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
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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.