-Caveat Lector- December 22, 1998 ABROAD AT HOME / By ANTHONY LEWIS And Cauldron Bubble BOSTON -- Should Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg and Kenneth Starr decide who is to be President of the United States? When you analyze the principal argument made for the impeachment of President Clinton, you are brought inevitably to that question. Perjury was the House Republican mantra, the argument pressed by the hard right to bring moderates to heel. In the debate, one Republican after another said he or she had to vote to impeach Bill Clinton because he lied under oath. But that proposition overlooks what the trio did. The President tried to keep his sexual improprieties secret. That was neither surprising nor ignoble. Henry Hyde and Robert Livingston did the same, and so men have done since the Creation. But Monica Lewinsky told Mrs. Tripp, a former White House employee who had been trying for years to harm President Clinton. At the urging of Ms. Goldberg, a right-wing literary agent, Mrs. Tripp taped her telephone conversations with Ms. Lewinsky. She told Paula Jones's lawyers and Mr. Starr about the tapes. The resulting trap was sprung on the President at his deposition in the Jones case. That was the fount of his troubles. So it is vital to understand how his testimony has effectively been judged. Mr. Clinton denied, famously, having had "sexual relations" with Ms. Lewinsky. The definition of that was so obscure that no jury was likely to convict him of perjury in his denial. And the House of Representatives evidently took the same view. It rejected the article of impeachment charging him with perjury in the deposition. Mr. Starr had another string for his bow. He called the President before a grand jury, where he was asked about his statements in the Jones deposition. Then Mr. Starr charged that Mr. Clinton's answers were false. Again, I doubt that a jury would have convicted Mr. Clinton of perjury. Millions of Americans saw the videotape of his grand jury appearance and most sympathized with him -- indeed, were outraged at what he was put through. But House Republicans said that the President's answers to the Starr prosecutors were perjurious. That is, answers that the House found were not perjurious at the original proceeding became high crimes when the same answers were given again. No other American would have had to undergo that second turn of the screw. Targets of prosecutors customarily invoke the Fifth Amendment; Justice Department rules discourage calling them before grand juries. But Mr. Starr, determined to get something on him after four years of fruitless investigation, guessed correctly that for political reasons the President would not refuse to testify. In truth, many House Republicans who cited perjury as their ground for impeachment had deeper reasons. They do not like this President. An unmistakable venom ran through the whole process. An astute foreign eye saw it clearly. Philip Stevens of The Financial Times wrote: "This was not about the sacred Constitution of the United States. It wasn't even honest politics. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was personal. It was an act of vengeance." Conservatives have hated Bill Clinton since the day he took office. Some conservative commentators, broadcast and print, seem obsessed by the man. Robert Livingston, before he gave up the Speaker's job, showed his distorting animus when he said: "Richard Nixon's crime was covering up a crime he did not commit. Clinton is covering up a crime he did commit." There are reasons for politicians, Democratic and Republican, to distrust Bill Clinton. He has not played straight with many of them. And the public has reason to have been offended at his false assurance that he had not had sexual relations with that woman. But those are not grounds for impeachment, or resignation, unless we are going to make the impeachment process a vote of no confidence and move toward a parliamentary system of government. In the end, I do not believe that the Senate or the public will want to reward hatred. I do not believe they will want our political fate to be decided by Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg and Kenneth Starr. 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. 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