He started by pronouncing that Americans believe that all politicians and all politics are, " by definition corrupt and venal." (Except 78% of all Americans think Clinton is doing a good job.) Then he went on to demonstrate by his own actions why that situation may have come into existence regarding him and his colleagues.

"And now, he preached, "let us all take our place in history on the side of honor, and, oh, yes, let right be done." Hyde compared his team of prosecutors, or "managers," to Henry V's "band of brothers" at Agincourt. And he quoted Charles de Gaulle and Terence Rattigan, Septimius Severus and Horace Mann, Edward Gibbon and Saul Bellow. And then using the snares and traps he and his cronies had set for the President as the new standard of probity to be Constitutionally upheld, he stated, "We have reduced lying under oath to a breach of etiquette, but only if you are the President."

The Republicans devoted almost no time to the details of the case, yesterday. Instead, they attempted to use philosophy (theirs) as the final argument to remove the President and assail his defenders, including the vast majority of the American people. He called on the Senators to "Cleanse the office," and while he has spent the last four weeks attacking, denigrating and disparaging the most popular President of modern times, Clinton has been doing the job to which he was elected. As Ruff stated in his closing argument, this case would be thrown out in any court of the land on a motion to dismiss. Clinton has never abused his Presidential power, even though you can make the case he misbehaved as a gentleman. Even Monica, when asked if she still felt that he was an intelligent man, stated, "Well, I believe he is an intelligent President."

At some point, the Republican began to see to the backlash coming at them like a Tsunami on the near horizon, but in the final analysis they scurried for cover in the wrong place, again: they are forcing the final deliberations on the question of impeachment to be conducted in secret.

In this final maneuver, it is they who dishonor the scared public trust. As we have said before, in the end this will be their impeachment not Bill Clinton's. Because, while he may have been all too like us, imperfect, he was never unkind to us. He never lectured us and scolded us. He never cast the first stone. And, as we all know, let only those who have never sinned, whose motives are above reproach, cast that first one. In the bible it was the older men who walked away first, and it was the younger men who were the last to relent their intolerance of the adulterer. In the US Congress even that is turned on its head these days. The old men are not the leaders, they are the blamers and the champions of bad spirit. And, they want to do it, now that they have lost, in secret. As Henry Hyde said, "Let us now all take our place in history...."