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

To: Big D who wrote (7735)	10/4/1998 11:14:00 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13994

Hi Big D, Article...Understanding impeachment.... By David Limbaugh While not conceding that he has engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors, the White House and Democratic pundits are contending that President Clinton should not be impeached, irrespective of whether he has committed impeachable offenses. They argue that impeachment (and conviction) would be wrong for a number of reasons, including that it would thwart the will of the people by overturning his election and ignoring his high approval ratings. They also maintain that his policies are too important to be interrupted by his removal from office. While decrying the Republicans for partisanship and politicizing the process, it is the Democrats who are expediently injecting political issues into what should be a legal matter. The framers understood that political and partisan pressure would be brought to bear on any effort to remove a sitting president. Hamilton, in Federalist No. 65, said that impeachable conduct was "misconduct by public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust." He explained that this conduct was "political" in nature in that it would relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. Some people have conveniently misconstrued and taken out of context his use of the term "political." Hamilton used the term only to describe the nature of the conduct, not the process. For in the very next sentences he acknowledged that the process may become partisan and that such a result was to be scrupulously avoided. In fact, he explains, the framers vested the Senate with the power to try cases of impeachment precisely because it was the body most likely to remain impartial and independent in the process. So serious is the removal remedy that the framers required that conviction occur only on a vote of two-thirds of the Senate. Conspicuously absent from the text of the Constitution and from any of the historical writings explaining it, is a requirement that either the House or the Senate in determining whether to impeach and convict, respectively, weigh the president's perceived performance in office, his current popularity or his policy initiatives against his alleged impeachable offenses. It would have been inappropriate, illegal and unconstitutional, for example, for Congress to have declined to impeach President Nixon because of his revolutionary and exceedingly popular "door-opening" policies with China. The Constitution is very clear and quite explicit that the only issues for Congress to determine in impeachment cases is whether the president in fact committed the alleged acts and whether those acts constitute high crimes and misdemeanors. These issues must be decided in a trial before the United States Senate with the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court presiding. Impeachment is not criminal in nature and does not involve criminal punishment of the accused. The only permitted actions on conviction are removal from office and disqualification from holding public office in the future. The purpose of impeachment is not to punish the accused, but to preserve the integrity of the Republic by purging miscreants from and restoring dignity and honor to the office. The White House has been engaged in systematically undermining the rule of law for the duration of this investigation and it continues in that posture today. The president has done everything within his power to obstruct the grand jury, which was convened for the purpose of gathering and considering evidence of possible impeachable offenses and crimes by the president and other members of the administration, from performing its duties. The president has caused many of his subordinates to lie to the grand jury, has attempted to corruptly persuade Monica Lewinsky to lie in the Jones Deposition and to the grand jury, has refused to answer questions and lied to the grand jury and has interposed a number of phony privilege claims all to obstruct justice. In addition to his actions directly impeding the process of the grand jury, he has overtly attempted to subvert the Constitution by converting this from a legal matter into a political one. Rather than arguing his case on the merits, he has stonewalled, obstructed and viciously attacked his accusers. Instead of otherwise submitting to the process he has endeavored to corrupt the public debate and further debase the Constitution and rule of law by: 1) convincing the people that his objectively immoral, reckless and illegal behavior is not in fact immoral or illegal; 2) arguing that even if his conduct is wrong and criminal "greater ends" justify retaining him in office; 3) improperly hiring private investigators to discover and expose embarrassing conduct on the part of Congressmen and other perceived political enemies; 4) suggesting that the unconstitutional remedy of censure and fine be substituted for impeachment. The president has done and will continue to do everything both within and beyond his power to corrupt the Constitutional process known as impeachment. The framers were aware that partisan blood would flow during such emotionally and politically charged times, but did everything in their power to prevent the impeachment process from becoming partisan or political. It is the solemn duty of Congress to determine the issues before them in the manner prescribed by the framers and not to be sidetracked, intimidated or pressured into considering other factors neither contemplated nor sanctioned by the Constitution. That means that Congressmen from neither party should be swayed by partisan or popular considerations. The matter before them is gravely serious. It is now a legal matter that must be decided on the merits, and irrespective of the polls or other extraneous issues. While Congress has yet to decide whether his actions are impeachable and warrant conviction, the evidence is overwhelming that the chief executive officer of the United States has engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to mislead the courts, thwart the rule of law and undermine the Constitution. The framers provided a legal method for dealing with such behavior on the part of a rogue president. The prospective integrity of the Constitution and the rule of law depend solely on Congress, because this president has demonstrated his utter contempt for our system. Congress will either rise to the occasion by resisting the political, partisan and popular pressure to resolve these issues on a extra-constitutional basis and adhere to its constitutional duties or it will become a co-conspirator with this president in the destruction of this unique constitutional Republic. Regardless of whether it decides to impeach and or convict, Congress itself must act in conformity with its constitutional mandate. If Congress is unwilling to uphold the rule of law it might as well surrender the flag. The profound magnitude of the task before it is immeasurably greater than the abstract legacy to be attributed to it in academic history books. Undermining the rule of law is the first step towards eradicating our personal liberties because our liberties depend on the principle of limited, but orderly government that our founding fathers so carefully and ingeniously incorporated into our Constitution. The burden is on Congress either to vindicate or nullify the blood of our American patriots. David S. Limbaugh is a practicing attorney in Cape Girardeau, Missouri