-Caveat Lector-
>From wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : North America : Clinton Impeachment
As Senate trial winds down, efforts intensify to cover up conspiracy
against democratic rights
By Barry Grey
6 February 1999
As the Senate impeachment trial limps toward a conclusion, the efforts of
the White House and both the Republicans and Democrats are focused on
finding a formula for bestowing constitutional legitimacy on what all sides
know to be an attempted political coup d'etat.
The overriding concern is to conceal from the American people the
far-reaching and ominous implications of the campaign to destabilize the
Clinton administration that has culminated in the Senate proceedings. This
is the basic motive behind the negotiations for a censure resolution, which
have taken on increased urgency following the apparent collapse of
proposals for a "finding of fact."
Far from ennobling the proceedings in the House of Representatives that
ended with the first-ever impeachment of an elected President, the Senate
trial has further discredited all of the political institutions of
capitalist rule--Congress, the presidency, the judiciary and both political
parties. From the minute the White House legal team began its examination
of the articles of impeachment and the web of half-truths and innuendoes on
which they are based--which occurred in the first week of the trial--it was
patently clear that the case for Clinton's conviction and removal was a
politically-motivated sham.
Since then the possibility of obtaining a two-thirds vote to convict has
grown increasingly remote, and the emphasis has shifted to coming up with
what the media calls an "exit strategy." A more accurate term would be
"coverup."
No one is more intent on this goal than Clinton himself. His lawyers have
quietly shelved their intermittent threats to demand the testimony of key
players in the conspiracy, such as Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg and
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, and renounced their right to call their
own witnesses.
Clinton used the occasion of a congressional prayer breakfast on Thursday
to curry favor with his right-wing opponents and make it clear they have
nothing to fear from the White House. Sharing the dais with the moderator,
Republican congressman Steve Largent, Clinton stressed the need for
reconciliation. Largent is a mouthpiece for the Christian Right and one of
the most relentless advocates of impeachment.
The New York Times, in an editorial headlined "Countdown to Censure,"
expressed the cynicism and duplicity that underlie the efforts to cover up
the political conspiracy. Ignoring the exposure by Clinton's lawyers of the
House prosecutors' legal case, the Times declared that a censure resolution
must contain language "reflecting the reality that Mr. Clinton did
knowingly lie under oath and that he did tamper with evidence and witnesses
and attempt to impede the lawful progress of a civil rights suit."
Come hell or high water, the Times is determined to uphold the farcical
claim that the political crisis which has paralyzed the US government for
more than a year is the result of Clinton's libido. It ignores its own
reports detailing the collusion between Starr's office and the Paula Jones
lawyers, and their plot to scandalize and undermine the White House. The
newspaper goes so far as to borrow the rhetoric of the House prosecutors,
casting the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit--financed and managed from
the outset by extreme right-wing groups and individuals--as a "civil
rights" suit.
Such sophistry would be laughable, were not the purposes it serves so
inimical to basic democratic rights.
Whatever the form assumed by the final act of the impeachment saga, the
fundamental causes of this pivotal episode in American political history
will remain. Even in the short run, there is no reason to believe that the
political assault on the Clinton administration will end with the
conclusion of the Senate trial.
Independent Counsel Starr has already let it be known he is considering
indicting and prosecuting Clinton before the end of his presidential term.
On Thursday one current member and two former members of Starr's
prosecutorial team appeared as panelists at a public forum sponsored by the
Los Angeles County Bar. When asked by the moderator whether Starr has
already issued a sealed indictment against Clinton, all three refused to
answer.
More fundamentally, the impeachment crisis is a symptom of a deeper
malaise. The entire body politic is diseased, and democratic institutions
have undergone a profound decay. In the end, the traditional forms of
bourgeois democracy are incompatible with the staggering levels of social
inequality that prevail in the US. No censure resolution can avert the
growth of political instability and the inevitability of social upheavals.
See Also:
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to address right-wing,
pro-impeachment organization
[5 February 1999]
Independent counsel threatens to indict Clinton
Starr sends a message: the political coup will continue
[2 February 1999]
Senate approves anti-democratic rules
Impeachment trial procedure violates due process
[30 January 1999]
Top of page
Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998-99
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
