Jim, I respectfully disagree that the matter has any chance of strengthening the presidency. On a purely legal basis alone, Clinton's attempts to delay the inevitable findings of truth through use of privelege claims have resulted in precedents that have weakened the power of the office by arguably limiting the success of similar claims in the future, given that precedent now has been set.
The man knew the truth, and yet he sat back and allowed some of his closest associates to wrack up extraordinary legal bills while pressing the "deny, delay, attack" strategy. If you want to see suffering, look closely the next time they run footage of Betty Currie arriving to testify the first time before the Grand Jury. Ken Starr bears some responsibility for that anguish; however, the President bears far, far more.
Whether or not you think the Starr investigation was fair (and I agree that many other prosecutors in the same situation would not have pursued the Lewisnky matter as aggressively), the problem remains that he opened Pandora's Box. Now what do we do?
If you believe the allegations contained in the report, this President, at the very moment when many Congressmen and Senators were pleading for the type of speech he gave Friday morning, telegraphing to him that he needed to come clean and tell the truth and offer his apologies...
...he reared back and lied again. It is apparent that his testimony in the Jones case was not "legally accurate". His actions do appear to fall within the definitions presented by the Jones legal team and approved by the presiding federal judge.
So, in his first shot at a full apology - he lies again to the American people.
I simply do not believe a sitting President who lies before a federal grand jury in the manner in which the Starr report alleges should remain atop the pinnacle of our judicial system.
Good trading,
Tom
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