Acquit!

By Marissa Leung

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." The Bible, one of America's most popular moral codes, advises us against hypocrisy and unfairness and instructs us about compassion and justice. The impeachment of President Bill Clinton, LAW '73, raises all of these issues, and some have accused Clinton's persecutors of being more guilty than he is for essentially the same moral crimes.

The House of Representatives voted in December to impeach Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice and sent the case to the Senate for trial. The 106th Congress convened in January with the task of trying the president. That seems to be the business of our country—to explore and make public the intimate details of a relationship bet-ween two consenting adults.

Henry Hyde, presenting the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, claimed to be representing the American people. However, the populace actually disagrees with Hyde. With every step the Republican Congress has taken towards impeachment, Clinton's approval rating has risen. Support for the president is still hitting unprecedented levels as the crisis progresses.

Every American citizen is guaranteed privacy, and the president is a citizen like the rest of us. Those in favor of conviction would have us believe that the violation of Clinton's rights was for the good of the country. They think we have benefited from the knowledge that the president had sexual relations with an intern. They say that divulging these details was for the "moral good" of America. But how is it morally right to make a family suffer in the national spotlight for a mistake that one member made?

Proponents of conviction talk about a return to "morals." They claim this trial is a "moral cleansing of the republic." They say we can build a better country only if the president is removed from office. Yet, as Larry Flynt would tell you, if we were to "morally cleanse" our government of all those who have sinned, the government would shut down.

There are those who say the president is not a good role model. Is Ken Starr a good role model because he helped uncover the president's sexual peccadilloes? What about Henry Hyde? Bob Livingston? Are these the men we want children to respect? It's easy to finger one person as a bad role model for his "crime." But when you consider how many others are guilty as well, it's easy to see how wrong these judgments are.

The president has a job to do. Something is wrong when critics can seriously believe that the Commander in Chief would order air strikes ag-ainst a foreign power armed with nuclear weapons because he wants to avoid being impeached. The American people have made it clear that the madness should end.

Impeachment is, according to the Constitution, a punishment for "high crimes and misdemeanors" such as treason. It should be reserved for crimes that endanger the country and threaten the safety of its citizens. Clinton's "high crime" affected the lives of his wife, his daughter, and Monica Lewinsky. It had no bearing on the lives of the other 250 million Americans. This is not Watergate. The president did not cover up a scandal involving major national institutions and practices. Having sexual relations is not a betrayal of the United States or its people. Without evidence of "high crimes and misdemeanors," it is clearly time to give up partisan politics, end this trial, and acquit the president.

Marissa Leung is a freshman in Berkeley.

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