"Brothers will be brothers" seems to be the message of Todd Purdum's article about the Clinton siblings. Comparing Hugh and Tony Rodham and Roger Clinton to the likes of Donald Nixon, Sam Johnson and Billy Carter misses the point. The brothers may be similar, but the way the president or candidate treated them is quite different -- and that's the problem.

Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson treated their brothers as embarrassments, concerned that their rogue, off-the-shelf conduct would reflect poorly on their administrations. But Bill and Hillary Clinton have gone out of their way to empower their siblings, granting pardons to their clients, introducing them to money-making opportunities and even counseling them to strike while they can still exploit their relationship with the president.

In describing the "latest imbroglio involving Hillary Clinton's brother Tony Rodham," Purdum notes Tony's efforts to get a visa approved for a foreign investor in Clinton friend and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's company while his sister was secretary of state. But he fails to mention that it was Bill Clinton himself who got the Chinese investor together with Rodham and McAuliffe at the Clinton Global Initiative in Hong Kong in 2008, just days after Hillary's nomination as secretary.

Purdum speaks of Bill's embarrassment at his brother Roger's drug arrest while he was governor, but has no comment on the finding of the House Committee and Government Operations in its 2002 report that Bill actually quotes Roger Clinton as saying that the president "advised him to use his connections to gain financial advantage." Roger was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to seek pardons for 13 clients.

Nor does the article by Purdue tell the full story about the cash-for-visa scandal involving Tony Rodham. At least one of the visa applications was for a vice president of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecom company that has been accused of spying on American industries, pirating American technologies and providing crucial equipment to our enemies. Huawei has been trying for years to do business in the U.S., but we won't let it in because of its history of cyber spying and reported closeness to the Chinese military. But Tony was all too happy to help Huawei.

Except for stints as a prison guard, bouncer and private investigator, Tony's career has been completely based on his family connections. But Tony's been a busy man lately.

He also picked up a seat on the Board of a company that received the permit to mine for gold in Haiti, again exploiting and making money, this time off Bill's role as the savior of Haiti after the devastating earthquake there.

How did Tony get the gold-mining gig? At a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, where he met the chief executive of the Delaware-based VCS Mining Company.

The embarrassment caused to previous presidents hit them with little warning. But Bill and Hillary have had more than ample evidence of their shenanigans. And, by opening doors, making introductions, granting pardons and the like, the former first couple are enablers, not bystanders.



