Way back in the olden thymes, I was sitting on a couch at a friend’s house, watching the news while having beers with friends. Bill Clinton had just slithered out from under a rock and was defending himself against pot smoking charges. That’s when he uttered his famous line about never inhaling. My response at the time was that Bill Clinton is a man who really enjoys lying.

In the South, this sort of politician is a part of every states lore. The archetype, of course, is Huey Long, but Southern politics are littered with minor versions of the Kingfish. It’s not just that these guys are crooked or unethical. Their crimes are usually trivial and venal, in the grand scheme of things. It’s that they enjoy the action. They love being on the edge, never quite sure if they will hang on or fall into the pit.

That’s the thing to remember with the Clintons. They really enjoy lying and all the intrigue that goes with it. That’s what gets them off. It’s at the heart of their relationship. They are like two con-men competing with one another as to who can run the most outlandish con. All the analysis of their relationship, it seems to me, has missed the mark because these are not normal people. They are sociopaths.

That’s what makes the coming response to the Clinton Cash book one of the most anticipated events of the summer. I heard the author on the radio detailing his findings and it is a very well thought out case. The author clearly went into it with an understanding of how the Clintons were likely to respond. Like a good bunko cop, he seems to have thought things through a few steps, anticipating how these two tend to play the game.

The thing with the Clintons, in addition to their love of lying, is their Chechen morality. Faulkner described the Snopes clan in his novels as having a vermin-like rapacity. That’s the Clinton way of life. Nothing is ever on the level and they are devoid of anything resembling a moral framework. They are moral nullities. That means they will do anything they need to do to win.

It’s what always baffles their critics. Presented with an ironclad case against them, the Clintons will respond with some lie that is so outlandish, no one can believe anyone would says such a thing. Bill Clinton was out the other day claiming the author of the book was jammed up in some sort of ethics issue over the book. Bill Clinton would call him a child molester if he thought it would work.

The problem as you see in this piece is their adversary this time did his homework on them. There can only be a few ways to defend yourself against corruption charges. One is to dispute the facts. Another is to smear the people. The other is to offer up an alternative explanation that fits the presented facts. This is often the best strategy because it quickly turns into a he said/she said controversy, where the accused looks like the innocent party.

Peter Schweizer let the the big foot liberal media operations vet his data before publication. That inoculated him against claims of shoddy research. He’s also a well respected writer so calling him a nut is unlikely to work. By letting the liberal media have special access to his research, he cut off the usual avenues for team Clinton, which is to make a bunch of bogus claims about the accuracy of the charges.

I don’t think any of it matters. The American media is too morally compromised when it comes to the Clintons to turn on them now. The political class is long past policing themselves. The people bankrolling Hillary don’t care that she is a sociopath. In fact, they prefer it. If your plan is to auction off what remains of the country it’s better to have someone in the White House who is a moral nullity.

At the end, Athens was not undone by a cunning Alcibiades, leading them into a foolish war with Syracuse. Julius Caesar did not defeat a robust and confident Senate on his way to becoming Emperor.  Eventually, a ruling elite loses its capacity to police itself and defend itself. That’s what has happened in America. The people in charge lack the will and moral authority to enforce the rules, which is why Bonnie and Clyde of the Ozarks have been able to flourish in Washington for close to three decades.