Clinton: Robbing the Religious Right

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WASHINGTON, DC: Bill Clinton has already stolen the clothes of the Republican center — now he's coming after the Religious Right. Today the Southern Baptist president trotted out to the Rose Garden with a raft of guidelines clarifying religious freedom in the Federal workplace. There was something for everyone. In: Bibles on desks, yarmulkes on heads, even face-coverings for Muslim women. Out: putting up religious posters, Bible-thumping your innocent co-workers, and other assorted intolerant nastiness. Never mind that there was nothing new in the guidelines.

"Clinton is worried about the religious right's portrayal of the Federal government as jackbooted thugs that want to take your religious freedoms," says TIME's Clinton-watcher Jef McAllister, adding that this is nothing more than an explanatory memo to Federal managers. Just another safe, incremental Clinton policy: improving America, one pamphlet at a time.