And so it comes to a close, at least for now. The Congressman bows out after a few weeks of endless humiliation. Was it the porn star? Was it the cross-dressing, vintage though it was? Was it simply, as the gentleman early on implied, merely that his name was ripe for bawdy jokes? The question is pertinent because, as we all know, what he actually did was scarcely an infraction of any sort (excepting his marriage vows) especially compared to the man he was compelled to apologize to publicly, one Bill Clinton.

Of all the gall Tony now must swallow, certainly this is the most bitter cup. As Jon Stewart put it so well, what is he apologizing to Clinton for? Copyright infringement? From where, the baffled man must ask himself, does this outrage among his colleagues spring? Not only did Clinton experience no such thing he enjoyed a blanket protection from the media, his party and a great many prominentoes of the OTHER party as well as no party whatever. There was no feeding frenzy on the then bloated torso of the Arkansas Hustler. Quite the reverse. Clinton was hailed as a martyr; a pointlessly persecuted victim of “smears” (which are not the same thing as lies, apparently) from a witch hunting cabal…. as Hillary put it, a Vast Rightwing Conspiracy, for nothing but their own political advancement. Even the brutal facts of Clinton’s career made not the slightest difference to his praetorian guard which included his wife, his staff, the White House press, racial activists, business figures, “artists”, pluralities of ordinary citizens and even so-called feminists by the boatload.

It can’t be simple ideology. Tony is to the Left even of Clinton, at least to Clinton’s public actions. True, the Congressman was less useful than a sitting President but he was not so useless as all that. The gentleman from New York was the point man for the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He was on the rolodex of every talk show host on TV or radio, always eager to boldly propound the daftest tenets of this Progressivism that proudly aspires to return us to the trees. Hostile or friendly, Tony was more than happy to expose the audience to his unfiltered bile on any subject, famously including the salacious scandals enveloping his Republican colleagues for which he today expressed such affection.

But for a week or more Tony has been on the business end of a feeding frenzy and yes, we certainly must admit, the name wasn’t helping him. But also the puerility of his furtive acts made them as impossible to defend as they were to ignore. Sending nudie pics to women (and some girls), who does that? And to what end? Yes, there are significant differences between the sexes and some of them are aesthetic. Regardless of Tony’s athletic physique and other remarkable physical attributes, vanity is just not a good look in a man. Justin Bieber seems less enamored of his hair than Tony was of his anatomy and Bieber relies on his looks to support his momma and many others besides. Clinton’s actions are not well distinguished here, either. Bill didn’t engage in any wanton rut with his plus-sized dolly, Miss Lewinsky. Starr Report fans will recall that one of the President’s clarifications included that he never intended any gratification either for himself or Monica and therefore these bizarre stunts involving cigars and meager skin contact were not sexual, as a matter of law. Few discriminating adults would find them sexual as a matter of taste. But unlike with Tony, the shallow tawdriness of Bill’s dalliance encouraged the country to avert their eyes and stop their ears. For Tony, the absurdity served as an appetizer for the swarm.

An element that cannot be discounted is the simple grumpiness of the nation at large. Tony picked a bad week to be caught with junk mail. Despite the cyclical and endemic nature of economic ups and downs, the public is surly. Not a few find themselves with unwanted time on their hands. The devil makes mischief from such resources. During Bill’s troubles, as we are all reminded, the economy in general was doing quite well. Boat-rocking was out of fashion and indeed, if you recall, a great many of those who called for the whole matter to be dropped did so on economic grounds. A sex scandal in the Executive? Not good for equities, old chum. Not good at all.

Much of the angst that sentences our Tony to oblivion, from the media at least, is discounting of the actual sext acts but abominates him for his “cover up”. Wolf Blitzer takes this tack. How can a newsie ever trust this guy again? is the chant. Yet no such skepticism plagues Clinton. At home and overseas he is welcomed as nothing but an Elder Statesman and has been for two decades. His lies are at least as documented as Tony’s and they were made under oath. For reasons long mysterious; impeachment, the blue dress, even Clinton’s deal to relinquish his law license rather than have it taken from him for perjury have made not the slightest bruise on his credibility. That, well, that is just sex. And somehow, sext is a much, much more serious a topic.

But even if you agree that a consensual if exploitative (non) sexual relationship with a young intern in your office (yep, the Oval one) is not a serious infraction, that is far from all there is. Recall that the one small crack ever delivered to the Clinton edifice came from one Kathleen Willey. No one disputes that she was sexually assaulted in the Oval Office by the President on the day of her husband’s suicide when she approached Clinton to seek a paying job. She also had been an intern. We know of no such monstrosity from Tony. There is no dispute, is there? that Clinton did indeed expose himself to Paula Jones while a sitting Governor and she a State employee. There was no photographic evidence since it was done live and in person. Yet, she knew the “distinguishing characteristic”. That and more evidence prevailed over Clinton’s version of events which amounted to nothing but blank denial.

You can be certain that Tony was as familiar with all these truths as anyone. He is a Clinton insider, after all. If he does not know where the bodies are buried he could at least guess where the bathroom trashcans are emptied. And he followed the Clinton template to a point. Bill famously employed the Nuts ‘n Sluts defense; a counter-offense really that denounced these erupting bimbos either as infatuated loons who made their stories up, or consensual (though adulterous) conquests now disgruntled or manipulated by The American Spectator or some other organ of Rightwing infamy. Tony instead employed Pranks ‘n Hacks, a relatively innocuous dodge. And it is to his credit, however modest, that he never did blame any of the women. In this he is, again, on the good side of the ledger compared to Bill.

The rapid collapse of all support that we have just witnessed is the thing Bill dreaded above all. His brazen denials, modifications of those denials and then his angry prime-time confession could not have survived one-tenth the scrutiny aimed at Tony. Luckily not one-hundredth was ever brought to bear even to this day. Clinton has proven to be as charmed as he is charming; a predictable state of affairs. Tony was never much on charm. Bear-hugging a Republican or a rattlesnake would not be his thing. Clinton never had any such aversion. Although partisan and ideological in his soul, above all Clinton believed in his personal advancement. As such he could sweet talk anyone on any terms, it was all balderdash anyhow. Tony, as his dedicated followers would claim, is a True Believer. He made numerous and powerful enemies. His friends? Also numerous and powerful but sadly out of the majority and with other pressing claims on their time and allegiance. In the end even his mentor Chuck Schumer would not aid him since to do so alone was too costly.

Except for that perverse “apology” to Clinton, no injustice has been done to Tony but we can forgive him a bit of bitterness if he thinks otherwise. After all, for indulging a habit apparently endemic to teenagers, he is hurled under the trundling bus. For the notorious rapist of Juanita Broaderick, Elizabeth Ward-Gracen, Dolly Kyle-Browning and nameless multitudes on Arkansas backroads as well as in Washington backrooms, there is nothing but caviar and respectful attention. Perhaps Tony will rehabilitate himself yet. We know, don’t we? that Bill never will.

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