January 6, 1999

I must say, reading William Bennett's The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals opened my eyes to two alarming facts. First, I learned that William Bennett really, really dislikes Bill Clinton--not to mention Europeans, whose politics lacks morality.

Sin, contrition, repentance and forgiveness--such biblical themes were staples of talk shows, editorial pages and everyday conversations in 1998. That much, at least, could be said for the nation's yearlong preoccupation with President Bill Clinton's sexual escapades, his delayed and halting confession, and his eventual impeachment for lying and for obstructing the federal investigation of his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Everyone became a moral theologian.