So he went full tilt after the Flowers story, picking it apart for any reporter who would listen. The Flowers episode set the pattern for how Stephanopoulos dealt with his doubts about Clinton the man. This turning your back on what you know to be right is something that my boss, Chuck Colson, knows a bit about. This ethical proportionalism justifying objectionable actions by pointing to a greater good being served is especially jarring when you know that, in addition to being the son of a priest, Stephanopoulos studied Christian Ethics as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Here s where we come back to original sin.
Original sin means that even the best people are driven by a mixture of motives some good, some bad.
These impulses are at war within us. In Stephanopoulos case, his lofty sentiments were at war with his love of the spotlight the acclaim and influence that assures you a table at Washington s finest restaurants and invitations to all the best Georgetown parties. For Stephanopoulos, as for all of us, there s a particular sin that helped ensure that when push came to shove, what was right would lose out. That sin is pride. He acknowledges that he stayed with Clinton, in part, because being around Clinton, having the president s ear, made Stephanopoulos an important man.