MediaWatch: August 24, 1998  Vol. Twelve No. 14  Tossing
Bouquets at "Humiliated Hillary"  First lady painted as Hero
Instead of as Complicit in Deceit  The impending arrival of the
truth about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky spurred a wave of
supportive TV coverage for Hillary Clinton. On August 14, the
Friday before Clinton testified, CBS’s Eric Engberg and NBC’s
Andrea Mitchell filed odes to the First Lady.  Mitchell poured
this syrup: "Politician, strategist, lawyer, protector — in a
marriage that friends say is based on brutal honesty and
unconditional love." Mitchell asserted: "Close friends say she
knew everything from Day One and still went on NBC in January to
deny all." Instead of disparaging a lying First Lady, Mitchell
worried: "So how does she cope? What other wife would tolerate
so much embarrassment? Two clues to Hillary Clinton’s character:
friends say she is deeply religious and incredibly angry,
blaming Ken Starr, not her husband." Mitchell didn’t wonder: Is
it a "deeply religious" activity