LOW FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: THAT'S THE LEGACY

Speak Out callers have said it over and over again: What a shame this nation has been dragged to such moral depths by the leader of the free world, our president. Some callers have been much more vivid in their comments.

The bad news is that the callers have reason to make such statements.

The good news is that there are still Americans here and there who will never accept such low behavior from someone who holds such high office.

But the sad fact is our senses have been dulled by the repeated blows of lying, cheating, obfuscation, twisting and grandstanding. William Jefferson Clinton, a man consumed with what the history books will say about him, is so deep in muck that he doesn't comprehend his legacy is already written and he wrote it. This is the president who will be forever remembered as the man who took power and used it for his own advantage in ways that most Americans of just one short generation ago would have found intolerable, unacceptable and unworthy of any occupant of the White House.

But, thanks to an economic engine that seems to be producing its own endless fuel supply, President Clinton has not only managed to get away with his unspeakable behavior, but he also has picked up a broad base of supporters.

"If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."

Remember who said that? Abraham Lincoln.

As with anyone who spawns fan clubs, a popular figure's best flattery is imitation. And goodness knows there are plenty of politicians capitalizing today on Clinton's personal credo: If you tell a lie long enough, plenty of people will accept it as the truth, and that's all that matters.

Last week, two events coincided on the same day:

A federal judge ruled that the president of the United States committed a criminal violation of the Privacy Act. And, in a speech, that same president admitted "it was wrong" to accept illegal foreign donations in the 1996 campaign.

For the most part, the nation scarcely blinked its collective eye.

This wasn't some two-bit petty crook. It was the president of the United States. And no one seemed to care.

If Americans truly are willing to settle for the worst in the White House, they deserve everything Clinton has given us. And if Americans truly believe it's OK to put up with such behavior in order to preserve an economic boom, they deserve everything Clinton has given us.

But surely most Americans believe honor and decency are essential to the foundation of a strong nation. If not, we have proven that no individual, not even a sitting president, could do so much damage in so short a time without a lot of help.

From all of us.