Hm, is this the logic that guides our people making up the Congress of the United States? Is this the sort of mental processing we depend on to determine needed legislation?
Read his statement again. “It shows the strength of the managers’ case ...” which could lead one to believe there is a strong enough case to proceed with witnesses and the ultimate removal of Mr. Clinton from office.
But, then, he follows this part of his statement with “at this time there’s not the two-thirds
vote necessary.”
Now, if I am reading this portion correctly and understand the words as he put them together, didn't he say with this there isn’t a strong case, that there are not enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove Mr. Clinton from office?
But, then, isn’t this more-or-less the Congressional run-around we are all coming to know and hate - always qualifying themselves so they can switch horses in the middle of the
stream, so to speak?
Every article read in the past few days has stated there is not, nor will there be enough votes to convict President Clinton. So, why are our tax dollars being wasted? Why is the Senate tying up additional time with witnesses who can tell no more than they told before? (If they do tell more, then why didn’t they tell it before?)
They started the mess, kept it going, and now don’t wish for it to end. The truth here is that Republicans want to keep the matter in the limelight for as long as possible as it does cover up their hidden agendas, such as hiding their intent with the National ID push and gun control.
Plus, there is this. The mess will end with the certainty that the Republican Party did not assess the results of their actions against President Clinton correctly. The party will have to finally, once and for all, admit its defeat in doing what they set out to do four years ago - destroy President Clinton. Prolonging the mess avoids this.
There are not set rules on impeachments and Congress has been making them up as they go. And, the rules they have been making up are those which extend the process without affecting the inevitable, the acquittal, or, at least, the certainty that Mr. Clinton will remain in office.
If he doesn’t, then it might be likely that current on-the-fence Republican supporters will be angry enough to see many
of them put out of office next election.
Or, perhaps, Republicans (and, yes, this has been and is a completely partisan action) believe that their continuation of the impeachment trial will cause strengthened support within the ranks of anti-Clintonites. I think the last election proved this to be incorrect as has been Republican defections.
All that we really have now is the dying gasps of an impeachment that should never have been. The House should never have allowed it to proceed. The Republican Party should have stopped the investigation by Starr months and months ago.
Since the rules are being made up as this farce continues, here a rule they could use: Allow a vote to stop the impeachment. It is a lost cause for the Republican Party and is only serving to prove to more and more of us, how truly messed up our political system and professional, Washington politicians are.
It doesn’t really matter who is right or who is wrong at this time - it only matters that it is highly unlikely enough Democrats will vote Republican to give the party the two-thirds it needs for a conviction.
Or, maybe, by calling witnesses, they just want to hear Lewinsky describe her actions with President Clinton in detail, live and in full color. First hand sharing of the dirty details.
Regardless, we, the taxpayers, continue to lose.