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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1999)
e ic Battalion Page 13 • Thursday, January 21, 1999 "‘.let’s eef ready to rumble w decades S tie trial must go on hr justice to be served letnamese-, ■s have decades ddent’s avert '8 tor (he lav 6 percent in: 1 the highest es by a pres vndon Johr-1 ding to Fran):' ief of the Ga ttlis a safe bet that every 1 time in the, president has a strong de- it presidents |sii e to be remembered for ;erapproval! )mt thing that they accom- tor a sustair isied while holding the of- sl quarterot re.Twilliam Jefferson Clinton n and thesur;*now secured himself that uni by Pres acr i n the history book. 'pture of Pi'jBjr on ]y the second time in Russeu. 1 te pistory of this country, the PAGE erstanGulf«*jj ent 0 f t j ie united States °^ r l*®®Bing tried in the Senate. The question the Sen- Drs must as ^ i s whether the two articles of im- satfhment handed to them by the House of Rep- v ,,' - tsentatives are grounds for removing the president al48p a £B, offlce - , . . .. ilar pointsir'B 6 ^ 111 ^ anc ‘ obstruction of justice are offenses ^ V if committed by any other elected official ly night’s St ' 0l |* c * likoly constitute removal from office and ess, ClintorJfrt warrant jail time. Clinton must be held to his progrs - le s ame standards as every other American citi- a Clinton , en If he is not, the office of president will be 1$. Jsformed to that of monarch. ^^feased on the fact Clinton was impeached on haiges of perjury, the majority of the House of *mArfiiw esentat * ves t> e k eve Clinton is a liar; they be- tSvul e yf ked under oath in a grand jury deposition. ■his, however, does not cover the lies he told to • is family or to the American public. <1 pSH^ccording to a Time/CNN poll most Ameri- Ci believe the trial should end immediately, so /h\ don’t our representatives end it? Congres- ional members have a responsibility to the coun- . l ilK T ryund to the Constitution, a responsibility that , ntflils maintaining the checks and balance sys- ™ Someone must hold the White House re- ;ible for the actions that take place within its vafis or on its desks, as the case may be. nine increasiB Senate is supposed to influenced less by ! ^ he:popular views of the people and concentrate ! ; aore on the important issues facing the nation. saidS™ h 0 issue being tried is not an affair, but u> 1 ’, ' 1 . lushing the limits of the law as far as they can tee tnatpre )e ^ ushed _ . Jrhe current social attitude toward the presi- lent’s actions is that he made a small mistake e, nlac , v an j ntern and j t i s no bjg deal. So then why n or Alaska Ud he lie about ; t? Hf he is willing to lie about something small ike this to a grand jury, what else is he willing o lie about? Would he tell the truth in Whitewa- er hearings, about the suicide of Vince Foster or ibout the need to send American service people othe Persian Gulf in order to stop Saddam Hus- (or a house hearing). f Congress allows him to break only “minor” s, where will that set the precedent when big- abuses of power come to light? he precedent these hearings will set in re ds to the office of the president will be huge, he prosecution fails to get the 67 votes need- ■ to remove the president from office, then ry future president will be able to behave the y Clinton does. With power comes responsibility and power hout consequence corrupts. President Clinton has failed in his responsi- Sty and it is up to the ladies and gentlemen of [ Senate to ensure there are bounds on the pow- ?r of the president. When the Constitution was written, the men who ned it examined the possibility of presidential jsconduct and provided a way for the legislative nch to keep tabs on the executive branch. The constitutional reasons for impeachment are eason, bribery, and high crimes and misde- anors.” Webster’s defines misdemeanor as bad avion Most people will agree Clinton’s conduct s not been good. By his own admission, he lied :o the public and mislead investigators. For once, the members of the Senate need to t like reasonable people. Justice must be blind to rtisan lines and concentrate on finding the truth. Can this man be trusted with the lives of the nerican service people, setting examples for tr children or standing for truth, justice, and le American way? The truth is the president ^tas proven himself untrustworthy and unwor- [y to be the leader of a country that prides it- If on justice. I Since Clinton does not have the personal in tegrity to admit in plain English that he lied and resign, it is up to the officials who are entrusted o making the laws to ensure the chief executive s held to the same standard of the law anyone pe would be. Russell Page is a senior political science major 0 Ff Clinton Trial The view from the clubhouse; Or, what if Clinton were not Clinton? W Brandon MULLEN hley Jack- son Cun ning ham, better known as Bogey, was the head greens superinten dent at The Coun try Club upon the Hill. His term at the club had been reasonably successful. The course was in very good shape and the majority of the members approved of his job. The established members did not appreciate Bogey’s efforts like the common members. These members did not like the way Bogey managed the course. He worked to make the course easier for everyone, while his predecessors catered to the more advanced golfers. As soon as Bogey took the job, he began making changes to the course. Consequently, the older members be gan looking for a way to remove Bogey from the position. When Kristian Steer learned from Lucy Ttapp that Bogey was receiving private swimming lessons from a country club lifeguard. Bogey’s adversaries felt they had a case. Lucy told Steer she had seen Michele Lewsinesy go down to the maintenance barn during her breaks. At first, Lewsinesy denied the rumors, but after she was told she could lose her lifeguard license, she admitted to visiting Bogey. Lewsinesy told Steer everything about her relationship with Bogey. She said originally she just gave him swimming lessons, but they had quickly become romantic. She gave him a lengthy account of what days Bogey and she had met and which swimming strokes she had taught him. She even produced a blue bathing suit Bogey had given her. Steer was able to prove the bathing suit had come from Bogey because of some grass clippings that were found stuck to it. Steer contended that his interest was not motivated by the affair. He believed Bogey’s actions were in direct violation of country club policy. Steer felt Bogey had taken improp er advantage of country club facili ties. As an employee in the golf de partment, Bogey was only allowed to use the golf course. Initially, Bogey refused to acknowl edge any of the allegations. He even denied ever speaking to Lewsinesy. However, after Steer persuaded Michele to tell what she knew. Bogey changed part of his story. He acknowl edged he had taken some lessons from Lewsinesy, but he refused to admit that he had misused any of the coun try club’s facilities. Bogey said the lessons had not tak en place in the pool, but in a lake on the golf course. In his opinion, these acts were in agreement with the offi cial policy. Steer disagreed. He thought Lewsi- nesy’s services were part of the swim ming pool facilities and, therefore. Bo gey had violated his contract. Bogey countered Steer by arguing the official country club policy he signed read “facilities” and not “services.” He thought if he was al lowed to eat the kitchen’s food, which was a service offered by the dining facilities, why was Lewsi nesy not allowed to teach him the backstroke during breaks? Neither side was willing to budge. Bogey felt he had suffered enough per sonal humiliation and everyone at the club would benefit if the matter was forgotten. Steer and the rest of his cronies were willing to accept some thing less than removal if Bogey would confess everything. But Bogey stuck to his defense because he truly be lieved he was not in violation of his contract. A hearing became inevitable. The date was set for Bogey to ap pear in front of the country club’s ex ecutive committee. The members of the committee were split. The estab lished members were decidedly against Bogey. Their opinion was that the country club’s integrity would suffer if this vio lation went unpunished. The members of the committee who favored Bogey’s management un derstood he had made a mistake. But in their minds, removing him was not necessary and could be damaging. While they were weeding through the details of the affair, the entire club was shut down and the membership was left waiting for the enquiry’s end. The rest of the club members were also split. There were a number of die hard anti-Bogey constituents who want ed him to be terminated. They were the minority. The bulk of the members did not see what the big deal was. They knew that Bogey had made a mistake, but did it warrant firing him? Bogey’s policies had benefited the majority of the membership. The club was still considered the best in the world. The course was easier, which encouraged more members to start playing. He even made the mainte nance crew more efficient. In their eyes the grass was still green, so why bother? Brandon Mullen is a senior history and English major HOPE m DiSpLMING THIS IN A DIGNIFIED manner... /es MAIL CALL Campus visitor offended by attitudes of Aggies As a recent visitor to your campus, I was ap palled by the militaristic attitude foisted on my life-partner and I at the student center. We are debating whether or not to contact your Reich Marshall and demand an apology. For some reason, you seem to revere the grass in front of that architectural hodgepodge called the Memorial Student Center. What right did the pimply-faced little shave-head have to order me off something when my conscience tells me to walk the shortest distance between two points? Now that we have a more-activist Supreme Court, I sincerely hope they establish there is a latent constitutional right not to be offended, much like the constitutional right to privacy. I am deeply offended by the flag-waving “Ameri- ka Erwache” attitude that gave us the bank rupting of the Americas by the U.S., the atom bomb and, yes, Desert Storm. Silly Aggies, you need to enter the 20th cen tury before the 21st gets here. H. Green La Porte, TX The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in per son at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 111.1 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@vmtml.tamu.edu Trial comes across as 3-ring circus with asses, pachyderms butting heads (U-WIRE) IOWA CITY, Iowa — The U.S. Senate is now taking part in our country’s greatest sideshow — the presidential im peachment hearings, a.k.a. The World’s Greatest Circus. Full of old elephants and donkeys, we are able to see our elected government officials stuck on a continuous tight-rope walk. And although they look as if they want to perform a special trick, they are forced to walk this in finitely long, fine line. For the old and injured elephants, it is es sential to prove the president committed an impeachable offense. As the circus directors, they have seen the supporting crowd dimin ish right before their eyes but have declared that the show must go on. They are forced to show the public that when they perform a . trick, people take notice. It’s too late for them to quit; they have to try and save face and in crease their support. Underneath these powerful creatures, however, is the desire to stop the show before going bankrupt. They have already lost cru cial supporting positions, two ring-leaders down, one to go. But they know if it stops now they will never be able to recover, and may expose their fear of little mice. Move too far this way, and it’s a long fall off the rope, with no safety net. As for the donkeys, they are just being donkeys ... stubborn as hell. They like to change their appearance daily and hourly. On the surface, they say they want the whole show to end now. Inside, however, they know they are gaining as long as the ele phants are suffering. As far as they’re concerned, the elephants deserve a long, painful demise. They are forced to respect the circus rules, or at least seem to be, while really trying to shove the importance of the proceedings under the table. These donkeys know the ball is in the elephants’ ring, and they want to make sure it stays there. And for Head Ringmaster Clinton, the greatest ever tight-rope walker, it is in his best interest to stay above it all. His team doesn’t want witnesses, for example, but why would it? His approval ratings are in credible, and most “experts” assume he will never be thrown out of the ring. Why let the public hear more? He is, therefore, control ling the ring, even though he is never directly inside of it. The elephants may want a bushel of peanuts, but he will only give them one at a time. Though many may say they don’t want this circus to be decided along party lines, too bad. This is American politics, a circus above all others, where the donkeys and ele phants are the government. Forget about law in these proceedings; this is now about es caping the torture. It is about getting of this treacherous tight-rope. Until then, enjoy the high-wire act that has become American politics. Joseph Plambeck is a columnist for The Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa.
