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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (7656)	10/2/1998 8:52:00 PM
From: j_b	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13994

<<Vices Are Not Crimes A Vindication of Moral Liberty>> I'm not sure what you are getting at with this piece. It doesn't relate to the Clinton issue, since the issue there is lying under oath, etc., not the affair with Monica. No one here is passing judgement on Clinton's affair. Could you give us a little more insight as to what issues you would like addressed in our comments? Thanks.

To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (7656)	10/2/1998 10:13:00 PM
From: Rick Slemmer	Respond to of 13994

Sam: Sounds like the author is advocating a slow march toward anarchy through rationalization of impulsive actions. Vices become crimes when either common law or statutory law is violated. Discharging firearms skyward within city limits may start off as a mere vice, but statutory law has decreed it to be a crime based on an overriding concern for public safety (i.e., lead slugs falling from the sky). Selling fraudulent insurance policies or worthless stock may be a vice to some, but again, overriding concern for the financial welfare of trusting citizens makes it a crime. You can make similar arguments where polygamy, gambling, tax evasion, bestiality, and any other undesirable activity is concerned. Laws exist, or at least are intended to exist, for the greater public good. Some are obvious (murder), some require thought to realize the danger (toxic pollutants, use of hallucinogens), and some are subjective, depending on the culture (prostitution, alcohol consumption). We elect public officials to lead us and to take responsibility for the wise use of our collective resources to be used for the common good. When these officials deceive us without good cause (i.e., national security issues), they have betrayed the implicit trust we gave them and they should be removed. And that, I'm afraid, is what this president has done. RS

To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (7656)	10/2/1998 10:57:00 PM
From: Dwight E. Karlsen	Respond to of 13994

interesting read, but I don't think that perjury is a vice. And perjury is where Clinton is guilty. He may have committed perjury about a vice, but that's nothing new. The trial was also about sexual harassment, which is not a vice either, but illegal for a reason.

To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (7656)	10/3/1998 8:58:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 13994

Sure, not all vices are crimes. But Clinton's serial perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and abuse of office are. They are also clearly impeachable offenses.

To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (7656)	10/8/1998 5:44:00 PM
From: gregor	Respond to of 13994

Hi Sam; It has been awhile. Nice to post you again ! >>>Vices Are Not Crimes A Vindication of Moral Liberty by Lysander Spooner, 1875<<< Having read the article, I would like to thank you for the thought inducing reaction I had to it. Vices aside, when one would swear by God Almighty to tell the truth in an earthly setting and not do so would this be a sin or a crime? Is the greater harm to God or to man? May I step out on a limb and argue that it is more of a crime. Christ said that if ye have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me. This to me, leads me to believe that Christ expects us to be honorable in our dealings with one another and His pain originates in the pain and outrage and injustice he "senses" from others. I'll be honest with you, if my revelation is correct; it causes me to not so much spare others from the pain that they may be enduring from others but from that which would or could originate within me. Then to carry my argument another step and to consider myself as a source of comfort or joy or encouragement or therapy or succor or aid should come quite naturally. In Christ..gregor