Thursday, December 17, 1998

Impeachment vote marks low point for U.S.

Whatever political party you prefer, whether you support Bill Clinton or don’t, a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach the president of the United States is a sad and momentous occasion.

Such a vote is scheduled today on four articles of impeachment — charging perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power — brought forth by the House Judiciary Committee against President Clinton. If one or more articles pass by a simple majority in the 435-member House, finding there is sufficient cause to put the president on trial to remove him from office, then the matter will pass over to the U.S. Senate to decide next year in a trial, presided over by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, that could last for months on end.

In the arena of American politics, this is as serious as it gets. This is political nuclear war.

Only once before in modern memory has Congress taken steps to remove a president from office — against Richard Nixon in 1974. Comparisons between then and now reveal three stark differences.

First, facing certain impeachment by the House and likely conviction in the Senate, Nixon resigned before a full House vote could be held. Clinton shows no sign of stepping aside.

Second, Nixon was charged with covering up misdeeds that were illegal and that involved affairs of state, clearly “high crimes.” Clinton is charged with covering up a sexual affair that was immoral, embarrassing and stupid but was not in itself illegal. For many Americans, the disparity between the two sets of charges is enough to dismiss the grave proceedings now under way against Clinton. For others, wrong is wrong; questions of degree don’t apply.

Specter of partisanship

Third, a substantial number of Republicans were lined up against Nixon, making the movement to remove him from office bipartisan. Plus, Nixon had lost public support. Most Americans wanted him out. Clinton, however, maintains high approval ratings. National polls show that by about two to one, Americans do not want him removed from office. Most people thought the effort to impeach Clinton was over after the message delivered by the November election, in which GOP losses led to Speaker Newt Gingrich’s resignation. In addition, with the exception of only a handful of conservative Democrats who lean toward impeachment, the movement against Clinton is a one-sided assault, all coming from Republicans who have opposed him from the beginning of his presidency but have not been able to defeat him in two general elections.

Whichever side you’re on — and this is one of those all-or-nothing issues in which compromise appears impossible — today’s vote marks a dismal low point in American history. And beyond the disruption to the nation’s business that the spectacle of a yearlong Senate trial would surely produce, the ramifications of today’s action in the House will reverberate throughout America’s future and in unpredictable ways.

If Clinton is impeached, his enemies will gloat. If he prevails, his supporters will celebrate. Either way, partisanship, that bane of Washington politics, will intensify, making the American people come out the losers.