2/7/99
ldlockman@telplus.net
"The rule of
law is critical in our society. It's the great equalizer because
everybody in America is equal under the law."
US Senator George Mitchell's lecture to
Oliver North in July of 1987.
As the impeachment trial in Washington lurches toward acquittal of the Predator-in-Chief, the sight and sound of US Senators calls to mind the title of a book by P.J. O'Rourke: "Parliament of Whores."
What a contemptible herd of swine! There is not a single member of the Senate, Republican or Democrat, worthy to shine the shoes of Henry Hyde, Lindsey Graham, or any of the much-maligned House managers. Particularly repulsive performances have been turned in by Trent Lott and Orrin Hatch. Imagine having to share a foxhole with these two linguine-spined, deal-making wimps. Their desperate need to be liked guarantees that they will never be effective leaders.
Lott and Hatch behave as if theirs is the minority party in the Senate. But when Tom Daschle faces the cameras, he speaks with the confidence, authority, and demeanor of the majority leader. Which is exactly what he became once Lott granted him veto power over the conduct of the trial.
Now that acquittal is in the bag, the task of destroying Clinton's critics will briefly take a back seat to fashioning a censure resolution, all the better to give political cover to Democrat Senators. And who better to advise the Senate on this matter than Clinton bum-kisser George Mitchell of Maine?
It's hard to imagine why Saint George has taken such a public role in defending this "most ethical" administration in US history. Could it be that Clinton's thugs have dug up some dirt on Mitchell? With all those FBI files floating around the White House, it's possible George has been compromised.Auditioning for the Supremes?
A less sinister explanation is that Mitchell longs for a seat on the Supreme Court. His frequent appearances on TV news programs, repeating the lies of the Clintonista spin machine, may be his way of exhibiting the lap-dog loyalty he hopes Bubba will reward with a lifetime gig as one of the Supremes.
I am speculating about motives here because Mitchell is an intelligent individual spewing utter nonsense in defense of Clinton. The great mystery is, why is he prostituting himself so shamelessly?
Saint George leads a comfortable life as a high-powered corporate lawyer and lobbyist earning a reported $600,000 a year from a prestigious DC law firm. Among Mitchell's most well-heeled clients are the evil Big Tobacco companies. He also serves on the boards of directors of Federal Express, Unum, Walt Disney, and Xerox, for which he is paid cash and lucrative stock options. And let's not forget the $90,000-plus Congressional pension we pay him every year.
The poor boy from Waterville has cashed in on his 15 years in the US Senate. With a trophy wife nearly 30 years his junior, a plush apartment in the Big Apple, and an annual income approaching a million bucks, sanctimonious George would appear to have it made. But despite his elite status as a multi-millionaire mover and shaker, and his reputation as the consummate Washington insider, he still suffers from a nagging inferiority complex, evidenced by his need to suck up to the old money on Mount Desert Island every summer.
Perhaps the robes of a Supreme Court Justice will assuage any lingering self-doubt George harbors with respect to his rags-to-riches odyssey on the backs of taxpayers.
In any case, Mitchell's proposal to acquit and then censure the Ozarks Caligula cries out for close analysis, if only to further expose the oozing corruption of everyone and everything Bill Clinton touches.
Mitchell has gravely uttered his opinion that the Senate should censure the president for "an inappropriate sexual relationship with a White House intern, he being a married man" and for "attempting to conceal that fact out of shame and embarrassment." That's it. George doesn't believe that Clinton lied under oath or obstructed justice.
Even if we accept the incredible premise that Bubba committed no crimes, the censure proposed by Mitchell flunks the straight face test. What business is it of the Senate to scold the president for "an inappropriate sexual relationship"? What kind of precedent does that establish for future Congresses? If a Supreme Court justice or a Cabinet official is found to be in violation of his marriage vows, does George Mitchell seriously propose that Congress pass a resolution about the matter?Censure Lite
And why doesn't Mitchell's censure proposal condemn Billy Boy for sending Sid Vicious out to trash Monica Lewinsky as a nut and a slut? Doesn't that sort of ruthlessness bother Mr. Mitchell or any of the women in his family?
The double standard embraced by Saint George is truly remarkable. Military officers who have "inappropriate sexual relationships" outside of marriage don't get a letter of reprimand attached to their personnel files; they are promptly bounced out of the service or demoted.
Similarly, what if these facts were admitted by the CEO of one of the corporations Mitchell serves as a board member? Having "an inappropriate sexual relationship" with a subordinate employee, in the office, on company time, over a period of many months, and repeatedly lying to the board about the matter -- would that sort of conduct merit Censure Lite, or immediate dismissal? The question answers itself.
Mitchell wants to keep everyone focused on the sex (which, by the way, wasn't merely "inappropriate": it was squalid, predatory, adulterous, perverted, and public -- that is, in a workplace provided by the taxpayers). Moreover, Mitchell's "Censure Ultralite" proposal omits any reference to the core accusation of the articles of impeachment: that Bill Clinton corruptly tried to fix the outcome of a civil-rights lawsuit in which he was the defendant.
Republican Senators should resist all attempts to adopt any sort of censure resolution. Acquit or convict, and be done with it.As Maine goes...
Sadly, Maine's Senators Collins and Snowe have been an embarrassment to the
state, and cannot be counted on to do the right thing. They voted to put a straitjacket on the House managers (no live witnesses), and thus destroyed any possibility of conclusively demonstrating Clinton's culpability on the floor of the Senate in front of a national TV audience.
Now, Collins and Snowe are back in the media spotlight with their stupid "let's-help-the-Democrats-one-more-time" idea to open the final deliberations to the TV cameras. Right. Let's give Tom "Dungpile" Harkin, Chris Dodd, and Pat Leahy a national podium to gush more of their despicable demagoguery. Give them each 15 minutes of TV face-time so they can pander to the masses of asses and talk about anything but the facts.
Great idea, Olympia and Susan -- let's give these swine an opportunity to assassinate the character of Ken Starr just one more time before they vote to let Bill Clinton skate for behavior that would land anyone else in jail. These cowards desperately need political cover for what they're about to do. Opening the deliberations to the TV networks, and passing a censure resolution are exactly the ticket they need to posture as noble public servants.
For the moment, Collins, Snowe, and Mitchell are the darlings of the media elite, but history will regard them as cowards and wastrels who ran for the tall grass when their country needed them most.Lawrence Lockman is chairman of Concerned Maine Families.