Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr should have never spent time and money investigating the private sexual activity of anybody. As I remember his call to duty, it was to investigate Bill Clinton, as Governor of Arkansas, for improperly influencing some bank loans in a land deal called Whitewater. That case bore no fruit, so there was some mission creep and next Starr was investigating the firing of some travel agents that worked for the White House when Clinton came into office. The press had a fancy name for that... Travelgate. There was a theory that Clinton was somehow responsible for the death of Vincent Foster, even though the police ruled it a suicide. That investigation also went nowhere.
More mission creep. Somebody has a brilliant idea ...There's a lawsuit down in Arkansas with this woman Paula Jones. It just happens that the lawyers who are helping Paula Jones sue Bill Clinton were funded by this billionaire, Richard Mellon Scaife, who happens to love right wing causes and hates Bill Clinton. The Jones case led to the Lewinsky investigation. However, the Paula Jones lawsuit has already been dismissed by the judge in that case, who also declared that the Lewinsky evidence was nonmaterial in the Jones case. The Lewinsky investigation should have been terminated when the Jones case was dismissed.
If there had been a charge of possible sexual abuse in the Lewinsky affair, the matter should have been investigated with discretion. But in fact, it was found early in the investigation that both parties were consenting adults. The matter should have been dropped at that point. Starr has clearly not come up with impeachable offenses.
If lying to Americans or having extra-marital sex were disqualifications to being President we would have had to impeach every President in this century with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter. But let's get down to some real crimes by US presidents in our lifetimes.
Serious lies in high office have occurred. President Lyndon Johnson lied to the American people in 1964. He claimed that a vicious attack had occurred by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the US destroyers Maddox and C.Turner Joy, which were operating in the Gulf of Tonkin off the shore of North Vietnam. The US ships were not damaged and many claimed that the patrol boats were merely intersected by the US ships as they were testing North Vietnamese coastal waters. Some even denied any incident had occurred. Regardless, Johnson used public indignation to justify pushing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution through both houses of Congress two days later. The resolution gave Johnson "carte blanche" to finance a war. A retaliation against the North Vietnamese was carried out quickly and on a large scale. The Vietnam War was ramped up from an action involving 25,000 US advisors to 500,000 soldiers in the field.
As disenchantment with the role of the United States in Vietnam grew, many members of Congress questioned the wisdom of the Gulf of Tonkin measure, and in 1967 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducted an investigation into the matter. Johnson became so unpopular that felt he could not run for reelection in 1968. Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on Dec. 31, 1970.
Remember President Richard M Nixon and his Vice President Spiro Agnew. Agnew resigned in 1973 for bribe taking and income tax evasion. Nixon resigned in 1974. He was caught covering up crimes related to trying to fix the election of 1972. His activities included using "dirty tricks" to disrupt his opponents rallies and planting false newspaper stories, using government agencies like the IRS and FBI to persecute his enemies, breaking into the Democratic Party's Watergate offices to snoop around, and then conspiring to hide these activities from investigators.
In that election year Nixon named George Bush as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush traveled the country for 20 months defending Nixon and the GOP against the widening Watergate scandal. After Agnew resigned Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as Vice President. Gerald Ford arranged to pardon Richard Nixon if he resigned. After taking office Ford wasted no time pardoning Nixon.
By 1975, the public was jaded by scandals in high office. For example, it was widely believed that the CIA had spent the previous ten years using its Air America to smuggle opium and heroin out of Southeast Asia to finance illegal activities in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietman. During those years heroin addiction rose to an epidemic proportions in the urban centers of America. The CIA was distrusted by friend and foe alike. President Ford asked George Bush to take over at CIA in December 1975. Bush began to clean up the image of the CIA, and learn its operation.
Jimmy Carter followed Ford. His presidency was ruined by the Iran hostage crisis that lasted over 440 days. Several press investigations uncovered a delay in the final days of the crisis. It was reported a deal had been made between the Reagan-Bush election team and the Iranians. The Iranians would not release the hostages in the captured US Embassy until after Ronald Reagan was in office. The hostages were released within moments of Ronald Reagan's swearing-in ceremony.
Later, between 1980 and 1988, as Vice President, George Bush headed the "crisis management team" of the National Security Council. He also chaired presidential task forces on combating terrorism, and on coordinating government efforts to stop drug smuggling in southern Florida. This meant meetings and working relations with leaders like Manuel Noriega. Noriega was the Panamanian dictator who had been head of his country's secret police and who later laundered drug money passing through the Americas.
The press reported that Columbian cocaine drug money was being diverted to the Contras and that weapons were being supplied to them by the Iranians. American government officials were named as go-betweens illegally moving weapons from Iran to the Contras with financing supported by drug money.
Congressional committees conducted televised hearings from May to August of 1986. They heard evidence that a few members of the NSC staff set Iran and Nicaragua policies and carried them out with secret private operatives, that the few officials who knew about these policies lied to Congress and others, and that the Contras received only a small part of the diverted money.
John Poindexter stated that as national security advisor he personally authorized the diversion of money and withheld that information from President Reagan. William J. Casey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who died in May 1987, was implicated in some testimony, but the extent of his involvement remained unclear.
Special prosecutor Walsh continued his investigation. In March of 1988, Poindexter's predecessor as national security advisor, Robert McFarlane, pleaded guilty to criminal charges of withholding information from Congress on secret aid to the Contras. A year later McFarlane was fined $20,000 and given two years' probation. Later that month a federal grand jury indicted North, Poindexter, and two other persons on a number of charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
In May 1989 a jury convicted North of 3 of the 12 criminal counts he was ultimately tried on; in July the court fined him $150,000 and gave him a three-year suspended sentence. On Apr. 7, 1990, Poindexter was convicted on 5 counts of deceiving Congress and sentenced to 6 months in prison. Both the North and Poindexter convictions were subsequently set aside on the grounds that their immunized congressional testimony had been unfairly used against them.
President Bush intervened militarily in Panama later in 1989 and deposed of its president, Manuel Noriega. In 1988 Noriega had been indicted by two U.S. grand juries for drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering for the Medellin (Colombia) cartel. Noriega was taken to the US for trial. He was convicted on 8 of 11 counts and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
In July 1991, Alan D. Fiers, Jr., chief of CIA covert operations in Central America in 1984-86, admitted that he had lied to Congress concerning CIA involvement. Shortly thereafter, his CIA superior Clair E. George was indicted for perjury. In 1992 former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger was indicted on 5 counts of lying to Congress. Just before leaving office, after losing his race for reelection in 1992,George Bush pardoned all the principals charged in the scandal.
Walsh's eventual report, released in 1994, condemned Presidents Reagan and Bush for their roles in events related to the scandal but did not charge either with criminal wrongdoing. As late as 1997 The San Jose Mercury New reporter Gary Webb wrote a series titled "Dark Alliance" that documented the crack cocaine - CIA connection. That series was discontinued by the SJMN editorial staff after pressure and criticism from other mainstream press organizations like the Washington Post.
Yes...Clinton did it. Now we have to figure what to do about it. In hindsight there are lots of obvious things Clinton should have done differently. His real crime was not coming out early with an admission of guilt concerning a very embarrassing mistake that would hurt a lot of people who wanted to trust him. That course probably never seemed better than the alternatives from one moment to another. This week most Americans want him censured and not impeached. That opinion will be very fluid in the coming weeks, but that's where we think things will most likely end. When you read this it may all be over. By the time this article expires, at Halloween, much might be resolved.
Clinton's offenses do not rise to "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" necessary to impeach a President. Impeachment should be in response to treason, or significant abuse of the power of the office of president in a matter of crucial national or international importance. Maybe Johnson should have been impeached, maybe Reagan should have been impeached, and maybe Bush should have been impeached. But none of them, including Clinton, should be questioned about his private sexual life.
Europeans were at a loss over the US uproar over the Lewinsky affair. The French felt no great discomfort when both the widow and ex-mistress of Francoise Mitterrand attended his funeral. During a question and answer session on September 17th after a meeting with the Czech president, Vaclav Havel, the press seemed more interested asking Havel questions about Clinton's sexual activities and possible resignation rather than questions regarding US-Czech relations. Havel seemed both annoyed and amused and answered "I don't understand this phase in America." The cable network CNN has conducted many interviews and polls. Most Europeans didn't share the concern of the press or the Republicans. In fact, one German tourist couple was interviewed. Germany is in the midst of a Presidential race. The Germans were asked what should happen to President Clinton. Their response was that if Clinton were to resign, they would be glad to have him as their president. Clinton was also recently given a standing ovation at the United Nations in response to simply walking to the podium. The international community was obviously demonstrating its support for Clinton.
As a result of the political use of the special prosecutor's office by Kenneth Starr, the Presidency and some of our basic constitutional rights are endangered. President Clinton's opponents have worked hard for five years and spent 40 million dollars to dig up anything that could be used to take him down. If the worst Clinton did was have a private sexual affair and a generate few lies denying it, America should breathe a sigh of relief. How many people would hold up to that kind of scrutiny in their lives?
It was only a generation ago when the US was torn apart by the anti-communist witch hunts. In the early 50's the Senate McCarthy hearings put fear in the hearts of many Americans. People were asked to swear to loyalty oaths. People who even associated with socialists were immediately treated as criminal suspects. Writers and people in the media were special targets. Even into the early 1960's the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was ruining the lives of Americans in all walks of life. The hint of even being investigated was enough to ruin careers.
When the the war in Vietnam finally ended, the majority of Americans had come to believe it was a tragic mistake. Many had come to believe that the war was wrong on moral and ethical grounds. Later, rightwing Monday morning quarterbacks, like Ronald Reagan, reinterpreted the mistake of the Vietnam War to be that we should not have been in the war unless we were willing to win it. In other words we didn't try hard enough, or kill enough, or have the stomach for winning. History has a funny way of being distorted. It is said that history is written by the victors. That doesn't seem quite right. History is actually written by people with an axe to grind.
We should be afraid of the lessons that will be learned from the Clinton Impeachment. We should be afraid of the policies that will be put in place. It will be interpreted by the most ardent moralists that the way to "solve" the problem of loose morals is to set very high standards for people in responsible positions. In the 50's we may have had loyalty oaths, put in the next millenium we may be asked to do even more.
The random urine test might seem like a quaint old custom by then. Applicants to public office or civil service (as well as those in private industry) may be expected to provide answers to questions like "Have you ever
Imagine advanced 21st century technology that could determine the truth of these statements. Do you want the answers to those questions to determine your fate or the fate of others? Do you want others dictating your personal moral values? Would you want your privacy violated to the extent that Clinton's has been?
It almost seems that some who are out to get Clinton see this scandal as payback for the liberal rabble rousers ruining it for Richard Nixon. Often times knives can cut you as easily as their targets. The Rush Limbaugh mentality may take Clinton down, but it's likely that it will ultimately damage as many Republicans as Democrats. Witness the recent statements by George W. Bush, governor of Texas. He has been considered a front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. His history of alcoholism and his involvement with 1980's Savings & Loan bank scandals have given rise to second thoughts.
In an effort to level the playing field, the editors at Salon Magazine published a series on the House Judiciary Chairman, Republican Henry Hyde. They revealed his scandalous extra-marital affair 30 years ago. Hyde's self described "youthful indiscretion" ended after many years when he was nearly 50 years old. It's amusing to watch the indignation and consternation of Republican congressmen, like Republican Majority Whip Texan Tom DeLay, when the press publish embarrassing stories about prominent Republicans. What does he expect?
One thing is for sure. We are going to have some squeaky clean presidential hopefuls in 2000. People with no sexuality who have never made a mistake in their lives, and expect the same of you.
If you have opinions about this crisis, you should take the time and effort to let your representatives know them. To find out who your congressmen or women are and e-mail them, contact House of Representatives and the US Senate.
If, like us, you live in western New York, you can click here to register for emailing our congressman Amo Houghton. You can directly email our US Senators through Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Alfonse D'Amato.