The Senate hearings on campaign finance abuses have ended, but political scandal remains a national obsession. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, scandals past and present. Former special prosecutor Archibald Cox compares the current fundraising scandal with the Watergate affair. Also, journalist Seymour Hersh defends his controversial critique of John Kennedy. And why some ethics laws have actually made government more corrupt.

SEGMENT 1:

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh is taking a lot of critical heat for his book "The Dark Side of Camelot." Hersh maintains in this conversation with Jim Fleming that John F. Kennedy was an obsessive liar and philanderer whose reckless behavior and attitudes constituted a serious security problem for the nation.

SEGMENT 2:

Archibald Cox, the first Watergate special prosecutor and Chairman Emeritus of Common Cause, talks with Steve Paulson about the Watergate scandal and compares it to the current crop of campaign finance accusations. Also, Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and co-author (with Peter Morgan) of "The Appearance of Impropriety," tells Judith Strasser that the regulations created after Watergate to curb government corruption have actually made it worse.

SEGMENT 3:

Writer Christopher Buckley tells Steve Paulson why living in Washington is so helpful to his work as a satirist; explains how to spot a lobbyist; and recounts the story of the hoax he unleashed involving an auction of Lenin's corpse. Buckley's latest book is called "Wry Martinis."

Distribution dates:

• week of 11/23/97 - hour 1