As fate would have it, a new book titled, THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE, has just hit the book shelves.  Author Ken Bormley has sought to give a historical account of the famous bout between Ken Starr who investigated Bill Clinton in what would be forever known as the Monica Lewinski scandal.
Starr, who is not a Baptist, has just been named as the head of the largest Baptist University in the world.
     Rutgers University historian David Greenberg, wrote a review of Gormley's book for the Washington Post.  Greenberg compared Ken Starr to Col. Nicholson, the character in the famous story, Bridge over the River Kwai.    Col. Nicholson forgot the greater good in his quest to fulfill the task of building a bridge for the Japanese while he was a prisoner of war.  The moral to Greenberg's point is well taken in that Starr, who now admits he should never have engaged in such an activity, did not realize who he was aiding.  At least Nicholson got a bridge, while Starr never drew any Clinton blood in his $52 million project that became a bridge to nowhere.
     Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, also did a review of the book for the San Francisco Chronicle.  He claims that from the work one sees an abuse of power by Starr's staff.  The staff, which had an agenda against Clinton, treated the Lewinski family in a harsh way.  Archibald Cox said of the entire story; "Starr's investigation was carried on as an attack on the White House from the beginning to end."  (see SFGate.com Feb. 2010)  Some historians suggest that Starr's work led to the seating of George W. Bush as President and thus Bush foreign policy would never have come to pass unless Starr did his thing.  Though Texas Republicans might find affection for such actions, you an imagine what Texas Democrats think.
     My own take is that more than comparing Starr to Col. Nicholson, I find his efforts in the Clinton scandal similar to the story told in the 7th chapter of the Gospel of John.  In John's story a promiscuous Jewish girl is drug into the public spotlight in order to get someone.  A famous Baptist preacher used to say the act committed by the accusers was worse than the act committed by the woman in the heat of passion.  One irony to the story is the host of political folks who wanted impeachment and were themselves engaging in sexual scandals during the same time period.
     Starr now heads a school that was once a great bastion for First Amendment issues and religious liberty. Lately, the school has had professors who published books claiming people like Richard Land are middle of the road while folks like the Baptist Joint Committee are extremists.  The BJC is the organization that helped give birth to Americans United for separation of Church and State.
     I recall going online to see the list of Hollywood celebrities who sent Clinton millions of dollars to defend him against the charges.  The entire story makes Starr a pretty dangerous fellow with his use of power, money and the courts. Most of us don't have the  rich friends the Clinton's have if Starr went after us.
     Baylor's choice has stirred up a controversy in the lone star state.  Many people in Texas are embarrassed at the choice for president, and they are not all Democrats.  Lots of them are Baptists.  Baylor, once known as a moderate school, has raised all sorts of questions about its future.  The school, which has been known to flirt with several Texas Baptist religious right leaders, has caused many to wonder what is going on?