Bill Clinton Won't Go Away

Bill Clinton just won't go away. He now tells Newsweek he regrets pardoning the fugitive billionaire Marc Rich because it tarnished his reputation! Bill Clinton's reputation was tarnished long before the Marc Rich pardon.

As usual, it's all about him. Asked by Newsweek if he'd do it again, Clinton replied, "Probably not, just for the politics." There never has been a sense of right and wrong for Clinton. Just politics and what he can get away with.

Clinton's [pardon of Rich was bought and paid for with heavy campaign contributions from Rich's ex-wife, Denise. He is a fugitive from justice and Clinton's excuse is that he knows how it feels to be persecuted and is sensitive to prosecutorial abuse. Yes, and we're sensitive to presidential abuse!

Rich was indicted in 1983 on federal charges of evading more than $48 million in income taxes and illegally buying oil from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis. Clinton and Rich have a lot in common and it's not so-called "prosecutorial abuse." It's a bad reputation, which both men deserve. I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.