As H.M.S. Victory cleared its decks for action at Trafalgar, Nelson
directed his flag messenger to signal to the fleet: "England expects that
every man will do his duty." And so they did.
And so, too, did those House Republicans who bravely defied our political,
academic, media and cultural elites to impeach William Jefferson Clinton.
The Senate should now show the same kidney.
Any deal to abort a trial, any back-room compromise "censure" of Clinton to
relieve senators of their constitutional duty to prosecute him for the high
crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice, would be craven. For it is
clear from the conduct of the House Democrats that censure is a fraud and a
political fix.
If House Democrats were not deceiving us in declaring themselves so
disgusted with Clinton's conduct that they wanted a "vote of conscience" to
censure him, what were they doing in the Rose Garden after the impeachment
vote, cheering Clinton like groupies? If they truly believed he should be
censured, why did the House Democrats never introduce a vote to censure him
inside their own caucus?
Watch what we do, not what we say, said old John Mitchell.
As for the other reasons being advanced for aborting a Senate trial, they
reek of self-interest masquerading as civic concern.
"It will tear America apart!" we are warned. What rot. Does anyone believe
that a nation that survived a 10-year depression, a world war that killed
400,000 men and a 40-year Cold War cannot handle a solemn two-month Senate
trial?
It must be ended now because the House impeachment was so savagely
"partisan," we are told. Indeed it was. Just as 100 percent of the Democrats
on House Judiciary voted to impeach Richard Nixon, 100 percent of the
Democrats on House Judiciary voted not to impeach Clinton. On the House
floor, 98 percent of all Democrats voted to absolve Clinton on every single
count, behaving like the apparatchiks of a Communist Party Congress.
The Senate and Supreme Court will be paralyzed by a trial, we are told. But
this is absurd. January and February are the dog days in Congress. Members
arrive, get sworn in and, in weeks, are off junketing on their Lincoln Day
recess. And exactly what business does the Senate or chief justice have that
is more important than deciding whether to remove a president of the United
States?
Clinton endlessly chatters about personal accountability. Well, a Senate
trial, where each senator votes his conscience on this president's conduct,
would be a most salutary lesson for America's young in personal
accountability by our nation's highest officials.
To moot this impeachment by voting censure, in exchange for some faked
apology or a negotiated confession by Clinton that he lied under oath, would
be a corrupt bargain that would diminish this republic. Let the Senate
convict or acquit. Let us find out how many Democratic senators believe that
a president who belongs to their party has the right to commit perjury
before a federal grand jury impaneled to investigate his role in a criminal
conspiracy.
Faced with the manly example of Bob Livingston's resignation, Bill Clinton
ducked demands for his own resignation to piously call for an end to the
"politics of personal destruction."
What an amazing leader we elected.
Can this be the same Bill Clinton whose boys did the "trailer park trash"
number on Paula Jones? Can it be the same man who, says Dick Morris, created
a White House secret police to threaten women who testify against him?
Can
this be the same president whose agents adopted a "scorched earth" campaign
to smear pro-impeachment Republicans, whose lawyers sent out private eyes to
dig dirt on Ken Starr, who sent Dark Angel Sidney Blumenthal to slander
Monica as a crazed "stalker" -- to eviscerate her credibility as an
insurance policy should she testify against him?
Just who introduced poison-gas politics to this city?
The country wants this over with, we are told, and Republicans defy the
American people by pursuing it. Clinton's auxiliaries have the polls to
prove it. But by the polls, America wants partial birth abortion outlawed,
immigration curtailed and school prayer restored. Does the White House
follow the polls on these issues?
By one survey, 58 percent felt Bill Clinton should resign if the House
voted to impeach. What would happen to the White House aide who dropped that
poll into the "in" box of Boomero Uno?
The U.S. Senate, like the House, should do its duty. Forget the polls,
forget the press, forget the pundits. Convict, or acquit, and let's get it
over with and get on with America's business.
