[UA] Thomas Jefferson as Clinton proxy?

[Matthew Rowan Norwood]

http://www.plastic.com/article.pl?sid=01/07/05/1628243&mode=nested

Story in the WSJ recently (sorry, I don't have a subscription either --
the link above takes you to a discussion about it on Plastic) about,
among other things, the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemmings controversy
being an allegorical battleground for Clinton-bashers and -supporters
during the impeachment hearings. 

Here's my UA idea: can you use a dead person as a proxy? In this case,
you have Cliton apologists defending his dalliance with Lewinsky by
drawing the comparison to Jefferson. The proxy connection is
strengthened by his name: William Jefferson Clinton. You've actually got
a few different factions playing the field: the conservatives who deny
Jefferson's infidelities, the PC crowd who condemn Jefferson along with
Clinton, and the moderate Clinton fans who absolve both with a sweeping
"Hey, everybody's human."

By tying someone's reputation with the historical legacy of someone long
dead, you set up a kind of "reputation proxy", which might be usable as
some other kind of proxy as well. And how does Cliomancy tie into all
this?

-Matt Norwood

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