Elaine Laffertyit's the silly summer season in New York politics again. But as usual here, the latest absurdity is as wretched and as dangerous as a deserted subway platform in Brooklyn at 2 a.m.
And because the latest brouhaha involves Hillary Rodham Clinton, a story that might have been dismissed as too unbelievable for publication has caught fire.
At issue is a new book called State of the Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton, written by Jerry Oppenheimer, a former reporter for the tabloid National Enqurier. The book contains an allegation that in 1974 - no tale is stale if involves the Clintons - on the election evening of Bill Clinton's first losing race for Congress, Hillary Rodham got into a screaming match with campaign manager Paul Fray, during which she hurled the insult "Jew bastard" at Mr Fray.
A little background on Mr Fray is in order. He has been an opponent of the Clintons for years and a ready source for reporters and investigators seeking to dig up dirt on them. David Brock, author of the 1995 polemic The Seduction of Hillary Rodham, interviewed Mr Fray and his wife, Mary, extensively. Back then, neither mentioned the rather unforgettable anti-Semitic remark, says Mr Brock.
No matter. It's the season of enhanced memory. Mr Fray was once a solicitor in Arkansas, but surrendered his law licence in 1980 after it was determined he had been paid to alter a court document. After that, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage that led to drug addiction, erratic behaviour and memory loss, according to court records.
On July 1st, 1997, Mr Fray wrote Ms Clinton a letter. In his handwriting, it read: "At one point in my life, I would say things without thinking, without factual foundation, without rhyme or remedy until it furthered my own agenda. I was wrong and I have wronged you. I ask for your forgiveness."
No matter. It's election season and no accusation goes unreported. Of course there is the matter of Mr Fray's actual ethnicity and religious affiliation. He is a lifelong Baptist. But he now maintains his paternal great-grandmother was Jewish. It has been suggested that if the then 26-year-old Hillary Rodham did hurl this epithet, she went to enormous effort to research the family tree of her then boyfriend's campaign manager in her quest for an insult.
Now on television interviews, Mr Fray insists it's all true. "I'd be glad to take a lie-detector test. That's the bottom line in a nutshell. And if that doesn't satisfy the question, then let me take a truth serum," he told ABC's Good Morning America.
Given the state of things, perhaps it will come to that. The accusers could dress in white hospital gowns and lie on stretchers while unemployed former Kenneth Starr investigators approach with serum-filled syringes. The whole business could be televised live.
The fact is, however, that Mr Fray's allegations and Mr Oppenheimer's book are being taken very seriously by Ms Clinton's campaign. In a state with a considerable Jewish vote, one that is considered critical to victory in Ms Clinton's campaign for the US Senate, such an accusation could not go unanswered.
In an unusual move, Ms Clinton called a press conference last Sunday outside her home in Chappaqua, New York. Her face taut, her voice trembling, and with tears in her eyes, she denied the charge as "absolutely untrue. It did not happen. I have never said anything like that. Ever." "My policy for the last eight years has largely been just to absorb whatever insult, whatever charge, whatever accusation anybody said, because they are so outrageous and unfair." But this accusation, said Ms Clinton, "goes to the heart of who I am".
President Clinton interrupted the Middle East peace talks to telephone newspaper editors in New York. He was present that night, he said, and his wife never uttered such a thing.
It remains to be seen whether New York voters will give the book and its charges serious consideration. The leading Jewish organisations all held press conferences this week to defend Ms Clinton. New York city mayor Rudy Giulani, once Ms Clinton's opponent in the race, also said he found the charges unscrupulous. But Congressman Rick Lazio, the fresh-faced Republican Party Senate nominee, who is running hard, has helped inflame the matter by saying he "doesn't know who to believe. Trust is the issue."
The silly season indeed, but also sad. Because aside from the political fortunes of Ms Clinton or Mr Lazio, another issue looms. The last thing New York needs is increased ethnic tensions and inflamed hatreds during a long hot summer.