Letters To The Editor

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Most of us do not side with bullies

I spent a recent afternoon listening to venom displayed by local and national talk show hosts and their callers toward President Clinton. It appears that Clinton is the focus for a lot of generalized hate. The level of negative passion heard far outweighs his “sin” of lying under oath. But right-wing talking heads insist we must impeach Clinton or the country will go to hell in a handbasket

An ordinary citizen like me wants to yell at the radio and television and say, You still don’t get it!

Americans have long rooted for the underdog, the guy trying to make it against all odds.

The mistake is to have spent five years and $40 million going after the president. They made him into an underdog! We are not oblivious to their tactics. When they came up empty, they set him up to answer a question on television and under oath that would damage him no matter what he said. Yeah, he lied, but we ordinary citizens understand that he shouldn’t have been asked that question in the first place.

We, the voters sent a message: Stop being so mean-spirited. Stop embarrassing us internationally. Stop distracting a president trying to do his job. Stop this impeachment process and get to work on real problems.

They misread it!

As long as they continue to try and do away with the president we elected, they will continue to make him an underdog. And we will continue to support him because Americans don’t like bullies. Valerie R. Smith Spokane

Censure, not impeachment - speak up

A note to our House of Representatives:

I’m sick of being ignored. I, like the majority of Americans, have expressed for months that I believe in censure - not impeachment - of Bill Clinton for sexual misconduct. In reality, that is what this mess is all about, and I don’t believe it’s an impeachable offense.

I urge everyone who feels as I do to contact their representatives today. C.J. Henderson Spokane

Ends don’t justiy GOP means

Both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton broke the law, I believe. The difference is that Nixon broke the law on his own, while Clinton broke the law after persecution and entrapment, and nothing less than lawbreaking prosecutorial misconduct. Laws have been broken on both sides, with the Republicans going first.

I only hope the ugliness and pain this Republican House has forced upon the American White House and the people might finally be the straw that gets people to stop voting their pocketbooks, realizing that the Republicans don’t care how they win - and that’s just too sinister and scary to support.

Like one Judiciary Committee member said, the president isn’t above the law, neither is he below it. That the majority in Congress is so willing to trample due process to get its way should scare the living daylights out of all of us. If the president can’t get due process, where does that leave the rest of us? Micki Archuleta Pullman

News out of sync with people’s will

News reporting of “the will of the American people” is not consistent with the facts.

Knight Ridders’ Steven Thomas (front page, Dec. 13) is typical. He asks if the Republicans are arrogant, blind or bent on suicide while “In poll after poll the American people have said for months that they don’t want Clinton impeached” (his opening sentence). There is no mention in the article of any conflicting polls.

The current America Online poll is running more than 56 percent in favor of the House voting to impeach and the Senate removing Clinton from office. Even the letters published in your editorial section on Sunday show a stark contrast to the above statements made by Thomas.

“GOP not shaken by national polls” indeed! Perhaps the GOP has a more direct line to the American people than Thomas’ polls. Marion Bauman Spokane

Fairness? Give me a break

I listened to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde declare, quite sanctimoniously, that he wished that all members of the House of Representatives would cast their votes on each of the articles of the impeachment of President Clinton on the basis of their own feeling of fairness. (This from a man who had a married woman as a mistress for a period of some years?)

If the conclusions of the Judiciary Committee were based on the feelings of fairness by each of the members, I will, after years of being a staunch Democrat, join the Republican Party. Fred J. Meyer Coulee Dam

Democrats, you’ll regret your loyalty

Like President Clinton, the Democrats in Congress just don’t get it.

It is they who are to blame for the partisan nature of the current impeachment process. It is also they who have the most to lose should Clinton prevail or fall and his legacy of scandal, immorality and lies should taint his party for decades to come.

It is as if one selfish man has the congressional Democrats spellbound with his charm and charisma, while he thumbs his Pinnochio nose at us all. It is he who wants the rest of us to lower our standards of law, morality and the very dignity of the presidency to suit him.

For Democrats to rely upon public opinion polls to justify their support is foolish. The winds of public opinion can be fickle. But one thing is for certain: If the people condone baldfaced, finger-wagging lies from our president, they should surely not expect more of them in the future. Grant D. Tolton Republic, Wash.

We’re seeing a bipartisan lapse

Both Republican and Democrat politicians have become so narrowly fixated on the Clinton impeachment as to lose sight of their true interests.

Clearly, Democrats should seek Clinton’s impeachment. If successful, they will get Vice President Al Gore, a more reliable liberal Democrat than Clinton, who has moved toward the center. They will also enjoy the image of supporting the rule of law, honesty, family values (no lying, adultery or sex perversion). Democrats will appear to be the clean party.

Equally clearly, the Republicans should oppose impeachment and seek mere censure. If successful, they will avoid having to deal with Gore in the presidency and will appear as reasonable and moderate, favoring stability and the national interest. Censure would still enable them to criticize Clinton’s sins, thus coming out on the side of law, honesty and family values, while leaving the Democrats tarred by association with Slick Willy.

I really don’t know what will happen to our nation when our political leaders have lost the ability to see where their interests lie.

Or have I missed something? G. Fred Richardson Spokane

Republicans, it’s going to cost you

The right-wing zealots have finally gotten their teeth in and they won’t let go.

I’ve listened to scholars, former prosecutors and others offer eloquent testimony explaining why this president should not be impeached. Almost all of these Republican hypocrites are lawyers and know full well there is nothing here that would stand up in a court of law. It doesn’t matter to them because they smell blood and are going to go for it.

It doesn’t matter that the people have said loudly that we don’t want this. They believe that if they repeat the lie often enough, we will believe it’s true.

Let me tell them this: I will never forget. I will work with all my strength to defeat all Republicans in the future. Not one of the Republicans in this kangaroo court cares a whit about the American people, what we want or what happens to this country.

When the whole government comes to a screeching halt so that we can engage in the trial of a president accused of lying about when his “affair” began or where he may have touched her, then maybe the people will wake up and see what their vote for right-wing zealots has brought us.

Finally, I ask why they bothered with all of this. The Republicans were ready to impeach at the start of this filthy mockery of justice. They heard not one word that they didn’t want to hear. They ignored all testimony that didn’t fit into their agenda. It makes me very afraid for this country. Judith A. Snider Coeur d’Alene