Clinton dodged when hit by scandal

As Hillary Clinton's scandals at home multiplied, and questions about her role in Whitewater, the Rose Law Firm, the disappearance of the billing records, the Webb Hubble hush money, the FBI scandal and the commodities market trading all got louder, Hillary adopted the patented formula of all presidents in trouble: She left the country.

Hillary was about to become a world traveler (at the cost of 12.5 million taxpayer dollars, safari included). This is not, of course, how Hillary remembers the decision.

In her book "Living History," she once again invokes the name of a celebrity, writing that it was Mary Catherine Bateson, the anthropologist's daughter of Margaret Mead, who first explained to her how travel could have a symbolic significance.

As Hillary writes, "I understood her point and I soon became a convert to the view that I could advance the Clinton agenda through symbolic action."

Advance the agenda? Horse manure! It was to dodge the negative publicity at home, while having a great vacation.

Richard Witherspoon

Rockport, Ark.