A special flip-flop; in trying to jettison his past and his allies, Clinton raised a far bigger issue.(Column)

The political flip-floap is time-honored--or at least time-dishonored--practice in public life, meaning it's been with us since the days of, oh, say, Brutus. What's more there are occasions when a sudden, stark change of position, which is what a flip-flop is, can be the prudent, practical and even statesmanlike thing to do. So Bill Clinton would be within his rights to wonder why there was such a firestorm a week or so ago--one that continues to smolder--when he was found to be giving speeches strongly conveying the idea that he had now flip-flopped on his own 1993…