Democrats have been tripping over each other in the mad dash to distance themselves from former President Clinton and his pardon of Marc Rich. And before one news cycle has passed, they've already begun to wail about Hugh Rodham's influence in two more pardons. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Representatives Barney Frank and Henry Waxman, Senators Joe Lieberman, Chuck Schumer, Russell Feingold and Paul Wellstone, and former Clinton Commerce Secretary Bill Daley have all taken the time to blast Clinton. In doing so, they've run right into the welcoming arms of Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton, who is milking his investigation of the pardons for all he can.

Sure, George W. Bush did away with the White House Women's Office of Initiatives and Outreach. He's given us a first lady who prefers to be seen and not heard. He hired women with much fanfare, then promptly dismissed their input and humiliated them in public. (Think Dick Cheney usurping Condoleezza Rice's authority and the repeated episodes in which Bush publicly contradicted and muzzled Christine Todd Whitman.) He's hacking away at the right to choose, and he's eliminating birth control coverage for federal employees. Never mind that. In his first hundred days, George Bush has done feminists a big favor.