The congressional Republicans that voted for the impeachment of President Clinton should be applauded! Why? In the end they did not cave to the public opinion polls. They did not give in to political arm twisting or threats of damaging revelations about their personal lives. In short, they are statesman before they are politicians.

They were told that there are not enough votes in the Senate to convict the president, so they should not vote in articles of impeachment. Minority leader Gephardt even stooped to telling lies about what impeachment is. He said that the Republicans wanted the House to vote to remove the president from office. He knew that he was misleading the public with that statement. The House cannot remove a president. Impeachment simply means that sufficient evidence exists to try the case. It is an indictment, not a conviction. It means that the Senate will hear the evidence and decide if removal is warranted.

For the House to not vote for impeachment because they perceive that there are not enough votes in the Senate is tantamount to a judge polling a jury before it has heard the case. If there were not enough jurors that would vote to convict, he would throw the case out of court. Any juror that has decided the guilt or innocence of the defendant prior to hearing ALL the evidence would be disqualified. Yet, this is exactly what the defenders of an admitted liar and adulterer demanded Congress to do!

Worth remembering is a statement made by Representative Conyers shortly after the Lewinski matter exploded on the scene in January 1998. He said that if the allegations were true, the president should be impeached or resign! This was before all the obstruction, delaying and lying took place. Interesting now that he says yes the president lied to his family, the grand jury, his cabinet, the Congress and the American people, but it does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. What has changed Mr. Conyers?

During this whole fiasco in the House, not one of the presidents "defenders" defended him. No one has denied that the president is guilty of what he has been charged with. Instead they attack the accuser. This is a classic legal maneuver that lawyers use when they know that their client is guilty.

One of the things that has made this country so great is the two-party political system. It is unfathomable that the Democratic party has now loudly proclaimed itself to be in support of adultery, lying, obstruction of justice etc. Yet this is what they are saying when they demand that Mr. Clinton be spared the consequences of his offenses. At this writing the Democrats have proposed that in exchange for censure instead of removal from office, Mr. Clinton admit that he lied. They would then tell him he has been a very bad, bad boy and don't do that again. Adding insult to injury of our justice system, they also demand that he be protected from prosecution after leaving office. What an outrage! He will admit his crimes only if there are no consequences. Since when has the criminal had the right to determine what his punishment will be?

Back to the actions of the House Republicans. They have risked their political careers by deciding to do right. If the media can be believed (Ha! Ha!) , after the impeachment vote, the presidents approval rating went up to 73%. Two Republican congressman are resigning their seats for the good of the country and their party. They have sacrificed what they worked years to obtain, in order to put the country before themselves. Contrast that with "I will serve until the last hour of the last day of my elected term." To Mr. Clinton there is nothing as important as William Jefferson Blythe Clinton, "the country be (expletive deleted, meaning cursed to Hell)" What a politician, compared to the statesman that have sacrificed everything for the good of the United States of America and the rule of law!

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