| Pure Politics |
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| He has not merely weakened his presidency but made it rudderless by his nauseating behavior. |
At the beginning of each of his two terms, Bill Clinton put his hand on his family's Bible and repeated, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States ..."
In the sixth year of his presidency, Mr. Clinton violated the spirit of that oath and, as a result, has irreparably damaged the trust that the public must have in its national leader. He has not merely weakened his presidency but made it rudderless by his nauseating behavior. The least injurious way to restore normalcy at the center of national power is for Mr. Clinton to turn over the White House keys. Asking for a president's resignation is a rare event, as it should be. No newspaper, least of all one that has twice endorsed Mr. Clinton for president, could arrive at this decision lightly. The people elected him, and their decision shouldn't be dismissed easily. But democracy works well only when people trust their national leader. The president's effectiveness remains so long as he enjoys, in the words of the Founding Fathers, the "consent of the governed." How can there be informed consent when the governed, in substantial numbers, come to deeply distrust what he says? Most Americans do not expect perfection from their president. They expect him to have high moral standards, however. They want the person whom they favor with a lease for the White House to have integrity and to show good judgment. They want their president to be a great communicator, not a master dissembler. They want him to strive to be a role model for what's best about America, not to be a poster child for what's worst. And they expect him to heed his own exhortations about the need for personal responsibility.
| The president's effectiveness remains so long as he enjoys the "consent of the governed."
Mr. Clinton has failed these tests. By his own grudging admission, his conduct in the Monica Lewinsky case is inexcusable. Yet after all that has come to light since January, he still insists that his sins are merely indiscretions and merit, at most, rebuke rather than removal from office. His ability to govern remains undiminished, he again asserted last week, despite the furor over his misconduct and the approaching House hearings on impeachment.
| Mr. Clinton should wake up to the reality that he has become a national embarrassment. He has run out of the miracles he needs to rescue him from the cesspool he has created. There may be no honor in resignation, but there is certain dishonor in remaining in office and continuing to soil the presidency and to endanger the national interest. Americans cannot rest comfortably knowing that Mr. Clinton's attention to the affairs of state is bound to be diverted by endless combat for his survival in office. A commander in chief who has the power to put America's sons and daughters in harm's way at any moment should not be encumbered by sex, lies and deceptions. A president who wants people to believe in him does not deceive his family, friends, subordinates and nation. Unlike other democracies whose elected governments fall by no-confidence votes in par liament, America's founders chose a narrower valve to discharge a corrupt, malevolent or morally bankrupt leader: impeachment. Mr. Clinton should spare himself and all Americans from the theater of impeachment by turning over the presidency to his able vice president, Al Gore.
| He has run out of the miracles he needs to rescue him from the cesspool he has created.
If Mr. Clinton still cares about his agenda for the country, Mr. Gore is more likely to make headway. The will of the people would still be honored because, as the Constitution provides, the other half of the Clinton-Gore ticket would carry on with what generally has been a good agenda for America.
| Scholars and lawmakers are debating whether misconduct in the execution of the office of president and scandalous personal behavior constitute impeachable offenses. There is little argument, however, over the grievous nature of Mr. Clinton's recklessness. Yet he wants the special privilege of staying on the job. He wants to avoid the consequences that any executive or manager in government or the private sector would face when caught having sexual relations with an employee half his age -- and then lying about it under oath. The nation's chief law enforcement officer has a special obligation to uphold the law. Those who still argue that the Monica Lewinsky case is only about sex remind us of Richard M. Nixon's defenders two decades earlier who argued that Watergate was only about a two-bit burglary. Leon Jaworski, the Watergate special prosecutor, said after Mr. Nixon's resignation in 1974, "What sank him was his lying." Indeed, some of the words used in the first article of impeachment voted by the House Judiciary Committee have resonance today: Mr. Nixon was charged with, among other things: "making or causing to be made false or misleading statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States ..."
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Had Mr. Clinton come clean as late as last month, when he "confessed" to the nation, the result could have been different. For a while, The Courant believed that a congressional censure would suffice. But the more Mr. Clinton apologized, the less believable he came across.
| Although the facts stare him in the face, he still denies that he lied under oath. Key members of his own party in Congress have expressed disgust with his prevarications. George Stephanopoulos, the president's former senior adviser, wrote last week that even if Mr. Clinton endures, "he won't really recover. He may be the center of attention, but he won't advance his agenda. He may remain our president, but he won't be revered as our leader." That is a diplomatic way of saying that Americans would be ill-served by a leader who spends the next two years in a fortress and who sacrifices his foreign and domestic agendas in a vain attempt to restore his effectiveness. Mr. Clinton has become a liability to his party and to his country not so much because impeachment hangs over his head but because he has squandered his moral authority to lead. He has abused his talents to persuade and failed to set a shining example. He should muster enough grace to resign. |
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