Another Rutherford B. Hayes

I remember opining, about halfway through President Clinton's first term, that he and whoever succeeded him in office would probably be remembered as the 20th century's answer to Chester Arthur and Benjamin Harrison.

Arthur, Harrison and those other (mostly) bewhiskered presidents from a century ago remain vague in most Americans' memories. For one thing, they all looked the same -- like cough drop logos. After all, what distinguished Grover Cleveland other than having a big league pitcher named after him?

What they had in common was that they served during relatively quiet periods. Without world wars, massive depressions or civil upheaval to deal with, those boring presidents dog-paddled through history without making a ripple on the lake of time.

Drama

I thought the same thing would happen to Clinton. With economic good times, wars confined to tiny places in odd time zones and relative quiet at home, fin-de-siecle presidents would pass into history as nameless (but beardless) men reduced to fretting about ephemeral subjects like Y2K problems and whether the weather was too hot or too cold.

Of course, I didn't bargain on Clinton's being a sexual predator, serial liar and possible sociopath. If only Chester Arthur had had presidential qualities like that, he might have imprinted himself more deeply into the national consciousness.

Clinton's behavior over the past year has been astonishingly self-destructive but very memorable, almost like he knew his historic legacy depended on something dramatic, even if the drama was pornographic. No wonder Larry Flynt likes him so much.

Hayes haze

What is really disconcerting, however, is that the American people seem to crave another Rutherford B. Hayes, even with his pants off and his hand on the Bible as he lies. No matter what Clinton does, therefore, lots of people yawn and go back to watching "Friends" -- as long as Pearl Harbor and their investments are safe.

Like people with tumors growing inside them who ignore their symptoms and hope "it will go away," they whistle blithely as their days dwindle down to a precious few.

What days? The days of respect for the presidency. The days of the rule of law. The days of words that have meaning, even simple words like "is" and "alone." The days of caring people having input into how their nation is run.

Watch now

The amazing thing is that this is happening right before our eyes -- literally. It was once assumed that democracy could be lost only in the dark of night by masked conspirators. In fact, it's being lost in broad daylight as we watch it happen on television -- or maybe as we choose to watch something else instead.

The title of a book may have had it right: We are "entertaining ourselves to death." And all entertainment is equally transitory. Whether it is an episode of "The Simpsons," a segment of "The Jerry Springer Show" or an impeachment trial, we let it pass by, barely noticed, and wonder what's on next.

What Clinton has done has been rightly described by members of both political parties as disgusting, reprehensible and revolting. But maybe it's time to apply words like that to the way in which many Americans have reacted to the past 12 months. Fat and full of themselves, they don't want anything to block their view of the screen while they lounge on the couch and watch Australian rules football.

Bathed in their own ennui and apathy, too many Americans took the past year off. It's time they got back to work on real life.