V-Grams

V-Gram 7

January 24, 1996


The Clintons and the Cult of Personality

In the Fall of 1993, a call went out to the artists and artisans of America. They were to design and submit individual ornaments for the national Christmas tree on the theme, "There is an angel in the White House." The blatant inference was in line with the effort, unprecedented in this society, to elevate the Clintons to superhuman status. The "cult of the personality" (euphemism for deification of leaders) was all around me in Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Hungary; it is a novel experience here.

Given the healthy disrespect with which Americans normally treat politicians, the campaign may abate now. Superior beings are expected to offer more than assurances that nothing criminal has been committed. Sooner or later, the suspicions about using the opportunity of public service for personal gain will spread through even the most devoted ranks of the congregation.

The orchestrated accolades about brilliance, and integrity, and feeling, and compassion remained, invariably, in the realm of the general. The growing roster of questionable deeds - which by now requires a veritable army of highly skilled professionals to explain - is, on the other hand, quite specific.