< PREVIOUS ] [ 1998 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Aside from the great crass jokes, the major result of the current scandal in Washington is confusion. Most pundits and politicians are outraged by President Clinton's behavior. But if the polls are accurate, the majority of the general public does not share that outrage.
Why this disparity of views between the Chattering
Class
and the rest of America?
Before we proceed, honesty compels me to confess that I have for many years strived to join the Chattering Class.
But my progress is painfully slow. Although I would prefer to attend wine and cheese parties, to receive insider spin and to attend high-roller seminars in world-class four-season resorts, the sad fact is that for all this summer, I was helping Martha overhaul a house and yard.
One day I complained to a fellow Chattering Class
aspirant: Steve Voynick, a former hard-rock miner and a
writer and historian. I told him I'd be glad to accept his
invitation to visit and drink some beer because I've
been on the wrong end of a shovel for the past
month.
He responded that, in his considerable experience with
such implements, there is no such thing as the right end of
a shovel, pick or spud bar. They're all tangible proof that
Satan continues to influence the affairs of humankind, as
mentioned in Genesis when, after Adam's sin, he learned
that henceforth, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread.
I try to console myself, when I'm moving dirt around the yard, that real Chattering Class members pay good money to go to workout centers to sweat and strengthen their limbs -- and here I am, getting all those benefits for free. And that if I was half as smart as Tom Sawyer, I'd have them paying me for the privilege of operating a shovel.
Now that I've satisfied contemporary journalistic standards by explaining where I'm coming from here, we can return to the question: Why are members of the Chattering Class so appalled by Clinton's behavior that they're demanding impeachment or resignation, while the majority of the public doesn't demand much except new jokes?
Many complex theories have been advanced, but the answer is simple. Joe Sixpack expects all politicians to lie, and so he isn't particularly horrified when one does.
But the sophisticated members of the Chattering Class assume that a politician will not lie to them. He may emit blatant falsehoods in his commercials and speeches for the general public, but when he's hanging out with the Chatterers in Georgetown or Martha's Vineyard, he'll demonstrate proper respect and be forthright and truthful.
Clinton's big failing in this regard is that he has treated everybody the same. He lies to big-time journalists and to his staff and cabinet with the same facility that he lies to Joe Sixpack. But Joe Sixpack expected it, and so he's not all that upset.
This grievance held by the Chattering Class may explain much of the recent hysteria that emanates from Washington.
For instance, I often read the phrase constitutional
crisis.
This implies that the federal constitution is
in jeopardy on account of the Starr investigation and
report. But constitutional processes, such as possible
impeachment, seem to be proceeding normally. No soldiers
have been dispatched to occupy the halls of Congress or to
seize newspapers and broadcast outlets.
Another symptom of Chattering hysteria is a frequent observation that if Clinton were to resign, the United States would look like an unstable Banana Republic because, within a generation, two duly elected presidents left office.
It would seem to me that a nation which expels its executives for abusing their powers is an honorable republic, rather than the banana version. But what do I know -- I've been running a shovel all summer.
And there's the Chattering horror that such things have never happened in the White House before. To such fools I recommend the recently published biography of Florence Harding by Carl S. Anthony. Her husband, Warren, was president from 1921 to 1923.
He carried on extramarital affairs inside the White House. The Republican National Committee paid a former mistress to stay out of the country during the 1920 campaign. Alcohol was prohibited by constitutional amendment then, making it more illegal than any drug is now, and Harding openly served and consumed it at the White House.
That's just a start on the personal presidential scandals of 75 years ago. The only difference is that we know about them sooner now. The Republic survived then and it will survive now, even if some of us Chattering types seem rather peeved.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 1998 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >