The Washington Times reported today that Mr Robert Ray, the last (thankfully) of the Independent Counsels has released his final report. He basically says that the Clintons did not engage in any criminal activity.
I didn't read Ray's report, but the Washington Times's story seems accurate enough.
So accurate, in fact, that it provides still more vindication for Congress's decision to abolish of the office of independent counsel.
The monster is dead and I for one, hope it stays that way.
Actually, the term "independent counsel" doesn't do the office justice. Independent inquisitor is a more apt description. Supporters of both Starr (the first Clinton inquisitor) and Ray (the last) dispute this description. They like to point to the conviction of James and Susan McDougal, Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker , and Webster L. Hubbell, all friends of the Clintons, for fraud. See, they say, the independent counsel got at least some convictions. It did some good; we got something for all that money.
Yeah, right.
Let's face it. The unfortunate souls caught by Mr Starr were just small fish. The independent counsel/inquisitor had at all times far more important targets, namely, Mr and Mrs Clinton. Eight years this nonsense went on.
And it all began, more or less, with an investigation of the Clintons' Whitewater land deal.
Its possible that someone made a request to Kenneth Starr to investigate Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association. This S & L was located in Arkansas and its owners were friends of the Clintons. They too, had invested in Whitewater.
Bingo!
With basically an unlimited budget and no time constraints. Mr Starr and his successor Mr Ray, appropriated to themselves extra-ordinary prosecutorial powers, ignored the restraints that most prosecutors have to deal with, and operated on what amounts to an unlimited budget. Add to that no accountability to speak of. Add to that lack of restraint on the part of churlish investigators. The resultant mess was a system simply out of control.
Which should not surprise anyone.
It was out of control, of course, because there were no controls.
Worse, both independent counsels (Starr and Ray) became the darlings of the GOP. The GOP was engaged in a sacred mission to "get" Clinton for reasons which were totally partisan and totally irrational. They thought that Mr Clinton should not be President, period. So they, and the journalists, talking heads, CNN blowhard ex-prosecutors and others, ganged up to give Starr and Ray moral and intellectual support as well as prime-time media exposure.
Parallel to the Starr/Ray circus, endless hearings were conducted by the US Senate.
In the end nobody knew much more about Whitewater after the Senate hearings than they knew before they began.
Mr or Mrs Clinton were exonerated (reluctantly if you know Mr Ray). Ray wound up with nothing to show for his efforts except some petty criticism for the way Mrs Clinton handled the Rose Law firm's billing records.
That's it.
So, $70 million. Just thrown out the window. All to show everyone how poorly Mrs Clinton handled some billing records.
For this we needed an independent counsel? For this we ignored ordinary prosecutorial processes? For this we gave free rein to the foolish Mr Starr and the pitiful Mr Ray? For this, we gave those two characters a blank check?
$70 million dollars worth of investigations.
Result?
Nothing. Except maybe the humbling of the Clinton-haters.
Which isn't too bad when you come to think about it.
Punditwalla--