Les Miserables du Potomac
Perhaps Bill Clinton is poorly cast as Jean Valjean,
but there is little doubt Kenneth Starr is a classic Javert.
He will pursue his target to the end of the Earth, convinced
that his mission is all-important, its rightness not in doubt,
its importance self-evident. Despite the fact that his employers,
the American people, don't care about the "loaf of bread", Starr
smells blood, and he is closing in on the kill.
What crime has caused this passion? Has Clinton killed
someone? No. Has he stolen money from the Treasury to buy
weapons to sell to a terrorist state? No, that was Reagan. Has
he taken money to act against the country's best interest? Well,
maybe that's a bad example for this essay...but it's not what
Starr's investigating. No, what he did was lie. A politician has
lied and this has loosed the hounds of Hell. And he hasn't lied
about trading arms with the Iranians (see Reagan, Ronald), no, he
lied about getting laid. That's it.
Now the crime he's under attack for is perjury, which is
a serious charge and everyone talks about it that way. But let's
look at this: he didn't lie under oath about committing a crime,
or about someone else committing a crime; nor did he lie under oath
to provide an alibi for a murderer or a thief. Surely there are
degrees involved. He lied in a deposition for a civil case which
has been tossed out of court. He knew that Monica Lewinsky had already
lied about having sex with him (assuming this charge is true) and
he decided rather than drag her name through the mud, and cause
himself a certain amount of grief, he wouldn't turn her in. Which
is what telling the truth would have done, make no mistake about that.
At which point the Jones legal team, which had no interest at all
in anything but smearing Clinton, leaked the story and the depositions
to the press, which has had the expected field day. Do you really
think this is a serious enough offense to merit impeachment? Does
anybody except the most rabid right-winger think that?
Ah, but the President is not above the law,
you say, as do so many self-righteous commentators.
No, he is not. But he should not be put on trial because he is the President
either. For in the history of modern American jurisprudence,
no one has ever been tried for this offense.
Yet Ken Starr has decided this is the high crime with which
to bring down a President. The investigation of this crime, normally
treated by District Attorneys with the significance of jaywalking,
has cost millions of taxpayer dollars. It has forced Secret Service
agents to testify against their will against the interests of the
president they're sworn to protect. To Ken Starr and the radical
right, any excuse to get rid of Clinton will do. They hate that
he was elected, were frustrated that he was reelected, and sickened
that he is still popular.
So the public's will and the rule of reason be damned, Starr
and his hounds smell blood, and they're not going to stop until they
get it. For to them, the President is not only not above the law, he is below it,
charged with a crime never charged against anyone.
Perhaps, like Javert, Starr will come to his senses and,
figuratively at least, take the same route as the detective
who hounded Jean Valjean. I'm not holding my breath.
Back to Random Thoughts
Got something to say about this?
Send me a letter,
please include the title of the article in the subject.