Now, even supposing his presidency survives, his credibility and ability to lead has been eroded. In a broader sense, the fallout from this scandal underscores how fragile the legislative process is. Politics, principled and otherwise, often gets in the way. As the current situation shows, so can unrelated events. The work of advocacy on important issues is a long-haul effort.
Organized medicine has an important, long-term role to keep alive issues such as patient protection.
On another process-related issue, we find ourselves wondering if there will be a ripple effect on how prosecutors view their work. Nevertheless, in the matter at hand it was Bill Clinton who, through his actions and his approach to telling the truth, opened the door to this sorry mess. We recall that he came to Washington to have a personal impact on health care legislation. We are sorry to note that in this case it seems that he has. Back to top.