"Arrayed against him were the Radical Republicans in Congress, brilliantly led and ruthless in their tactics." Click here to see the source.
Sounds like something out of today's headlines. But it was a description of another sad period in our nation's history, 130 years ago when President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives, and acquitted by one vote in the Senate.
Unfortunately, it appears as if history is repeating itself, and Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives have now impeached another Democrat in the White House, a move opposed by a large majority of the population, this time, William Jefferson Clinton.
I feel that History will view this as a coup attempt by the Radical Right to remove a man who they have always felt lacked the legitimacy to be President, a man who has thwarted them from accomplishing some of their cherished goals, a partisan attempt to overturn the people's will in two national elections. And that the 105th Congress will be harshly judged by History the same as the Congress that impeached Andrew Johnson, as a group of radicals who tried to oust the President of the United States for the basest of partisan political reasons.
I think it would be wise to keep in mind the following:
"The impeachment process exists for one narrow purpose: to rectify the subversion of the Constitution by an impeachable official." William and Mary law professor and former Clinton adviser Michael J. Gerhardt in Question and Answer Forum held in the Washington Post.
Can anyone honestly say that what President Clinton did comes anywhere near Richard Nixon's attempts to subvert the Constitution through using the F.B.I. and I.R.S. against his political enemies and by having his minions break into the offices of the Democratic National Committee or Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist? I don't think so.
Under the Separation of Powers, the Framers of the Constitution set what was required for impeachment at a high level, although they did leave those requirements vague. They viewed it as the ultimate check on an unfettered executive, not as a power to be used capriciously or for base political motives, as the current Congress seemed intent on doing.
Impeachment was intended to be used only to remove an official whose actions, such as Nixon's, subverted the Constitution, not to remove a President who was trying to hide an extra-marital affair from his wife. One would have to wonder if Jefferson, FDR, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Harding or any of the other presidents who were alleged to have had affairs would have been completely truthful if they had been asked the same questions that President Clinton was asked. Or would they have also tried to conceal their extra marital dalliances from their wives? Would any of them have been impeached by this Congress?
I am not saying that what President Clinton did was right. I'm not. But, do his actions rise to the level of an impeachable offense? I don't think so.
Ralph Nader quotes Alan Hirsch in his book, A Citizen's Guide to Impeachment, "As a result, Hirsch sees the impeachment process as a 'double edged' sword that when used properly serves to reflect and serve the nation's deepest ideals. But, when used improperly for partisan purposes, it can undermine those very ideals. If elections can be undone by 'sham procedures,' we will in effect have a 'palace coup,' he (Hirsch) writes."
I see what is occurring in the House of Representatives as an attempt at a 'palace coup' that will undermine our ideals and could very well undermine the very foundation upon which our great country was founded. We are moving rapidly toward a very slippery slope, with repercussions that will be felt for decades to come.
The Radical Right has never been happy with President Clinton being in the White House. They have been trying to get him out since he took office. And now they are willing to use the ultimate tool of the Constitution for the basest of political motives to try to accomplish their aims.
I think it is important to keep in mind what was written in Harper's Weekly after Andrew Johnson's acquittal in the Senate:
"A thousand-fold more important to the welfare of this country and to human liberty than the removal of any President, for any offense whatever, is the conscientious discharge of duty by public men. Party-spirit, inflamed into ferocity, lost to reason and the moral sense, is the perpetual menace of free institution. We are at this moment seeing it in its worst aspect. The point of national interest and concern has suddenly changed. It is not whether the President shall be removed—it is whether public men shall be honest.... This country is now undergoing one of its severest trials in the effort to crush the individual conscience by party terrorism. But as we show elsewhere there are enough sagacious and influential members of the party to protest against so fatal a course, and to prevent the party of liberty from destroying by general consent the most sacred and essential rights of free citizens of a free nation." As quoted from Harper's Weekly, May 30, 1868, page 338.
Impeachment is likely to last months in the Senate. Our government will be paralyzed at a time when we have so many more important issues facing us.
The Social Security Trust Fund continues to slide toward bankruptcy. Our educational system is not preparing our children to compete in an increasingly technological world. Our campaign finance system can best be described as legalized bribery, with enough loopholes that one can drive a large truck through them. Our people are not protected by a Health Care Bill of Rights, despite constant news stories about how they are being hurt and killed by the current system. People continue to be homeless.
The international economic system is on the verge of collapse. There is serious unrest and instability in many parts of the world. The Balkans. Russia. India and Pakistan. The Congo. Iran and Afghanistan. Iraq. Colombia. Mexico. North Korea. The United Nations is having a difficult time meeting all of its responsibilities around the world, in large part due to the irresponsibility of the Congress failing to pay the back dues that the United States owes.
The Congress of the United States has decided to impeach the President of the United States, overturning the will of the American people, who have twice elected William Jefferson Clinton as their President, ignoring public opinion, which is overwhelmingly opposed to what they are doing, viewing it as a coup attempt by the Radical Right.
Impeachment will totally destabilize this country at a time when the world needs our stability and leadership more than it has in a half century. This could have very serious repercussions, not just for the United States, but for other parts of the world as well. And all for partisan political gain by the Radical Republican Right.
If it wasn't so serious, it would be almost laughable. The whole world is going to hell in a handbasket, to use an old cliché, and Congress decides to impeach the President, for partisan gain, destabilizing the one part of the world which until now, has been stable. There are so many more important issues that the Congress should be concentrating on rather than wasting all of this time, energy and money on what should be a private matter between the President and his wife.
The spirit of Nero fiddling while Rome burns is alive and well in the Halls of Congress.
The world economic system is on the verge of collapse, in large part due to the failure of the Congress to invest in the IMF and World Bank to get us through this crisis. This irresponsibility by Congress could very well cause our economy to slide into recession, rather than remaining as the sole major bastion of economic growth in the world. With foreign economies as fragile as they are, a recession in the United States could cause many foreign countries to slide from recession into full economic depression.
Still, Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
The Republicans in Congress get upset because they don't feel that we have the influence we should have in the United Nations, yet they refuse to pay the back dues that we owe. I guess they know that he who pays the fiddler calls the tune, to use another cliché.
Perhaps that is why Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
With the obsession with the Lewinsky Affair, Congress is playing right into the hands of our enemies such as Saddam Hussein, and many of the other terrorist leaders throughout the world, who would love nothing better than the United States be immobilized in this time of great international tension and crisis. I would not be surprised if they are not quietly thanking Congress for their voyeuristic obsession and hope that they will keep it up (no pun intended) as long as possible. That just makes things easier for them to plan and eventually carry out actions that will definitely NOT be in our national interest. All because the Republicans had to play power politics in a high stakes game to try to turn out of power the man, who, despite his faults, the American people twice elected to that office.
Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
Under the worst case scenarios, the Social Security Trust Fund will be bankrupt by 2016, yet Congress won't address the problem.
Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
Many of our children are not able to get a good education in our public schools. They come out of school totally unprepared for success in a high tech economy and society. Yet Congress does very little that might help solve the problems in our schools.
Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
Why? Because the Republicans in Congress are so obsessed with the President having an affair, that they would rather crucify him for a human weakness than address the really serious problems we face as a country.
Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
I feel that the Iran-Contra Affair was a much more serious threat to our Constitutional form of government than the Monica Lewinsky Affair, yet neither Reagan nor Bush were impeached for subverting the Constitution, as I thought they should have been. And, shortly before leaving office, Bush made sure that the truth would not come out by issuing last minute pardons to some of his old cronies. Where was the hue and cry from Republicans over these abuses of power?
It is long past time to put this matter behind us. What President Clinton did was wrong. But, it is definitely NOT an impeachable offense. Get this over with NOW, and get on with addressing the really serious problems facing this country and the world. Please sign the Petition to urge the Senate to Censure the President and then Move On to address these much more Important Issues.
The Congress is playing a very high stakes game in their fight with the President. Unfortunately, the real losers in this game are bound to be the people of the United States.
Nero continues to fiddle in the Halls of Congress.
I welcome your comments, both positive and negative about this and
other issues. I feel that honest criticism can only improve this site and
lead to a more thorough and civilized discussion of important issues.
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Judiciary Committee report on the Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment published following the 1974 Nixon Impeachment Hearings.
Jurist, the Law Professors' Network, Guide to Impeachment and Censure Materials Online
Peter M. Shane has written an interesting article, Impeachment: An Introduction.
Information about the history of impeachment
A very informative explanation of the impeachment process">
CSPAN's Impeachment Process Bibliography
An interesting biography of Andrew Johnson.
Inter-Link Cafe's site about Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson, impeachment and President Clinton
Cartoons About The House Impeachment Proceedings!
This page was last updated December 20, 1998.
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