Ken Starr has died and while his name will be forever associated with the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, he remained a well-known and active figure in Right-wing circles, even into the Trump era.
A longtime member of
the Stone-Campbell Churches of Christ, he eventually became a Southern Baptist
– some cynically believe he converted in order to attain the presidency of
Baylor University.
Long revered in
Evangelical circles, the truth is Starr left behind a legacy of smut, dubious
and deceitful jurisprudence, and no small degree of hypocritical and unethical
conduct. But this is the same Evangelical community that today reveres the
likes of Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis, and Donald Trump – all deeply immoral and hypocritical
men who manipulate and exploit Christianity to their own ends, men that in many
respects rode the Evangelical cultural wave, a road that was paved by the likes
of Newt Gingrich and Ken Starr.
Starr made a mockery
of the law during the Clinton era as he became a kind of investigator-inquisitor
at large probing every aspect of the Clinton record trying to find something
that would stick. Employing bait and switch tactics he pivoted from Vince
Foster to Whitewater and yet couldn't find anything to prosecute. If anything I
think this testifies to his ineptitude as I believe there was in fact a great
deal contained within these episodes – and yet as I have suggested before, such
investigations are precarious as they open up a Pandora's Box and risk bringing
down not just a hated political rival, but allies, and perhaps even the system
itself.
Clinton was and is
dirty. Does anyone seriously doubt this? But when it comes to his dealings,
more often than not the criminality in which he participated was (shall we say)
bi-partisan.
After years of failed
investigations, Starr finally got a break when Linda Tripp decided to essentially
betray her friend. As such, Starr was given the ammunition needed to entrap
Bill Clinton – who again is hardly a sympathetic figure. Deposing the president
regarding the Paula Jones affair, the Starr team pounced on Clinton and they
were able eventually to charge him with perjury. And yet everyone knew the
perjury angle was a trick.
The whole episode
reeked of entrapment and deceit. It was not a jurisprudence rooted in any kind
of integrity or concern for justice. Starr was a mercenary operating at the
behest of powerful players within the American Right and he cared nothing for
the integrity of the law or the supposed integrity of the presidency. This was
especially ironic as the Right had made such a clamour regarding this issue of
integrity and dignity and how Clinton had tarnished the reputation of the office.
They tripped up
Clinton and then further attempted to demolish his character by publishing
salacious and pornographic accounts of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
I remember sitting in
my chair after work and reading excerpts from his report in Time magazine and
trying not to blush. The culture shifted in the 1990's on many levels and in
many regards the decade was marked by decadence and moral degeneracy. The GOP
and the American Right played no small role in this though they would attempt
to blame it all on their political opponents. They celebrated the ostentatious
ethos of the period and played their part in promoting cultural smut.
Starr provoked further
outrage years later when as president of Baylor he utterly failed to pursue sports
team-related sexual assaults on campus – a scandal that led to his ouster in
2016. It wasn't just poor management. It was a clear case of criminal
negligence – by most accounts deliberate. Hypocrisy was the word that once
again came to the fore just as it had during the 1998-1999 Clinton impeachment.
The most prominent GOP members leading the charge, Newt Gingrich, Henry Hyde,
and Bob Livingston were all involved in adulterous affairs and fellow
Evangelical Dennis Hastert who was Speaker of the House during the impeachment
was later revealed to be involved in financial misconduct – in order to cover
up the fact that he was a serial paedophile. Starr was never (to my knowledge)
accused of such misconduct but these were his associates and collectively they
helped to feed the larger perception of hypocrisy that exists around today's
Christian Right. It was therefore hardly surprising to learn that Brett
Kavanaugh was one of his protégés and one of the main authors of the filth
known as The Starr Report.
It was so ironic at
the time. They lambasted Clinton for diminishing the 'dignity' of the
presidential office and yet these men perhaps more than any others (until
Trump) are guilty of destroying its gravitas and moral authority. This is not
to let Clinton off the hook. But the way these men pursued him was not about justice
– it was cutthroat winner-take-all tactics. And ironically it backfired on them
as the public was largely put off by what they had done and Clinton left office
more popular than ever. The revulsion played no small role in bringing down
Gingrich as Speaker.
Starr continued to
give himself to gutter-level political lobbying, and corruption overshadowed
most of his affairs. He defended the Blackwater mercenaries, and of all people
Jeffrey Epstein. Starr has been described by some as his fixer. Once again the
moral bankruptcy and corruption of Starr is on full display. He was a mercenary
and whore for powerful interests and perhaps nothing reveals this more than his
dealings with Epstein.
And for a swan song,
he signed up for the Donald Trump legal team and shamelessly argued that many
of the things he went after Clinton for – were okay when it came to Donald
Trump.
It's sobering to think
that George HW Bush actually considered this man for the Supreme Court.
But it's far more
upsetting to consider that this evil and deceived man retained great respect
within the Evangelical world – another instance of judgment on that community.
But even the mainstream media repeatedly turned to this man for legal
commentary. He remained a celebrity until the day of his death and yet his
legal record is one of shame and in terms of morality – the man has no
standing. His own record condemns him.
And yet given where
things stand now, Starr seems like a minor figure, and his sins mere peccadilloes.
And yet, things would not be where they are now if not for the life labours of
one Kenneth Starr (1946-2022). The polarization of the country and the nasty
turn in politics began in earnest with Newt Gingrich but Starr was also part of
it and played a critical role in that initial wave.
See also:
https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-false-expose-part-1.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2021/05/feminism-triumphant-in-evangelical.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2018/09/trump-610-mueller-probe-misperceptions.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2018/12/some-comments-on-mueller-probe.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/11/establishment-media-and-hastert-scandal.html
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