Old Brown Shoe

Even as we continue to strive to be like France, we still cling to some of the old American taboos inherent in a stubborn streak of our puritan tradition. To be sure, Bill Clinton’s dalliances were a game changer. Although we would never - now 15 some odd years later - think of impeaching a man (or woman) for casual private affairs, we’re still not comfortable with it. I have previously (on this blog) enumerated the consequences of the Monica Lewinsky affair and defended my contention that it was precisely this - not the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - that, in a real sense, brought us to where we are today.

In order to maintain any semblance of old brown shoe prudishness (which seems to compliment our unctuous leanings), we’ve had to introduce money into the equation. New Jersey governors Corzine and McGreevey as well as New York’s Elliott Spitzer all fell under this sword. Corzine was said to have had improper dealings with the someone in a public sector union; McGreevey was said to have given a plum job to a lover; and Spitzer was said to have paid actual money (God forbid!) to the madam of high-end call girls. It is no wonder that the Hurd affair is now couched in similar terms.

Only someone of such immense political stature as Bill Clinton could get by and change the game once again, removing even the last remaining vestige of fig leaf with regard to the sex trade.

Admittedly, the whole notion is preposterous, especially in the face of all our other problems. It is infinitely more palatable than looking a train wreck straight in the face, especially while standing on the same track. Guilt weakens; and, as such, renders a powerful man vulnerable. Still, it would allow him at least some space in which to squirm. A good lawyer can always find enough wiggle room for the perp to slip the cuffs. A train wreck, on the other hand, spells closure. The paints are dry; the brushes broken. Nothing can be done anymore to alter even a single brushstroke of the finished dystopian masterpiece once it has been released for public endurance.