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It has been said that in "a hundred years from today,
people will look back at what we have done and say, 'They kept
the faith.'" But from the beginnings of this affair, it
was far from the high-minded closing peroration that we heard
from Mr. Jekyll... er... Hyde the other day in the well of the
Senate. During that same speech the words "conspiracy,"
and "infamy" were repeated over and over in the shrillest
and most stridently partisan way. And while it looks like a trial
it can also be accurately viewed as the culmination of a long,
virulent effort on the part of those pictured above to destroy
this President and this man, William Jefferson Clinton. And to
those of you who do not agree, or who call this version of events
"liberal, I ask only that you bear with me through the facts,
if that is not too much to ask.
In 1994, The American Spectator, published an article by David
Brock. He interviewed the Arkansas State Trooper who was Clinton's
gubernatorial bodyguard and identified a woman named "Paula"
as a woman willing to be Bill's "regular girlfriend."
Six weeks later, Paula Jones came forth and demanded Clinton's
apology. She made these demands at a Washington Conference of
the Conservative Political Action Committee, and she subsequently
has had her entire law suit funded by donations from conservative
sources (verifiable by her own filings). Later that same year
Congress, under the leadership of the Republicans, renewed the
Independent Counsel Act, and breaking with the tradition of appointing
a senior judge to head the panel, William Renhquist appointed
David Sentelle, an extreme conservative and friend of Jesse Helms.
A moderate Republican, Robert Fiske, had been investigating the
Clintons and Whitewater, but after conferring with Helms and
others, Sentelle replaced Fiske with none other than Kenneth
Starr. And then a year ago, lurching away from Whitewater, Starr
lashed out at the Monica Lewinsky scenario, finally striking
pay dirt (pun intended). Respected analysts like Robert Morgenthau
have been appalled at Starr's disregarding of accepted practices
and his blatantly acting as an "agent of the House of Representatives."
And then the most strident of arch conservatives in the House
led the charge for impeachment, Tom Delay of Texas. All of the
main players in this "coup" come from the Republican
heartland. I do not use that word "coup," lightly.
Anthony Lewis in The New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winning
journalist, respected around the world for his fairness and erudition,
stated in today's column, "The essence here is an attempted
coup by ultra-conservatives." He goes on to quote Tom Delay,
"When Tom Delay says this is 'about relativism versus absolute
truth,' he speaks the language of totalitarianism."
So, this is not about "absolute truth." And it is not
about perjury or obstruction of justice. And, it NOT about setting
the proper example for our children. It is, as it always is,
about one group of politicians trying to take another group of
politicians out. Put another way it is about a "vengeful
attempt to twist the Constitution into a partisan tool,"
and to obviate two elections and remove the most popular President
of modern times.
But, in the end, they will be undone. In the end, this is not
Bill Clinton's impeachment but the impeachment of the men whose
pictures appear above. Like Newt Gingrich and all of the manipulators
and backstabbers before him in American politics from Arron Burr
all the way to Joe McCarthy, this gang of six has forgotten the
most important thing of all: the American people.
In all their glory, the American People are the best informed,
most forgiving, kindest, most enthusiastic citizens in the world.
And their will be done.
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