Much has changed in the past 114 years. Today youth are more likely to express their political angst through gangsta rap than rope-skipping. But many things have stayed the same. Media feeding frenzies still over-magnify squabbles. Mediocre men still occupy the Oval Office.
Sex scandals can still overshadow the business of governing a nation.
And, quite possibly, they can still be overcome. It's now been about one week since the Washington Post broke the story of Bill Clinton's alleged sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The initial reports of yet another extramarital dalliance by the President have prompted renewed investigations by full-time presidential prosecutor Kenneth Starr and renewed psychological analysis of the president by everyone with media credentials. But it seems to me that in all the coverage an important possibility is being downplayed, the possibility that Clinton could survive this scandal without a national catastrophe. Lying is a pretty reliable tool for Presidents.