>I'm actually much more convinced that the President will survive as a result of my arguments on these forums and fielding attack form the frequently impassioned advocates of impeachment.<
You attribute to yourself powers that can only be the result of delusions of grandeur.
>I have taken on all comers, and heard lots of emotional, and some well reasoned, arguments in opposition.<
Your "arguments" are not arguments. They simply are claims that Clinton's perjuries are not "that bad", this, in the face of the facts that perjury is indeed a violation of public law, in a president a violation of oath, and therefore a violation of public trust. In that it is a violation of public trust, and in that Federalist #65 claims a president is impeachable for such violations, Clinton is impeachable. That, my friend, is an argument, and merely claiming "but his perjury is not so bad" is nothing but a claim.
>I've heard nothing very persuasive.<
Because for you, this is impossible, and merely because it is impossible for you to be persuaded is yet no sort of respectable argument.
>The best I've heard is along the lines that even the tiniest abuse of office might be impeachable.<
You know, sir. You sound like a White House operative. You claim Mr. Clinton's repeated and flagrant violations of law and direct lies to the people, his willful sending of his own cabinet members to his moral defense, knowing all along that he was lying to beat the band, "the tiniest abuse of office". Surely he could have abused his office in a "tinier", less devastating manner than this, but for you what he has done is the "tiniest abuse" (meaning he could have done no worse)because it is what you want it to be, and not because there exists any sound argument to that effect. This is really quite insulting to you because it shows that you can allow yourself to be terribly abused, lied to, used and that you still cannot possibly see a problem with it, especially if your abuser is an American President.
>I think when it gets to the vastly more deliberative Senate, that impeachment has little chance.<
I agree, and this will occur not because of an embrace of the aims of our nation's Founding Fathers.
>Because no one has effectively countered the argument that this is about the most minor, and most forgivable, of all readily imaginable perjuries, under all the circumstances. That characterization has basically stood without any effective challenge. <
A pity. You see, for you a perjury has weight based upon the thing about which one lies. For reasonable men who understand the value of the religion of law, perjury has extraordinary weight in that it flagrantly and perniciously attempts to deny justice to society. Had Clinton, firstly admitted his contempt of court and cast himself at the mercy of our system, his perjury would perhaps have been forgivable, particularly in view of his circumstances. But in that he persisted to lie and scheme, and wag his finger, and abuse others in the midst of his lies, even using the power of his office to perpetuate his lies, power unavailable to any other American, his perjury is not only unforgivable, but it is a flagrant and repeated attack upon public trust. You can complete the argument from here, as it has been placed before you on a platter more times than I care to remember.
>The implicit counter is that all perjury of any sort is so bad if committed by the chief law enforcement officer than it is impeachable. But that line of argument certainly doesn't cut it. The Constitution, specifically talking about the President, requires that for him, that highest law enforcement officer, not just any crime will do.<
Perjury is not just any crime, sir. It is to warp the judicial system by use of that which is foreign to justice, namely lies. In that it does this, it is a flagrant attack upon the one and only system to which we all bow, the law. Since it warps and abuses our law, it warps and abuses society and is therefore a violation of public trust. Complete the argument for yourself.
>Only a High Crime and Misdemeanor meets the high hurdle for impeachment.<
Hehe. Laughable. This is like a President's lying his head off indiscriminately, using other officials to lie, lying to the courts, and you calmly saying, "but it has to be a big deal. He has to really mess up." This is no argument sir. It is a mere claim.
(snip)
>Really, I think the public is way ahead. I think the more focused we get on the standards for impeachment issue, and dissecting this perjury, with all the attendant circumstances as I have repeatedly discussed, the better it gets for the President.<
It is not that the public is way ahead, it is that the public increasingly does not esteem the law. We see this lack of respect playing itself out everyday, particularly in our cities.
>Maximum shock is reached Monday evening. It gets better from there on out for the President...<
Agreed, and the rest of us will suffer for centuries. |
