There is a clinical condition known as being "in denial." The term is often used loosely. Occasionally, though, the condition manifests itself in pure form. Witness the lead editorial from last Tuesday's New York Times on " presidential character":
"This is a peculiar moment," the editorialist intoned, "in what will surely be remembered as one of the oddest modern Presidencies. Part of what makes it peculiar is that we have so much information and yet still know so little about what kind of man Bill Clinton really is."
No, no, no, no, no, no, no (as the president himself once said in a different context). What makes it peculiar is that we know so much about what kind of man Bill Clinton really is. And wish we didn't.