) that is not only rare in the casino industry, but valuable beyond price, too.

Now, Carmine had a clean record according to the New Jersey Gaming Commission (a tough crowd to please, believe me), and had NEVER had an issue with licensing before in his life... until he took this job in PA.

Seems he got arrested in 1977 (yes, 1977, folks) for possession of a joint. A single marijuana cigarette found in his pocket in 1977 got the man arrested. He was booked, charged, and given a day in front of the bench where he pled "no contest" and was released without fine or further sentence. Seemingly innocent enough for the NJGC for him to work another 33 years in Atlantic City without issue or question... but the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board felt differently, and last month the man was officially and finally (meaning no further appeals would be heard) denied a license in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that had anything to do with gaming.

THIS is the sort of microscopic analysis that is detrimental to the cause. Carmine was the sort of employee that would have worked day and night to keep the games he was watching that the people he was managing operating smoothly and legally within the requirements of the Commonwealth and the PGCB... but because of his mistake in 1977 (fourty three years earlier, mind you... in case your math is bad), he can't work ANYWHERE in the state of PA.

Clinton could have been guilty as sin of the affair with Lewinsky (which I feel he was)... and it was his own decision and determination that led him to perjure himself in front of the courts and the public... but the ever-growing scope of the Starr investigation would have eventually found a fault with anyone that happened to be under its eye... GOP, Dem or otherwise. Unrestricted and boundless investigative license is enough to find fault with any politician... ever. What good came of it anyway? What justice was served? How was the course of American history bettered by what Starr spent months and millions digging up?

I can't blame Starr for any of the mess... Ryan is right there. You'll never hear me credit him with doing a service to the nation, either, though.