More Clinton Sleaze?(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

The Presidency: Are Americans ready for another Clinton scandal? Ready or not, if Senate Democrats get their way, the nation can keep its blinders. If GOP Sen. Charles Grassley prevails, the truth will glare through.

Only half a decade out of power, the last administration may have entered that gray zone in which, historians say, the country may be mildly interested in new revelations or ready -- as the old Clinton defenders would say -- to move on.

For his part, William Jefferson Clinton, sporting a snowy coif seemingly designed to yell "elder statesman here," has undertaken tsunami relief, launched his own "global initiative" to heighten his role as an actor astride the world, and repeatedly broken the unwritten protocol against criticizing his successors.

If he didn't know any better, he could blame the example of Jimmy Carter, who turned bitterness into best-seller status. But then, both ex-presidents have long exhibited a sense of protocol that, charitably, could be described as Dogpatchian.

We sympathize with those who'd like to turn the page on the impeachment, Monica Lewinsky, Ken Starr, etc. We thought Clinton, though disbarred, was insufficiently penalized: Lying under oath is impeachable, and should occasion removal from office. But Americans in their collective wisdom pretty much decided that Republicans had disproportionately politicized a sin of the flesh.

Fine, but such moral infractions can build into tyrannous executive behavior. Ask David Barrett, a special prosecutor assigned ...