How can you possibly write about the Clintons' dealings with the press without ever once mentioning the fantastic slander stories that the press continually wrote against them?

Whitewater was a bogus story from the get go. So were the many other manufactured cooked up "scandals" which never ended up with even semi-coherent allegations, let alone actual convictions.

Even today there is not one single reason to believe a word that the mainstream press writes about the Clintons, particularlly about their personal lives. Are we really supposed to believe that First Lady Mrs. Clinton somehow 'unmanned' the president and his aides, as Maureen Dowd blithely alleges in her last column? This is just flaming unsourced bullshit and typical of the kind press treatment the Clintons faced during their term.

Shafer seems to inhabit some magical world where the press still enjoys some sort of credibility. But to any careful reader this was lost under the Clintons; the press's even more shameful conduct under the last eight years of Bush has only confirmed this loss of credibility. The press today can no longer be trusted. It can't tell the truth about people or about war. If Shafer can't see that, then nothing he says about the press can be taken seriously.

It is true that the Clintons have often been the subject of false and malicious gossip: Does anyone remember the "murder" of Vince Foster? Ridiculous stories, such as "Travelgate" were often trumpeted in the press like major scandals.

The barage of smears and slanders, which we have come to expect from Republicans, however managed to bury some genuinely troubling cases: For example, there is the odd matter of Hillary suddenly making millions on the commodity market when her husband was governor. And let's not forget the mysterious disappearance of her subpoenaed law firm records, which later turned up in a White House reading room. And one doesn't need to be a conspiracy theorist to have questions about her role in the last-minute pardon of Marc Rich.

For the Clinton's, these may be "old news" and therefore irrelevant, but unlike the bogus Whitewater scandal, they are unresolved and leave a lingering taint on Hillary's character, and therefore fitness for office.

Wasn't "travelgate" a little different? They could have just fired those people and hired their own without explanation. Instead, they, and Hillary in particular, smeared the people there with allegations of criminal acts which never were proven.

The travel director was indicted for embezzlement, but subsequently found not guilty. So there were false allegations, though not entirely without substance. It does seem that Hillary used the scandal for her own purposes and subsequently made false statements about it. However, Ken Starr refused to prosecute, saying that there was "reasonable doubt" that she knowingly lied.

It is a fact that when the time came for the Clintons to leave the White House, Hillary personally tagged a number of pieces, furniture and items from the vermeil collection in the White House Permanent Collection for shipment to the house she bought in Chappaqua, New York, in order to qualify as a "resident" of a state in which she had never lived in her life. There is a word for what she did. It's called theft.

Specifically, grand theft. The collection of vermeil pieces at the White House is one of the most extensive in the world. The furniture in the Executive Mansion is museum grade or better. The movers heeded the tags and removed the tagged items to her Chappaqua mansion.

The White House permanent staff, the people who take care of providing the household services one would expect of a hotel or a private residence like The Breakers or San Simeon, missed the items almost immediately. Standard procedure in the case of a White House theft is to call in the FBI. The White House is Federal property and the Bureau has jurisdiction. It did not take very long for the FBI to figure out what had happened and pay a call on Senator and Mr. Clinton at their new home in Chappaqua.

The 'official story' put forth by the Clinton propaganda machine was that the items had been "inadvertently tagged" for removal; that Hillary was "unaware" they were part of the Permanent Collection; that "it was an honest mistake;" that she thought the items were "personal gifts" to her and her husband.

Bullshit.

Hillary Clinton lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for 8 years. She knew perfectly well how the White House Permanent Collection acquisition system works and had a good idea of what items were in the Permanent Collection. She also had to know that the President is not allowed to accept many presents either from the American people or foreign leaders, and almost nothing of any real value. The First Family is briefed on these rules fairly early on in their tenure in the place. She simply chose to ignore the rules, and got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

What I want to know is why she and the dirtball she is married to were not arrested and prosecuted as the thieves and liars they are. The evidence in this care is open and shut. But for some reason, the FBI simply retrieved the stolen goods and did not put the cuffs on them and read them their rights before dragging them off to jail.

Very little was made of this story in the press at the time. I'd like to know why that was the case, as well. I feel the episode speaks volumes about Hillary Clinton's lack of character and her feelings of entitlement and privilege. We do not need someone like that in the White House in ANY capacity, much less as the Chief Executive.

And yet she is still breathing free air instead of being confined as the criminal she is. She simply is yet one more proof that there are two sets of laws in this country: one for the rich and powerful, and one for the poor and powerless. She's lost my vote.

And your evidence for any of this is what, exactly?

"Vermeil" & "Clinton" in Google gets me nothing even after clicking through five pages.

There is another Criminal William Jefferson still walking free. Democrats are the criminal party of perpetual fraud and reality is my proof.

85% of felons vote democrat boasted Hillary Rotten Clinton. Keep polishing those two festering turds you stupid lemming.

There is another Criminal William Jefferson still walking free. Democrats are the criminal party of perpetual fraud and reality is my proof.

85% of felons vote democrat boasted Hillary Rotten Clinton. Keep polishing those two festering turds you stupid lemming.

Tell that to Deputy Attorney General and Hillary Clinton law partner at the Rose Law firm, Webster Hubbell, and to former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker and the seventeen others convicted.

Yes, they may have been found guilty, but not the Clintons. Most of us have had friends that have gotten into trouble.

And 85% of pedophililc priests vote Republican. What's your point?

Rob does seem a rather unpleasant chap, doesn't he?

Whitewater: For lack of evidence, Starr declined to prosecute either of the Clintons.

Vermeer: The stolen Vermeer is from an episode of "The West Wing." Talk about your made-up scandals!

<link>

wow, you mean the jury that found the mcdougals and jim guy guilty of fraud in the whitewater case, and sentenced them to prison, was mislead by the press, and convicted them wrongfully?

thanks for setting the record straight.

To set the record straight: The Clintons were never convicted of anything. They were never charged with anything. As a political scandal, Whitewater was a washout.