High life
Strange heroes
Talc'
New York It's a terrible thing to contemplate, but I fear that the Oklahoma City bomb might get Bill Clinton re-elected. No sooner had we learned that the perpetrator was an American, than the Draft Dodger was on the airwaves trying to silence his critics by suggesting they instigated the whole thing by their anti-government rhetoric. Mind you, as I write this, nobody has as yet been charged, no one has admitted anything, and I'm not so sure there are no foreigners involved.
Still, the War Hero is pointing fingers at his most vociferous opponents, namely Rush Limbaugh and Gordon F. Liddy, of Water- gate fame. Both gentlemen have highly pop- ular radio programmes with millions of listeners and are unsparing about Slick Willie. Leave it to the greatest liar and opportunist ever to inhabit the White House to turn a tragedy such as this into a political victory.
Liddy is a hell of a man. My father wanted to name a ship after him for his refusal to spill the beans about Watergate. He did five years of hard time, never complained, never explained and never asked for quarter. When he emerged from prison after half a decade he answered questions from the hacks in Latin, confusing the jackals. He once tried to stop a thief stealing his car by throwing himself against it and sustaining serious injuries. It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but it was certainly the bravest. He gave my prison book a wonder- ful review, and when I dined with him last year in Washington he turned out to be warm, intelligent and extremely well read.
America is a very strange country. A large part of the population is addicted to televi- sion talk shows, which in my opinion repre- sent everything that is wretched in American life — prurience, voyeurism, the death of privacy, the culture of celebrity, the loss of social controls like shame and pride — while another part of this great country finds such shows sickening.
Clinton and his gang know how to play the former to a T. A disaster like Oklahoma City brings out the best (worst) in Clinton. He goes on the box non-stop, baring his soul as if he were on Oprah, with crocodile tears and a breaking voice, and through it all scor- ing brownie points towards next year's elec- tion.
The greatest ignoramus of them all, the IRA champion Phil Donahue, has been echoing Clinton, going as far as to say he understands why black jurors might acquit O.J. Simpson in view of past injustices by whites against blacks. It makes Greek poli- tics seem almost honest.
And speaking of Greece, last Sunday was Greek Orthodox Easter. On Saturday night I dined with George and Lita Livanos at Alexander Marchessini's house, and then went to the midnight service in the Greek Cathedral. Alexander has one of the most beautiful apartments in the Bagel, and he and George Livanos have been friends of mine for nearly 40 years. The Greek service is very moving. We stood outside the church with our lighted candles and then the Arch- bishop Lakovos emerged with the cross and we sang `Christos Anesti'. Following Lakovos came the King and Queen of Greece, the Crown Prince and his brother and sister, and this being Noo Yawk, Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The Church is an agent of spirituality which is unequalled, and Alexan- der, George and I tried to imagine the last Easter service held in Constantinople just before the fall of the empire in 1453, when Constantine Palaeologos and his court knew their fate.
The sad news came on Sunday, when I heard of the death of the Duchess of Beau- fort. The last time I saw her was at Bad- minton, when I was godfather to her grandaughter Romi. After the christening she remarked that I had repeated the vows of a godfather louder than the rest. Being a sinner, I felt I had to, and Caroline Beaufort gave me a knowing wink. She was the most wonderful woman and a great lady. Bad- minton will not be the same without her.
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