William Bennett's Critique

August 24, 1998

In the aftermath of the President's revelations and address last week have been lots and lots of articles and editorials. But the one that caught my eye was the editorial by William Bennett in the Wednesday edition of the Wall Street Journal. He called the President's five-minute address "the most deceptive, shameless and self-pitying speech ever delivered by an American president." Then he takes on nearly every sentence in President Clinton's speech. Here are just a few samples.

1. "[Kenneth Starr's investigation] has gone on too long, cost too much and hurt too many innocent people." Bennett says this is deceit of a high order. Since January, President Clinton has evoked every privilege imaginable to slow the investigation. He refused to appear before the grand jury a half-dozen times.

2. "While my answers were legally accurate, I did not volunteer information." Bill Bennett says we can add this sentence to other famous Clinton evasions like: "I didn't inhale" or "it was simply a fluke that I wasn't called for the draft." President Clinton answered no to a direct question about sexual relations and now claims that he answered that truthfully as he is in the midst of changing his story.

3. "It's nobody's business but ours. Even presidents have private lives." Bill Bennett says the scandal cannot be private when Mr. Starr's investigation was expanded because of Attorney General Janet Reno's finding that there existed credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the president. Nor could it be private when the president made emphatic public denials about what took place in the Oval Office. Bill Bennett's conclusion is that it is time for the president to go, and I agree.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.

© 1998 Probe Ministries International