If you want a friend in Washington, get a reporter. The Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt, for example, has been smoochingly loyal to Vernon Jordan, a Hunt buddy and also a member of the board of directors of Hunt's employer, Dow Jones. Here's a typical effusion from the silver-maned pundit on ABC's Nightline: "I've known Vernon Jordan for almost 20 years. He's a friend. . . . Would he have told [Lewinsky] to commit perjury? I just find that impossible to believe."
The only rival in the unbridled-innocence sweepstakes was Time magazine. After the president's deposition by Paula Jones's lawyers, White House flacks were spinning the story that Clinton was so ecstatic with the deposition that he and Hillary decided not to go out to dinner that evening. Time bought it, hook, line and sinker: "The President felt that the deposition had gone smashingly for him. Describing the mood Saturday night at the White House, one person close to the president said, 'Everyone is going to sleep well tonight.'" Where have all the hardbitten journalists gone?