Leave it to Maureen (...) Dowd to take a puff piece 60 Minutes informercial about Bill Clinton's book and turn it into an anti-Bush anti-war tirade.

The Clinton alpha instinct on Monica, fueled by a heady cocktail of testosterone and opportunism, was the same one that led W. into his march of folly with Iraq. After 9/11, the president, vice president and secretary of defense wanted to go to the Middle East and knock the stuffing out of somebody bad - because it would feel good, because it would put our enemies on notice, and because it would make the president look strong.

The folks at 1600 Pennsylvania didn't have Osama's address. They couldn't go after Iran or North Korea because those countries could defend themselves and retaliate, maybe with nukes. They couldn't invade Pakistan or Saudi Arabia because they're our "allies." But the Bush team knew that it wouldn't be hard to get rid of the second-rate dictator and romance novelist who posed no real threat.

Am I missing something, or is that "romance novelist" crack about Saddam's rape rooms?

Tricky Dick may actually believe in his concocted connection, but he must also realize that the administration can't lose the terrorist-linkage argument for war, having already lost the W.M.D. argument.

If our leaders didn't lead us there, why did 69 percent of Americans, in a Washington Post poll last September, believe that Saddam was involved in the attacks?

Well 57 percent of Americans also believe that our nation has lost jobs over the past 6 months, when in fact more than 1.2 million jobs have been created? That must be Bush's fault too.

Mr. Clinton, though he was vilified by the right, tittered at by the world and dolled up in pink-and-black suede shoes as a toddler by his mom, is selling a zillion books.

As Republicans keep saying, with fingers crossed, W. has stayed even with John Kerry despite the litany on Iraq, terrorism and domestic affairs that has turned out quite differently than promised.

But one thing you can say for Bill Clinton: His "Who's gonna stop me?" Oval Office power surge produced a much lower body count.

Tell that to Vince Foster, or the people who died in the Sudanese aspirin factory. Better yet, tell that to the families of those killed in the World Trade Center bombings, the Pentagon, Oklahoma City, or Waco. Clinton has plenty of blood on his hands.