Tim's Scrapbook Newsletter

Volume 1, Number 4

Sunday, December 13th, 1998

The Clintons Must Go

I have been following this national disgrace since Matt Drudge started breaking the story in January. With the impeachment vote in the House scheduled for this Thursday, the United States is at a juncture in history. Unlike President Johnson, who was impeached essentially for vetoing a Republican Congress' anti-Southern laws, President Clinton is accused of committing felonies. This makes his predicament more like that of President Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon than President Johnson.

Unlike President Nixon, though, who resigned before the impeachment proceedings had completely run their course, President Clinton seems prepared to fight to the bitter end. He's using a couple of different smoke screens. First, he has always argued that his troubles are of a "private" nature. His wonks have been able to spin this as a sexual red herring. "It's about sex," the say. But if it's about sex, why didn't the Congress bother to list that as an impeachment article? Instead, he's being impeached for lying under oath in three distinct legal circumstances and for obstructing justice.

The other diversion is the President's warped and intellectually dishonest attitude about what constitutes a lie. He and his defenders claim that he couldn't have committed perjury because in his own mind he was telling the truth. That's basically his defense for the other charges, too. I suspect that he genuinely believes he didn't obstruct justice, either. Now we have to wait to see if Congress agrees with his twisted perception of reality.

The most ridiculous spin on President Clinton's problems comes from none other than his own wife. "A vast right-wing conspiracy" is responsible for her husband's problems. If only the country would see through the conservatives' lies, implies Mrs. Clinton, all this would be behind us. What kind of fool is she willing to play? She sees a conspiracy by an entire segment of political ideology -- does she not see her husband's own long-standing conspiracy to make a mockery of her womanhood by means of his philandering ways?

Simply put, for the sake of our country, I hope the Clintons don't get away with it. We must uphold high standards for the Presidential office. William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton fall woefully short of minimum standards. They must go.

<>< Tim

Web Bibliography

The Drudge Report, by Matt Drudge (http://drudgereport.com/)

U.S. House of Representatives (http://www.house.gov)

A facsimile of the actual House Resolution to impeach President Clinton (http://www.house.gov/judiciary/101365.pdf)

Guide to Impeachment and Censure Materials Online (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/impeach.htm)

"Andrew Johnson's Impeachment Ordeal," by K. Daniel Glover (http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/98/0219/icsmart.asp)

"Right-wing-conspiracy facts and fiction," (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980209/9right.htm).

"Persecuted Or Paranoid?: A look at the motley characters behind Hillary Clinton's 'vast right-wing conspiracy,'" By Walter Kern (http://www.pathfinder.com:80/time/magazine/
1998/dom/980209/special_report.persecute12.html).

Gazette letters to the editor about impeachment (http://www.gazette.com/archive/98-09-18/opin3.html) (http://www.gazette.com/archive/98-09-19/opin3.html) (http://www.gazette.com/archive/98-12-13/opin3.html)

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