Memo to Chris Matthews: Hillary Was More Than an "Enabler" of Bill Clinton's Infidelities;

Has the truth ever played a smaller role in a presidential campaign than in the current one?

The news media coverage, particularly on television and the Internet, has been overwhelmingly driven by entertainment.  That's why Republican Donald Trump has thrived. Trump "gets" how superficial television coverage has become and he aims to attract attention accordingly.  That's why he's been able to say the most reckless, bigoted, mean, crazy things and keep leading in most polls.
Distortions, half-truths, out-of-context statements and lies have always been a big part of presidential campaigns, but, in 2016, larger falsehoods go uncovered by the press than ever before.  While the Republicans have made, by far, the most misleading statements, I noticed a recent example of distortion - this time on a popular political TV talk show - regarding Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. 
Chris Matthews on his show, "Hardball," last week, was discussing Trump's recent criticisms of Clinton and her role as her husband, Bill Clinton, engaged in various sexual indiscretions in the past.  Trump had claimed that Hillary had been "an enabler" of Clinton's infidelities.
Matthews said emphatically that he didn't think Hillary had ever been "an enabler," and, he went on to praise how well Hillary had emerged from the Monica Lewinsky episode in the 1990s from the White House.

I know Matthews likes the Clintons, but, I thought, this was ridiculous.  What about in 1992?  Didn't Matthews recall how Hillary had assisted Bill when his entire quest for the presidency was on the line?

I remembered, very clearly, the events of early 1992, when Bill Clinton was campaigning before the New Hampshire Primary.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, came Gennifer Flowers and her allegations that she'd been involved in a 12-year affair with Bill.  Clinton and his campaign staff immediately began aggressively denying Flowers' allegations, which had first appeared in an article in a tabloid newspaper.  "It's cash for trash," said Clinton's top aides, who went on an all-out offensive to
try to destroy Flowers' credibility.

In the instance or two when members of the media spontaneously asked Clinton himself directly about Flowers, he gave the briefest of denials, but, I remember thinking:  "He's not acting like a guy with nothing to worry about."

Then, in a desparate move, the Clintons lined up an appearance on "60 Minutes," immediately following the Super Bowl.

Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" interviewed both Clintons, and Bill denied Flowers' allegation of a 12-year affair or any affair with Flowers.  He did acknowledge he had "caused pain in my marriage," but avoided volunteering  specifics about his relationship with Flowers or any alleged extramarital affairs.  (Flowers had a press conference the next day and brought excerpts of tape recordings of phone conversations she had had with Bill, including a few vague references to their relationship).  

Hillary, who sat by Bill's side during the "60 Minutes" interview, contributed comments occasionally that backed up, or, supplemented, Bill's account.  At one point, she said she had spoken to two different women (to show her empathy or support) who had been linked to Bill somehow.  At another moment, Hillary said, by what she and Bill had been willing to discuss, they had "gone further than anybody we know of and that's all we're going to say..... and we're going to just leave the ultimate decision up to the American people, " Hillary told Kroft.

Clearly, Hillary's role in this 1992 instance amounted to far more than "enabling." She helped Bill defend himself against explosive allegations at the most important press appearance to do so.  And, by doing so, she helped Bill Clinton lie about Gennifer Flowers.  I say lie because six years later, in a deposition related to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit vs. Bill Clinton, President Clinton admitted he had had a sexual relationship with Gennifer Flowers. (In the deposition, he stated that he'd had a one-time encounter with Flowers rather than the 12-year-affair she claimed)

His lie in 1992 had helped him become President.  Shortly after the "60 Minutes" appearance, Bill Clinton, though he lost the New Hampshire Primary, called himself "The Comeback Kid" because of his better-than-expected second-place finish, and, a few  months later, Clinton was nominated for President.

I have no idea what Hillary's role has been every time Bill Clinton has faced allegations of infidelities.  There have been many times.  And, I know that Chris Matthews, in his comment last week, seemed to be focusing primarily on Hillary's role during and after the Monica Lewinsky affair.   However, because Trump's labeling Hillary "an enabler" seemed to apply to more than one affair, it seemed to me that Matthews's comments amounted to quite a broad defense of Hillary also.

It's a defense that - when you consider her key role in her husband's 1992 campaign - is badly flawed because it is simply not true.