Date: Fri 18-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SS

Quick Words:

President-Clinton

Full Text:

ED INK: Taking Off The Polish

The local press generally has a pretty full plate each week and our columns

fill up rapidly with news of the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Education,

library events, sports of all levels, and activities of countless civic and

church organizations. Seldom does the news on the national level appear on our

pages, but there are times when we feel it is important to add our two cents.

Now is such a time.

President Bill Clinton has, for all of the wrong reasons, brought our country

to the attention of people all over the world. The foreign press, both

newspapers and television, are consumed by the antics of our President and, in

many cases, made us a laughing stock. This should be of concern to all of us,

but the real damage has been done here at home.

We now have a leader who has abused the truth and lied to the American public,

has created roadblocks which have caused delays in the investigational

process, and is splitting hairs when it comes to legal definitions surrounding

the impeachment guidelines.

As more and more evidence against the President comes to light, and with the

possibility of the release of the video tape of his deposition which leaks

have indicated is in no way favorable to him, he continues to retreat from the

truth and has reinforced his defense with a battery of new lawyers. Even more

blatant is the stand he is presently taking at the side of the clergy. This

front of humbleness is not at all convincing and is a move which should have

been taken privately, not in the public's eye.

Based on the actions of the President, there is little choice but to have the

legal process take its course and let the wheels of impeachment start rolling.

We should not have a government driven by polls, but one which judges us all

on an equal footing. How many of our readers, we wonder, have ever been polled

or even know anyone who has been counted.

President Clinton, who seems obsessed by the manner in which history will view

his presidency, has certainly taken care of that and his greatest sin is that

he has taken all the polish off his role as leader of the free world. The

American people have the right to know what their president is up to, and now

most of us are very sorry we found out.