EDITORIAL : CLINTON'S CUNNING THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM IS HOLLOW AND A SHAM.

President Clinton's ability to turn every ethical lapse into a seemingly winning position is uncanny - and unconscionable.

With his indefatigable charm, Clinton stood before the American public Friday and placed the blame for his party's fund-raising shakedown squarely on the shoulders of ``the system.'' ``The system is out of whack,'' said the president, who once promised to have the most ethical administration in history.

Clinton's call for campaign finance reform is nothing short of duplicitous. The system is corrupt and ``out of whack'' because the candidates - such as Clinton - abuse it. Granted, the country won't know whether evidence exists of clear-cut influence peddling until this sordid mess is thoroughly investigated. But the facts raise serious questions. For example, four weeks after Arkansas businessman Charles Yah Lin Trie brought $460,000 in suspicious contributions to the president's legal defense fund, the White House announced that he had been appointed to an Asian trade policy advisory commission. Clinton would have us believe such appointments were mere ego massaging and window dressing.

In another case, just months after Webster Hubbell was forced to resign to face a criminal investigation in 1994, the former associate attorney general received more than $400,000, including payments from businesses controlled by old friends and campaign donors of President Clinton. Among the businesses to pay Hubbell was the organizer of a multibillion-dollar development in China that received the endorsement of the Clinton administration at about the same time Hubbell was being paid.

When Clinton said there was no evidence of influence peddling, he was correct. So far.

But Clinton is not alone in the new art of access peddling. Although Clinton may have taken the practice to new heights, trading access for cash is a longstanding tradition in both parties.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has failed to pay even a penny of a $300,000 fine for admitted ethical lapses, courted wealthy donors to his political action committee by promising special access to him and a chance to influence national policy. And just for the record, GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole did much the same thing.

So what does the ``everybody's doing it'' mentality do for the republic?

For starters, it curries cynicism, which leads to apathy and ultimately invites a disrespect for the law on all levels.

Clinton's response to all the questions about impropriety, ethical lapses, and questionable judgment is to fix the system, not hold the current players accountable.

We don't buy it. What this country needs is someone to drive the money changers out of the White House and the Capitol. Congress cannot be trusted to thoroughly investigate the growing fund-raising scandal because too many of its own members have too much to hide.

We think it's time to go beyond an outside counsel and appoint a national commission of stand-up Americans - similar to L.A.'s Christopher Commission - who can be trusted to investigate this sleazy mess thoroughly and can provide clear and comprehensive changes to campaign financing.