As chastened yet combative Bill Clinton addressed the nation to acknowledge lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, one question seemed inescapable: Why didn't he tell the truth from the start, and spare the American people the wrenching scandal that now threatens his presidency? In the seven months since he wagged his finger at the television camaras and flatly denied having sex with a White House intern half his age, Clinton has enmeshed his administration in a tangle of falsehoods of his own making. By lying repeatedly- under oath in the Paula Jones case and directly to the American people on subsequent occasions- Clinton has recklessly compromised the stature of his office. The sad result is a devalued presidency, one whose credibility has been undermined, whose moral authority has been squandered, whose vital bond of trust with the country has been broken. The Clinton presidency may not be crippled, but it has been permanently tarnished. The question now is whether the president's televised mea culpa will be enough for him to regain all that he has forfeited. Although he grudgingly accepted responsibility for his misdeeds, his carefully massaged words seemed calculated to turn the political tables on special prosecutor Kenneth Starr and the Republican Congress. Indeed, his remarks were punctuated less by personal remorse than by defiance toward the many others he blames for his predicament. And his claim that his false sworn testimony in the Jones case was "legally accurate" was yet another vintage-Clinton attempt to manipulate the truth. The president was correct, certainly, in declaring that the country has been distracted by this matter for too long. But still to be resolved are very serious allegations - potential obstruction of justice, perjury, witness tampering- that go well beyond Clinton's private life. Most Americans are uncomfortable, and understandably so, hearing the intimate details of the president's sexual encounters. That aversion may help explain Clinton's continued high approval ratings. Had his relationship with Lewinsky remained simply a private indiscretion, a strong case could be made that it should have remained part of the president's private life. But Clinton himself made it a public matter when he lied about it under oath and stonewalled for seven long months in a bid to conceal the truth. Ultimately, the American people will pass final judgment on the president's conduct. They very well may forgive this drawn-out episode in the Clinton presidency, but they are not likely to forget it. More important, a definitive decision cannot be reached until Starr completes his report and sends it to Congress. Only then will all of the facts be available. If they show that Clinton told the whole truth last night- there was no effort by the White House to obstruct justice-impeachment proceedings would be highly unlikely. In that case, censure by Congress would the stiffest penalty the president likely would face. But if Starr's investigation produces compelling evidence of other crimes in high places, the sense of betrayal that Americans feel today will be significantly magnified and the future of Bill Clinton's presidency decidedly uncertain.

(What do I think?)I am very dissappointed in our President. I feel my trust for him was betrayed. I was one of his fans and supporters and I defended him against friends and relations in the past. My feelings have changed. I now see him as a failure and anything he would say and decide for this nation are no longer effective for me. I feel he shame this country and he does not belong there in the White House any longer. I agree that he is just a human being like any other like him, but he has a respected high position, and he should have controlled his sexual desires while in office. He should have valued the leadership that was given to him by us. I now think, he must have a lot of time in his hands to be able to do some hanky panky; his concentration was not to make this nation gain more respect from other countries. He humiliated the American people with his uncontrollable womanizing..

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