At least Richard Nixon was granted a quick pardon before sentencing himself to a couple of decades of self-rehabilitation. Now, wherever William Jefferson Clinton goes, even among those who want to cheer and celebrate, his character and conduct will always be the subtext of his every speech, appearance, and press conference. And like Richard Nixon before him, Bill Clinton now faces year after year of Avoiding The Subject. Yet the past will never be so present as when he is endeavoring to talk about something else. Though acquitted, William Jefferson Clinton now has been remanded to the custody of Clio, the ever fickle, eternally revising muse of History.
Some trials never end.
In the Senate, justice has rolled down not like mighty waters, but like an uncertain little trickle that satisfies no one. The people will be told this is closure and to Move On. But tinny as the verdict was, it will echo for a long time, like a wavering note still in the air. Unlike the acquittal of Andrew Johnson, or the resignation of Richard Nixon, the Clinton impeachment will linger. It will come up whenever perjury and obstruction of justice do.