Hubbell, Hillary Clinton's former law partner, served an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges linked to the theft of nearly $400,000 from the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. In the months between his resignation and the entering of his plea, Hubbell was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by various businessmen, many of whom were close associates of the administration. Prosecutors suggest this was "hush money." Rosenthal has now joined the chorus, essentially calling for impeaching the president for "obstruction of justice." Thomas Friedman's references to the Whitewater scandal in his recent "NATOwater" column are another indication that sensibilities are high around this scandal among a widening number of top spokespeople for the capitalist class.

When prominent Democrats join the chorus of conservatives like William Safire, who have been pelting Clinton with accusations of wrongdoing for years, it means broader layers among the U.S. rulers are not confident their commander in chief is doing the job.

These attitudes are rooted in the crisis of self- confidence that's widespread within the U.S. bourgeoisie. The dilemma for the owners of capital stems from the survival of the dictatorship of the proletariat, of noncapitalist social relations, throughout Eastern Europe and the former USSR. Eight years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Washington and its imperialist allies remain unable to reestablish the total domination of their profit system, the complete hold of class exploitation and dog-eat- dog competition within society, in that part of the world. This blocks off one of the main avenues for capitalism to exit the depression conditions it has plunged into. This road could be reached by prying open Russia and the other workers states to massive capitalist investment and exploitation. By pushing such policies as NATO expansion and military intervention in Yugoslavia, Clinton is acting for a majority among the U.S. rulers who recognize and act on the conviction that U.S. imperialism indeed lost the Cold War.

But this policy course implies a march toward military confrontation with Moscow - foretold by the current occupations of Yugoslavia and Albania - and acceleration of rifts with the U.S. competitors in France and Germany. The prospect makes many mouthpieces for Wall Street very nervous. This is what's behind Friedman's irrational arguments against NATO expansion - such as his ludicrous "explanation" that Clinton is motivated to enlarge NATO to honor promises he made to ethnic Polish voters in the 1996 elections!

Clinton's troubles make him a more dangerous president. The controversy and the ongoing Whitewater investigation may prompt the White House to launch new military forays in Europe, or elsewhere, in part to divert attention way from the administration's domestic woes. Launching a war has been a well-worn tactic of other U.S. presidents who found themselves in similarly hot waters.

The U.S. rulers' difficulty in accomplishing their objective of returning capitalism to Yugoslavia, even after a year and a half of occupation, shows they have to take on the working class in those countries and try to defeat it militarily in a much more direct manner. But before the competing imperialist powers can accomplish this goal they have to take on working people in their home countries as well - accelerating the emergence of fascist currents and forcing the slashing of wages and social services and a qualitative narrowing of democratic rights. This is a tall order for Wall Street and its representatives in Washington - one which working people in the United States and other countries can do something to derail through active resistance to austerity, racism, anti-immigrant campaigns, and related imperialist policies.  
 
 
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