MA>     You, and I, and most others in the echo apparently have different
MA>ethical standards, and therefore different expectations of what a
MA>President should be and do than the vast majority of the American
MA>people.  In the midst of what can only be called a crisis of ethics,
MA>Clinton has posted a 73% approval rating in some polls.  To put this in
MA>perspective, we are talking about a higher approval rating than Reagan
MA>ever had during his eight years in office.
MA>     Something is terribly, terribly, wrong with this.  He has already
MA>admitted lying to the American people over the Genifer Flowers affair.
MA>He has ran, for years, from one scandal to the next flaunting not only
MA>the bounds of personal ethical behavior, but the bounds of privacy of
MA>his peers, the bounds of honesty with public funds, and the bounds of
MA>credibility itself.  Yet the American public seems unshaken by all of
MA>this.
MA>     Even if he had the affair, and it is proven, over 60% of those
MA>polled believe he should remain in office.  That is an amazing number
MA>when you consider the depth and force of the lies he has purportrated
MA>on the American people in his own defense.  If he had been the CEO of a
MA>large corporation and was discovered having an affair with a very young
MA>apprentice he would face sexual harassment charges and be immediately
MA>terminated.  Yet as president, hios behavior is deemed OK by most.
MA>     How can the public react as it is reacting?  As Dole
MA>said..."Where's the outrage?"
Let me clarify. BUT for the fact he is the President, therefore CIC, and 
therefore a, God help me for saying this, role model (shudder), his 
behavior should be at the highest standard. If he were NOT President, then 
this would be a matter between him and Hillary. 
There are those who support him who say just that. There's one woman in my 
office who believes that since we "mortals" are, as a society, immoral, 
then how can we expect our President to be moral.
That worries me because what she is saying is that we're all bad therefore 
we can't expect any better from our leaders.
My belief is the opposite. The fact that he IS our leader, he should be 
held to the highest standards. 
She appears to be a proponent of the dumbing down of America.
JS>How can one justify the Senior NCOs now languishing in Leavenworth f
JS>behavior that is similar if not identical to that of their CIC? What
JS>Lt. Kelly Flynn? And more importantly, WHERE is Patricial Ireland du
JS>all this?
 
MA>      Exactly identical behavior, except there are no allegations in
MA>those cases of perjury, subornation of perjury, or obstruction of
MA>justice...and this is the same president that sought protection under
MA>the provisions of law designed to protect active service personnel from
MA>civil suits.   Grrrr...
Exactly. So where's Patricia Ireland and the rest of the NAG gang? Silent. 
VERY silent. Why? Because to a LIbEral, the ends justify the means. Or to 
put it another way, they're willing to compromise their ideals, their 
beliefs, their core thoughts, for the political and financial power they 
crave. It puts them in par with a $20 whore peddling herself on any 
American main street. No, actually lower, since the whore admits what she 
is up front. These people cloak themselves in righteous idignation and 
elitism. 
JS>I seriously doubt that Gore would pardon Klinton. For if he did, the
JS>would have a ready made issue for the 2000 campaign. 
 
MA>      Here we disagree.  If Clinton is forced to resign I really
MA>believe a pardon for Clinton, much along the lines of the pardon Nixon
MA>received from Ford, is pretty much a given.  The whole thing will be
MA>covered by "bringing a divided nation back together", "putting this
MA>behind us and getting back to work", and all the catch phrases used
MA>before.  Plus, as long as these investigations are active, Gore could
MA>very well end up with his head on a pole too.  He has a vested interest
MA>in shutting down Judge Starr's operation and the other related
MA>investigations of Clinton as well.  He's no babe in the woods himself.
You could be right. We would have to have Clinton resign first which is 
highly unlikely before we'd see what Gore would do. 
Despite Sam Donaldson saying last week Clinton's problem would come to a 
head in a matter of days and not weeks or months, it isn't going to be that 
easy. 
Some in the press are a bit peeved with Billy Bob. They trusted him, went 
to bat for him, made excuses for him and got dumped on by him in this 
latest scandal.
JS>To put the issue at hand in clear focus, and to paraphrase the Klint
JS>slogan, "It's the issue of Perjury stupid!"
 
MA>       If Judge Starr had 1/10th of the public relations people, spin
MA>doctors, media relations people, strategic planners, and pollsters that
MA>Clinton has working for him, Clinton would have been forced to resign
MA>last week.  What the press and the public fails to realize is that on
MA>one hand we have an administration with unlimited public resources
MA>operating an all out attack on public opinion and on the other we have
MA>a federal judge quitely going about his business and conducting a
MA>criminal investigation.  Judge Starr has no media spokesman, no spin
MA>doctors, no public relations people, and no plan to influence public
MA>opinion.  All he has is the facts and the truth. 
 
And if given a choice between the facts and truth vs. spin doctors, media 
hype, etc. the truth and facts lose out each and every time. Because we 
tend, as a nation, to vote Dow Jones and not Paula Jones. 
And therein lies the rub to the feminists. What the American public is 
saying is "it's OK for a married man to have an affair with a woman young 
enough to be his daughter". They condone it. They condone serial adultery. 
They condone euthanasia, abortion, drug use, teenage pregnancies, etc. So 
why is this so hard to believe?
I've had one of the lawyers in my office tell me that there's no black or 
white but varying shades of grey. I told him that he's willing to 
compromise his beliefs and morals for the good life and therefore is lower 
than a street hooker. That didn't go over very well. I also told him that 
there are some things in life that ARE black and white. Right and wrong is 
an example.  
This issue is going to be as devisive as the OJ Simpson trials. 
John , jnsampson@ibm.net 
 "To find reasonable doubt, one must first be capable of reason."
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