And, last, but certainly not least, one might also wonder if professional politicians are aware of the impressions they often leave much of the public with. As many will recall, the thought large numbers of us were left with after the Hill-Thomas and the Iran-Contra hearings was, "My God, these are the people who are running our country???"

This response formed after listening to the extremely poor questioning and reasoning abilities shown by most of the politicians involved in the hearings. Now, that same opinion has again been forced to the forefront by the people in government who have insisted on keeping the Whitewater investigation alive.

The interview of Senator Christopher Bond, January 27, l996, on the NBC News Today Show, prompted a great deal of increased agitation in the mind of the writer. During the interview, Bond was asked if the Whitewater investigation was just politics.

As most people who watch NBC news telecasts are aware of, the interview came as a result of Mrs. Clinton having been forced by subpoena to testify in person before the Grand Jury. Similar questions have been asked of many Republicans in the last two-and-a-half years. One can be certain that like questions will be asked many times in this election year.

Bond alluded to the possibility that the White House, meaning the Clintons, of course, might be covering up important information concerning the Whitewater situation. In his words, "These are questions that need to be answered."

And, as all good Republicans involved in the investigation have done, Mr. Bond denied that the forced questioning of Mrs. Clinton was a political move. Afterall, charges, or suspected improprieties, against the White House must be cleared up.

To that, one must ask, "What charges?" Had the President and First Lady been charged with illegal activities? Logi- cally, one must deduce that the investigative body and the special prosecutor had not been able to find any illegal action to charge the Clintons with at any time since the investigation began. Otherwise, wouldn't the prosecutor have filed charges months and months ago?

The more interviewed Republicans deny the continued Whitewater investigation is nothing more than politics, the more it seems it is. Look at it logically. During the first month of the presidential election year, bookkeeping records from Mrs. Clinton's former law firm suddenly show up in the White House.

Now, how in the world could people who were smart enough to have kept the records so well hidden that a massive investigation of nearly three years could not turn up the records, all at once be so stupid as to leave such potentially damning information in plain sight so that Carolyn Huber could see and recognize the importance of the documents?

And, then, to subpoena the First Lady concerning the billing records. Come on, how was Mrs. Clinton supposed to respond to the questions of the Grand Jury or the special prosecutor? How about:

"Yes, we had the records well-hidden but, we decided it was time the American public knew the truth. However, the President and I didn't have the nerve to just come right out and admit that we had been scoundrels who had behaved illegally.

To resolve our dilemma, we decided to leave the records out in plain sight hoping that someone would spot them, check them out, and recognize their importance. Luckily for us, Carolyn Huber discovered the records.

Now, the President and I can rest easy and tell the whole story."

Mercy, mercy, mercy, what is one to think? And, the timing? Had not the presidential race really began? And, isn't keeping Whitewater alive a means of damaging the Clinton administration?

The writer talked to many, many people in Missouri, Texas, and Mississippi during the entirety of the investigation. This may be rather disheartening but the people did not know what the big deal was or, in many cases, what the alleged violations were.

Then there were the people that, as soon as the investigation was brought up by the Republicans and the media, thought the Clintons were guilty of illegalities. This was thought without the people knowing anything whatsoever about the case. Hmmm.

As the investigation went on and on, people quit paying attention or began thinking more of it as a political ploy. People also began thinking of it as a waste of time and tax-payers' money by the Republican party. Nothing illegal had been found, nothing more than suppositions had ever been stated, so for what other reason could the investigation have been continued?

Maybe it is time that the Republicans simply let Whitewater go. Why should the party and investigative body let it go?

One very obvious reason is that an any non-productive investigation undermines people's faith in the investigative body, whether it is a law enforcement agency or a congressionally appointed body.

It is certain that the investigation will be brought up time and time again during the upcoming campaigning. If it is, as the writer believes it will be, then one could almost be certain it is a political ploy, a legal means of undermining opposition.

It would relieve this writer's mind greatly to hear charges filed. At least the Clinton's would then have the right to defend themselves legally. As it is now, the only defense they have is that charges have not been filed.

Another effect of the investigation is due to the time and money that has been devoted to the investigation. The whole procedure, including every innuendo, could very well have interfered with changes and improvements that might have been accomplished had the investigation not been started.

It has seemed as if the only matter the Republicans are concerned with is damaging the Clintons through Whitewater. It is like, "Why worry about poor education, welfare, and other major issues; let's get the Clintons."

A third effect, certainly unintentional by the Republican Party, is that many voters might begin looking at the investigation as a form of political dirty pool. Afterall, once the subject of potential wrong-doing is brought up by the media, a certain percentage will believe the target of the investigation acted criminally or unethically, whether he did or not.

The effect is that the innocent are punished by society as if they were guilty, simply because the accusations or innuendos were made.

We had a prime example of the effect going on at the time of this writing [Simpson]. An accused was found not guilty of charges by the fact the prosecution could not prove his guilt. Therefore, he must have been innocent. However, many people, including those from various news sources, still believed the individual to be guilty.

Luckily, aware people realize the potential of the effect and target the initiators as being unethical in their practices. In this case, dirty pool tactics could work against the politicians pushing against the Clintons with Whitewater.

So, how about it, Politicians? How about this election year, we have a good, clean campaign that focuses on the issues, rather than suppositions. How about simply debating how you will improve our lives and correct the real problems that exist. How about winning our votes that way instead of slinging mud and getting the media to jump on possibilities of sensationalism?

Are you up to the challenge or are dirty pool practices your only effective plays?