From: Kyle L. Webb (kwebb@gkar.phys.unm.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 23 1998 - 19:16:10 MST
>
> Now, I know this isn't the most directly "extropian" topic... In many ways
> what the U.S. President does or doesn't do is irrelevant...
>
> <RANT>
>
> Am I the only one pissed off by the apparent fact that so many
> people want to hang him if it turns out he had an affair? I mean, come on! I
> saw one quote from one of the lawyers who, while not rushing to judgement about
> the veracity of the claims, said that if the claims were true, it would mean
> that the president is a misogynist.
I could care less about what Clinton's sexual history is. It has little or no
effect on his being able to run the country. His first term looked kinda
amatuerish in places, but though I'd have rather had Dole, he'd managed to
mostly get it together in the second term (Noteably, bringing in Albright as
Secretary of State dramatically improved the handling of foreign policy).
That said, there are two points that have to be made. First and by far the
most important, is that the real question is whether or not he and Vernon
Jordan asked someone to commit perjury. That's a felony. Now, many of us on
this list don't like a lot of things about our government and legal system
(myself included), but this man is the leader and symbol of that system, and
if it's ok for him to do that, what does it say for the validity of that
system?
I remember my complete disgust when Mitchell, during Watergate said with a
straight face to the House committee "Obeying the law, and upholding the
constitution would have hurt us politically.". That was the Attorney General
of the United States saying that. That was incredible hypocrisy, and so is this if it turns out to be true.
If the president was soliciting perjury, then it IS a big deal.
The second is only a minor quibble. If he indeed did have an affair with
Lewinsky (as yet unproven, and not particularly reprehensible, save for any
effect on his family), he might have shown a little more restraint
during his time in office, given the PR problems he's had with allegations
in the past. I think the sexual standards the country tries to impose on
officials are ridiculous, but that's a fact of political life at the moment.
Tempting fate that way is not good judgement.
> But once it's out in the open, well, then we'd better hang him, eh?
If it's getting someone to lie under oath that's getting out in the open,
then he has to face charges just like any of the rest of us would.
And saying that doing that is just "business as usual" is IMHO just admitting
the the process has failed.
> Sorry for taking up bandwidth with nothing more than a complaint.
No prob. I like the political discussions even more than the philosophical
ones. (grin)
Kyle L. Webb Dept. of Physics + Astronomy
kwebb@gkar.phys.unm.edu University of New Mexico
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