Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at the Southern Governors Association meeting in Little Rock, Ark., Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

There's a story going around the tabloids and the trashier parts of the mainstream media that could spell trouble for the presumed Democratic frontrunner in 2016. It concerns a certain (as he would be listed on Louisiana ballots) William "Bill" Clinton.

The story involves Clinton palling around with the very shady (and very rich) Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein, a convicted pedophile who would later donate somewhere between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Presidential Library, reportedly flew with Clinton and a couple of babes to visit the Sultan of Brunei back in 2002.

There's so much trouble packed into that flight plan it must be causing Team Hillary some sleepless nights.

First, the Sultan of Brunei isn't the sort of man the Clintons or anyone else should have anything to do with, given that his state is so medieval it wants to execute gay people. Second, if there is one thing the Clintons need to put a stop to if they are going to make good on their dream of creating a political dynasty that surpasses the Kennedys, it is more "bimbo eruptions."

Epstein has been accused of many unsavory crimes involving mostly underage girls and tropical orgies. He is such a toxic figure that when Prince Andrew was linked to him last month, the royal had to cut short a Swiss Alps getaway and jet back to London to huddle with his advisors.

Thus far, all these creepy stories have been largely confined to the Page Sixes and National Enquirers of the world. Those are the same outlets where tales of John Edwards' adulterous parenthood languished while his Democratic enablers in the mainstream media studiously dodged the story.

It stayed there until the Enquirer caught Edwards red-handed, slinking around a Los Angeles hotel. At that point, even the dailies had to acknowledge the former Democratic senator and presidential aspirant - who ran on the Democratic ticket as the vice-presidential candidate in 2004 - was a proven sleaze.

Edwards' trashy but undeniably juicy career has moved on to Hollywood options. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, still has her eyes on the prize (and the high flying expenses to prove it).

So, leaving aside the pain Bill's adventures must be causing in the Clintons' surprisingly sturdy marriage, all this can't be good for politics. If Hillary is going to become president, Bill has got to behave himself.

To be sure, Bill has a much longer leash now than he once did. That's partly because, although American voters would again be getting two Clintons for the price of one in 2016, this time around Hillary would hold the occasional press conference. But it's also partly because Clinton's philandering is a known commodity and thus already built into the price.

That's the phrase they love to use on Wall Street when pushing a stock with a potential bombshell lurking but, invariably, when the bomb detonates it turns out it wasn't built into the price at all.

Consequently, on this one I support the mainstream press ignoring the story. At this point, a survey of the potential Democratic field and a close look at Clinton's presumed rivals shows it would not be in America's interest to deter Hillary's bid. She's the best the Democrats have got right now.

What's more, many of us made that mistake in 2008. Afflicted with Clinton Derangement Syndrome, we welcomed the surging Barack Obama. Anyone-but-a-Clinton summed up the stance of many conservatives, and they cheered as Obama hit Hillary hard from the left and won the nomination.

That is worth remembering when the phrase "President Warren" pops into mind.

It's all well and good to sit around and laugh at the prospect of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., taking her feather-brained populism on the campaign trail. But there wouldn't be anything funny about a Warren administration. Hillary Clinton would not only be a better president than Warren, she would be a much better president.

Bill Clinton's tawdry antics aren't going to stop. They deserve to be known, too. Hopefully, however, they will remain a tabloid staple, proving insufficiently explosive to block Hillary's nomination but sordid enough to remind Americans they don't need that circus back in the White House.

James Varney can be reached at