Clinton has perfect timing

President Bill Clinton is a master at media manipulation.

About a week ago, Clinton surprised the country when he settled his long-running lawsuit with Paula Jones by giving her $850,000. The settlement came weeks after many Democratic victories in the November elections.

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Jimmy Chai

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But the news of the settlement would not last long.

One day later, reports of United States' preparation to attack Iraq hit the media. Constant television news breaks and front-page headlines of the possible attack overshadowed the Jones settlement. For two days, America was on alert for another possible war with Iraq.

But at the last minute, the attack was diverted by a letter to United Nations officials sent by Saddam Hussein.

Like stale beer, the three-day old news of Jones' settlement soon became flat.

Over the years, Clinton has found ways to divert the country's attention on different issues, but the timing of the Jones' settlement is his best work yet.

"Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger," said one of the characters in "Godfather Part III."

If that's true, Clinton is an expert marksman.

Of all the times Clinton could have settled, why now?

Placing the settlement right next to an important issue such as war makes the settlement seem meaningless. If it stood by itself on a non-news week, it would receive far greater attention, which Clinton does not want.

The four-year-old Jones case, which is considered the genesis of Clinton's current impeachment problems, had caused Clinton nothing but trouble.

Around the time the first Clinton-Jones lawsuit was dismissed, allegations of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky had erupted. Soon after, Jones filled for appeal.

After admitting to "sexual conduct" with Lewinsky, Jones' appeals case seemed to gain steam. Clinton was in a bind.

Settlement in the Jones' case seemed almost necessary. But with Clinton's back against the wall because the stock market plummeting, and November elections coming up, the timing was not right.

But good old Saddam (who Clinton should thank) came to his rescue.

Clinton's political agenda, which in his first term focused on the improvement of the nation, turned to foreign policy during his second term. The eyes of the nation became crossed when Clinton diverted Americans' problems overseas.

Clinton's first attempt at shifting America's attention overseas came when firing missiles at two suspected chemical weapons labs in Sudan. The diversion failed miserably, ironically, due to the vast similarities it had with the movie "Wag the Dog."

But Clinton's second attempt to cover up the sex scandal (the current Jones settlement) does not seem as obvious. I guess someone in Washington finally saw the movie.

The president's timing for settlement was almost perfect. Riding the coat tale of a very successful election month for the democrats and coming back of the stock market, Jones' settlement was strategically placed right before a headline-packed week (Iraq missile attack, impeachment hearings, meetings in Asia).

The headline stories would almost surely bump any story about Jones off the front page (Newsweek did not run a story on the Jones settlement).

This is not good news for Jones, who is at the last page of her place in the history books. Her appearance today on "The Roseanne Show" may just as well be a final farewell.

For Clinton, it is one down and an impeachment hearing to go.

Former President Richard Nixon tried to take the media head on, restricting the press - especially television - with government control.

Clinton, however, uses a more clever approach. He uses the media's need for information as a weapon by strategically bombarding the press with information.

Jimmy Chai is a film and electronic arts major at CSULB.