As far as the Whitewater "scandal" is concerned, the Clinton's—along with several other people—made a real estate investment, and the deal went sour. The Republicans tried to make some kind of a big deal out of it, claiming that the Clinton's had scammed a bunch of people, but the truth is, they got scammed themselves. They lost in the neighborhood of $60,000 of their own money.

People who have heard something about Whitewater, particularly the Republicans' initial attempts to make political hay out of it, but never bothered to learn the facts, are perpetually bringing up this up, merely reinforcing the principle that, in American politics, to be accused—even if proven, not just innocent, but one of the victims—is to be condemned forever.

So much for the "informed electorate" that Thomas Jefferson said was necessary if democracy was to survive.

Don Firth