August 20, 1998
Clinton's Game of Truth or Dare
From David Zanotti, President of Ohio Freedom Forum

Was it really five minutes long? If so, it may well be among the most famous five electronic minutes of a Presidency.

The speech has been dissected to death already but something is missing in most analyses. We are not federal prosecutors. Nor are we defense attorneys. From our perspective, however, it seems quite clear that the President conceded a certain part of the legal battlefield to Ken Starr. He was saying to Starr:

"O.K., you’ve got the dress. We’ve got the polling data. I will tell the American people a little of what they want to hear. The tone will be confessional but the words will be straight from a legal lexicon. You will not gain a legal inch from my lips. I will deliver my speech in the proper tone. I will use correct words, but not in a discernable fashion. Then my PR consultants will spin my story to fit the reaction. You won’t hear me say "sex"—they will. My act will only be a shell of a story. My spin doctors will fill in the substance as the polls demand."

And the President accomplished one more feat in his speech. He moved to the top of the next hill, that of personal privacy. He claimed that his actions were his personal business and that no one has the right to hold him accountable for his sexual actions or any other actions connected to his sexual appetites or preferences. His sexuality is private business regardless of who, what, where or when he chooses to exercise it. And he is daring Starr to try and prove a cover-up or obstruction.

He sent notice to Ken Starr that he would not budge another inch. The President is now daring Starr to take the next step. He is daring Starr to indict, to prosecute and to attempt to take these proceedings all the way. He is daring Congress to move toward impeachment. He is daring the world to try and take away his Presidency.

The President is a trapped man. His desperation could easily be mistaken for courage. In the face of total humiliation he is casting forth his last desperate challenge. The gauntlet is down. Now will Ken Starr and the House Judiciary Committee have the courage to pursue the rest of this ugly battle amidst ferocious attacks from Clinton, CNN, Geraldo and the rest of the President’s elite Hollywood-media machine?

Will they have the courage to fight for legal justice on the issues of perjury and obstruction of justice? Are they willing to soil their hands in the ugly personal world the President rules over? Are they willing to connect the dots between lying in the Paula Jones case—a falsified sworn deposition in a federal suit—and the five-minute confession?

Are they willing to force this legal escape artist to finally face reality?

If they do so, the five-minute speech will suddenly sound like a lost track from the Watergate sound files. Clinton’s five minutes had an eerie Nixon-esque feeling. You could almost see the sweat on his upper lip. You could hear John Dean in the words. Remember how quickly the defiant Nixon Presidency fell?

If Starr and Congress continue, Leon Panetta’s statements that the speech should be the "beginning of the end" of this affair will prove prophetic. The affair, however, will be the Clinton Presidency. For if Starr and Congress proceed, the only path left for the President’s lawyers will be to begin to cut deals and plea bargain. Then the Presidency will go on sale in return for legal leniency.

Al Gore and the Democratic Party may be the highest bidder. They may well wrest the Presidency from Clinton through a forced resignation. They may keep him out of jail and ultimate disgrace. Or the Republicans may actually be able to force the resignation by proceeding with impeachment hearings. Or Starr may actually indict the President.

No one can know for certain which way the puzzle will turn. One thing is certain though—Bill Clinton is in bigger legal trouble today than he was on Monday, August 17th. By admitting he blatantly lied about Monica Lewinsky, he has made all his previous statements suspect. The only question that remains is does anyone in Washington have the courage to expose the rest of the story?

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The Ohio Freedom Forum, founded in 1980, is a state-based, conservative public policy organization headquartered in Solon, Ohio.