Countdown to a Starr Performance

The eyes of America will be pointed toward Bill Clinton over the next 24 hours as the 42nd president of the United States reveals if, unlike the first president, he can tell a lie.

In what amounts to an “I am not a creep” speech, Clinton will give closed-circuit testimony Monday to a federal grand jury. At that time he will clarify whether he told a little White House lie by denying having sex with “that woman, Ms. Lewinsky,” or whether he believes Monica to be possessed of the most vivid imagination since Walter Mitty’s.

It is time for Clinton to come clean.

Public opinion polls remain solidly behind him, reminiscent of the time Sir John Barbirolli, a noted British orchestra conductor, learned that one of his musicians was having an affair. “There’s nothing to worry about,” Barbirolli told the musician’s wife. “He’s playing better than ever.”

The president’s performance in office is not in question.

(Except in which offices he performed.)

These same polls, however, do indicate that Clinton’s supporters would be more tolerant of a confessed indiscretion than they would of a lie under oath. Therefore, if the president has any reason to believe that he could be “outed” by physical evidence of a relationship, then he had better go before this grand jury-- and the public at large-- and get right down to the nitty-gritty.

Then, perhaps, the president will address the nation on television after videotaping his secret testimony.

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Clinton’s constituents--not counting Americans whose curiosity is outweighed by a desire to make this whole messy business go away--have no right to know the state of their president’s marital union. But they do have a stake in knowing whether such a man would be willing to lie in a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible.

Sinning is one thing; defiance of the law or disregard for the truth is another.

This is the first U.S. president ever to testify in a criminal investigation of his own conduct. This is a moment that can define the everlasting legacy of the first Democrat in this country since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be elected to back-to-back terms as president.

It is difficult to fathom how a politician’s promiscuity could result in a descent from the highest office in the land. But because circumstances conspired against Clinton to keep this inquiry alive, he is now teetering on the brink of disgrace. How he handles Monday’s questioning could either reinforce Clinton’s popularity or result in our 1999 or 2000 State of the Union address being given by President Gore.

People want answers.

Even the ones who think Kenneth Starr was kept, in a past life, extremely busy in the village of Salem, burning witches, are eager to learn how far Clinton is willing to go to cover up a peccadillo. Eyes will bug open if the president persists in his story that “that woman” and he had no intimate encounters, because the next step would be Starr’s.

Exactly how far would Starr go to tie Clinton to Lewinsky?

If the independent counsel has no material evidence, then it will be Clinton’s word against Lewinsky’s, end of story. But if there is a way for Starr to catch Clinton red-handed, he will. This is a tireless cat with a long ball of yarn.

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Few know what Clinton will say or how he will say it.

Speculation has been somewhat ludicrous. In CNN’s coverage of the past couple of days, a reporter has repeatedly stated that White House sources claim Clinton will testify “truthfully and completely.” (As opposed to what--White House sources claiming Clinton will testify dishonestly and lying through his teeth?)

As for informing the public what happened, “We’re told the president will make that decision himself.” (No, he’ll let somebody else decide. Maybe draw straws.)

Hillary Rodham Clinton appears so at ease, so supportive, that Friday she threw her husband a premature birthday party. He turns 52 on Wednesday.

By the time his candles are blown, Clinton had better have given us some straight answers, even if the truth hurts. Zsa Zsa Gabor was once asked how many husbands she’d had. “Apart from my own?” she replied. Honesty can be such a humiliating policy.

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Mike Downey’s column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Write to him at Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053, or phone (213) 237-7366.