Bad Lesson: Breaking the law pays well

ATLANTA: The Southeastern Legal Foundation, the public interest law firm that successfully pursued law license sanctions in Arkansas against former President Bill Clinton, today slammed the publicly touted $10 million book advance deal signed by Clinton as "a pure example of contemporary American public life -- disgrace pays."

"The Clinton book deal confirms the darker angels of our national mindset, that the market will pay for salacious insights into the most corrupt presidency in the second half of the twentieth century," said Phil Kent, SLF President. "It pays to be bad."

"Amazing, too, how Hillary's book deal as First Lady and future Senator, while dwarfed by her husband's new deal, never attracted the partisan anger and congressional scorn heaped upon former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's book deal," said Kent. "Sadly, this confirms another negative stereotype about politicians and the elite media: If you are a liberal embroiled in serious legal controversy, you get a pass; if you are a conservative merely accused of wrongdoing, you get hammered."

"President Clinton, who has never held a private sector job in his adult life, will now understand firsthand how painful it is to pay taxes on a windfall," said Kent. "By the time he pays taxes, pays his attorneys for expenses surrounding a half-dozen legal messes during his presidency, and pays his agents, the advance will be gone -- so look out for a high-profile tour to spur book sales."

Kent noted that recent polls, of which President Clinton was so fond, confirm that his post-presidential stature has fallen. "The best way for the American people to say good-bye to President Clinton and the era of scandal is to greet his book with a resounding silence," said Kent.

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