To: j g cordes who wrote (9794 ) 12/29/1998 9:35:00 PM From: halfscot Read Replies (1) | Respond to
jg: As a defender of the president you make good points in this debate of differing opinions. support this process of impeachment. To wit: As James Wilson wrote, "our President . . . is amenable to [the laws] in his private character as a citizen, and in his public character by impeachment." Doesn't this mean that the president is held accountable for his actions under the law as a citizen and under impeachment as a public character (meaning elected official)? It's agreed by all parties that the president can be held accountable under the law once he leaves office with impeachment being the remedy while he's in office.the subjects of [the Senate's impeachment] jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse of violation of some public trust.They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political ,... I agree. This president's conduct can easily be construed to "proceed from the misconduct of public men" and his actions evoke "the abuse of violation of some public trust." The left and feminists have long argued that people in positions of power have a special trust accorded them by the public to treat them with respect and not take advantage of their power and position to further their carnal or financial desires. Gloria Allred herself, to her credit in maintaining consistency, has admitted she has great difficulty in holding this president to no less a standard than all the others she has held thusly accountable.In Justice James Wilson's words, impeachments are "proceedings of a political nature . . . confined to political characters" charging only "political crimes and misdemeanors" and culminating only in political punishments." "only 'political crimes and misdemeanors'"? Where does this leave "bribery and treason" which are surely on a greater scale than merely political. "culminating only in political punishments'." Yes...and impeachment is the political punishment. Impeachment is always political...as our framers intended.In short, impeachment was not thought to be a remedy for private wrongs -- or even for most public wrongs. Rather, the Framers "intended that a president be removable from office for the commission of great offenses against the Constitution." Huh? I'm confused by this statement as it stands on its own. Forget "private wrongs", that's not what this impeachment is about, what about "most public wrongs."? Are we only to consider "bribery and treason"? After all, doesn't the president appoint all federal judges and prosecutors and isn't he considered the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S.? Is he to be held to a different standard than the people these federal officers are commissioned to pass judgement on? I'll bet the previous federal judge impeached for lying under oath wishes his case came up after the president's.
