Tourists from Japan and Iowa snapped family photos. An overserved homeless man shouted about the virtues of family and work. Two yuppies on in-line skates asked the location of the nearest Starbucks.
On an unprecedented day for the presidency, the atmosphere outside the White House on Monday did not match the high political drama inside, where President Clinton was testifying for a grand jury investigating his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
The mood seemed the same throughout the capital, with few, if any, obvious signs of the subject threatening Clinton’s presidency and dominating the media echo chamber.
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While the most powerful elected official in the world confronted hours of questions, many citizens seemed aware but not especially concerned.
The usual languor of a muggy summer only underscored the surface apathy so many citizens have claimed they feel toward a seemingly tawdry tale. This declared lack of interest has been marked by unmistakable curiosity. Those who swear to indifference have raised the circulations and ratings of the print and television outlets immersed in the sad soap opera of Clinton, Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and assorted bit players.
Preparation for the day’s events began in the drizzle of the predawn darkness. By 5 a.m., there were dozens of tripods and television lights rising on the White House’s North Lawn.
Foreign reporters began cranking out live reports, undeterred by a lack of actual information. Claus Kleber, bureau chief of the ARD German network, offered his viewers reports on the hour, a spot on the prime evening newscast (the third story after the Northern Ireland bombing and Russian fiscal crisis), a 15-minute special, and a report for a Bavarian affiliate.
Among more than 50 reporters, photographers and engineers inside the White House briefing room was Delia Linares, chief correspondent for Venpres, a Venezuelan news agency that had not given the story much attention until Monday.
“It is unusual to see a head of state questioned for an affair,” Linares said. “It is important because everything that happens here, one way or another, affects the rest of the world.”
Several blocks away, atop the Hay Adams Hotel, the now-standard symbols of a Big Story were assembled: Tents on the rooftop afforded a grand view of the White House for ABC, NBC and CBS and the nation’s most famous tale-tellers–Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather.
As tourists ambled about, the vigorously competitive cable networks CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel filled hours of no-news with speculation, Clinton history and unadorned opinion.
“This is a pathetic day,” said Cynthia Alksne, a former prosecutor and pundit for MSNBC.
It was, for sure, an odd day. It included mainstream television emblazoning in boldface letters during the breakfast hour the definition of sexual relations used for Clinton’s deposition in the Paula Jones lawsuit.
Television reminded viewers about such Lewinsky-related factoids as this being the 72nd day of evidence heard by the 23 members of the grand jury.
And it showed Clinton’s now-famous denial of “sexual relations” with Lewinsky. And her going into her grand jury appearance. Over and over.
Clinton’s Monday night address was seen around the world.
“America is our closest defense ally and second-biggest trading partner. The last thing we need is a destabilized America,” said Australian correspondent Michael Gleeson.
Those journalists from afar, whose readers and viewers might see much of the Lewinsky matter with Old World condescension, conceded an underlying reality and overriding gravity.
“In Germany, the perception is, `The stupid American Puritans shot themselves in the foot,’ ” Kleber said.
“But we keep telling our audience this is not about sex but the rule of law.”