Did you hear what he just said? I would never say that Ted Cruz eats puppies for breakfast because I don’t know that for a fact, but this guy just did.
The template has served him well. Fans go wild and Trump has cover. But importantly, the sentiment has been released into the atmosphere and absorbed into the limbic systems of the masses.
Now that Trump has cracked the lid on Foster’s coffin, Clinton-haters can luxuriate in gossip, insinuation and lies while entertaining the fantasy that they’re only interested in “the truth.” And who shall be the arbiter of that truth?
Usually, we rely upon objective third parties, the media or the courts. And though few people are naive enough to believe that investigators, judges, reporters and editors can’t be corrupted, the reality is that Foster died by his own hand. This was the conclusion of the United States Park Police, the Justice Department, the FBI, Congress, special counsel Robert Fiske, and independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
Consorts with murderers?
If Trump were concerned about the Clintons’ alleged role in Foster’s death, why, then, did he continue contributing to Clinton campaigns and causes? And why did he invite them to his third wedding? Would it be because he consorts with murderers? I would never say such a thing because that would be unfair, but I hear a lot of people saying this. A lot.
The Clintons surely have an imperfect record, and gallons of ink have been spilled on the graves of their past histories. Some people will believe what they want to believe, facts to the contrary.
But who ever would have believed that Starr, he of the 1998 examination of Bill Clinton’s sex life, would find common cause with his former target? For those too young to remember, Starr’s work revealed every lurid detail of Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Speaking recently on a panel, Starr said it was unfortunate that Clinton’s legacy is viewed only through the lens of that “unpleasantness.”
Starr has perhaps softened with time. Or maybe his distance from Washington — both as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law and, more recently, as president of Baylor University — allowed him space to reflect on those years. Christians, after all, believe in redemption and forgiveness, and Starr is a devout Baptist.
Then again, maybe the former investigator’s own recent experience as a target has opened his heart. On Tuesday, news leaked that Baylor’s Board of Regents reportedly voted to fire Starr amid a sexual-assault scandal involving the school’s football team.
One thing we can be reasonably sure of is that had Starr discovered evidence that the Clintons were involved in Foster’s death, he wouldn’t have hesitated to present his case. That he didn’t should put to rest any continuing nonsense to the contrary. The case is closed.
Would that this election were, too, but the long, hot summer awaits. For refreshment, we can entertain the prospect of Baptist bros Clinton and Starr dipping their toes in Nantucket’s chill waters, sipping wine and bemoaning the sad state of political affairs. The coarseness, the anger and, might we add, the irony of it all.