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Jewish World Review /Jan. 28, 1999 /11 Shevat, 5759
Cal Thomas
Let's not make this deal
(JWR) --- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com) "THE POWER OF IMPEACHMENT is given by the Constitution to bring great offenders to
punishment,'' said James Iredell, a member of the North Carolina Supreme Court and
delegate to his state's ratifying convention in 1787-88.
Iredell and his colleagues saw a connection between offenses and punishment. But
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and some of his colleagues apparently see some
wiggle room between the two. They seem to be focusing on Article 1, Section 3,
paragraph 7, which says: "If any judge or executive officer is convicted of
impeachment charges, the punishment of the Senate shall not extend beyond his
removal from office and declaring that individual disqualified from holding any
office of honor, trust or profit under the authority of the United States in the future''
(emphasis mine).
It would appear that Lott and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) think the Constitution
allows a lesser punishment than the president's removal from office should two-thirds
of the Senate find him guilty. Put another way, a child could be declared guilty for lying
to his parents but he would not have to go to his room or do extra chores to remind
him there are consequences for improper behavior.
Defenders of the president during the Senate trial remind senators that the president
would not escape punishment after leaving office. This reveals even their low regard
for a man most of his supporters see as someone of no lasting value other than to hold
off the Republican "barbarians'' who would otherwise be storming the White House
gates.
The idea of separating the president's illegal deeds from any form of constitutional
punishment was hatched last September in a floor speech by Sen. Joseph Lieberman
(D-Conn.). Widely hailed at the time, Lieberman rebuked the president for his
"immoral'' behavior. Sens. Bob Kerry (D-Neb.) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(D-N.Y.) praised Lieberman and seemed to agree with what he said. But Lieberman
left it there; he didn't recommend the president's impeachment. As has been pointed
out by the House impeachment managers and many others, there are people now
doing time in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice, the very things for which the
president has been impeached.
Charles Pinckney, a South Carolina delegate to the Constitutional Convention, failed
to see a distinction between conviction of a president and removal from office. While
debating whether a president should have the power to "grant reprieve or pardon in
the case of impeachment proceedings brought against a judge or officer of the
executive branch'' (Article 2, Section 2, paragraph 1), Pinckney said: "No man,
however great, is exempt from impeachment and trial. If the representatives of the
people think he ought to be impeached and tried, the president cannot pardon him;
and this great man himself ... as well as the vice president, and all civil officers of the
United States, are to be removed from office on impeachment and conviction
of treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors'' (emphasis mine).
In a World Magazine essay last August, University of Texas government and
philosophy professor Jay Budziszewski wrote there has never been a bad man and a
good statesman: "To lie is to break trust. The more you break trust, the more
breaking trust becomes part of your character. In every tough spot, your first impulse
is to cheat. At first you cheat only your sexual partners, but pretty soon every
relationship grows with the lurid colors of exploitation: with kids, with boss, with
country.''
Bill Clinton has been impeached and is being tried for perjury and obstruction of
justice. But his faults extend far beyond these acts. His "private acts'' are injuring the
public good. Any attempt to split the difference means this president will have
corrupted not only himself but the Congress and the law. If there were no other reason
-- and there are many -- he should be convicted and removed from office. Anything
short of that, or acquittal, is a bad deal the Senate should not
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01/08/99: ‘Compassionate conservatism’ is redundant
01/06/99: Don't give my regards to 'Narroway'
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12/15/98: The 'moving finger'
12/11/98: This sorry president
12/09/98: The eclipse of principle
12/03/98: Destroying Jewry on the installment plan
12/07/98: Before the Age of Clinton
12/01/98: Apathy and ignorance
11/19/98: Ken Starr's moment of truth
11/19/98: The fall of journalism's empire
11/17/98: Republicans drift while conservatives float
11/13/98: Supreme Courtupholds freedom of school-choice
11/10/98: The revolting Republican 'revolution'
11/06/98: Hulk Hogan for president?
11/03/98: Clinton's greatest peril isn't Monica
10/30/98: Mother Teresa was right about killing
10/27/98: Clinton to Netanyahu: 'You're despicable'
10/21/98: A 'peace' agreement: Wye not?
10/19/98: Vanity Fair snubs some of the greatest women 'leaders'
10/14/98:The mean machine
10/09/98: Impeachment: an outside perspective
10/07/98: The corruption of the Secret Service
10/02/98: Land erosion in Israel
10/01/98: The race panel: lies in black and white
9/18/98: The Clinton strategy and the Clinton legacy
9/18/98: Stopping him before he sins again
9/15/98: Repenting when the end is near
9/11/98: Faithfully executing: Congress vs. the President
9/10/98: The degrees of separation between Dan Burton and Bill Clinton
9/08/98: Joe Lieberman and the Democrats' conscience
9/04/98: Clinton vs. Reagan and the struggle for power
9/02/98: If only Bubba had been a Boy Scout
8/31/98: Liberal clergy and the Lewinsky affair
8/27/98: Combating the terrorists among us
8/25/98: The president as 'Chicken Little'
8/20/98: That was no apology
8/18/98: Big government's crab grab
8/14/98:Untruths, half-truths and anything but the
truth
8/12/98: Lying under oath: past and present impeachable offenses
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8/04/98: In search of an unstained president
7/31/98: The UK is ahead of US in one area...
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7/21/98: Telling the truth about
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7/06/98: News unfit to print (or broadcast)
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6/19/98: William Perry opposed
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6/5/98: Speaking plainly: the cover-up continues
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5/28/98:The Speaker's insightful remarks
5/26/98: As bad as it gets
5/25/98:Union dues and don'ts
5/21/98:
Connecting those Chinese campaign
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5/13/98:
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4/10/98: CBS: 'Touched by a perv'
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4/2/98: How about helping American cities before African?
3/31/98:Revenge of the children
3/29/98: The Clinton strategy: delay, deceive, deny, and destroy
3/26/98: Moralist Gary Hart
3/23/98: CNN's century of (liberal) women
3/17/98: Dandy Dan
3/15/98: An imposed 'settlement' settles nothing
3/13/98: David Brock's Turnabout