Is there a Democratic sex "scandal"--no matter how bogus--that Mickey Kaus won't promote? Today he's plugging (albeit in a somewhat passive aggressive fashion) the ridiculous rumor that Hillary Clinton is the lesbian lover of her aide Huma Abedin. Here's my favorite bit of Kausian sophistry:
Let's assume what is likely to be the case--that the Huma rumor is a) unprovable if true and b) un-disprovable if untrue. Under the old rules that means it would never be proved and would probably never surface. If it did surface --say because it was the subject of vicious campaign push-polling--a simple denial by both parties and it would be semi-officially "false." In the new Webby post-Lewinsky world it's more likely to surface, which makes the subsequent denial all the more important. Contrary to popular belief, it's not impossible to issue a denial so convincing that even gossip-addicted bloggers drop a juicy rumor. (Here's an example.) The trouble for Hillary is that when it comes to sex rumors she and her husband (unlike, say, John Edwards and his wife) have no credibility. They threw that away when the philandering charges they righteously denounced in 1992 and 1998 turned out to be basically true.
Huh? Mickey's probably right that Hillary and Bill have no credibility when it comes to sex rumors about Bill. But how is it that they have no credibility when it comes to sex rumors about Hillary? Unless, of course, Mickey believes those old Vince Foster rumors. Oh no, don't tell me. . . .
P.S. I'm actually of the mind that if Hillary were having an affair with the gorgeous Abedin, it would be to Hillary's credit, but I don't know how that would go over in rural Iowa.
--Jason Zengerle