Salon Newsreal | The tide turns -- again

A L S O+T O D A Y

Stalking the president
By Mollie Dickenson
Linda Tripp could help Julie Hiatt Steele -- and President Clinton -- refute Kathleen Willey's charges

Reactions to the president's speech
Experts discuss Clinton's performance and what effects his proposals would have on the actual problems he identified as priorities

T A B L E+T A L K
What medicines do you take? Discuss the meaning of your medicine chest in the Science and Health area of Table Talk
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Visit barnesandnoble.com for politics books on both sides of the aisle
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R E C E N T L Y
The war against sprawl I
By Rob Gurwitt
Think Al Gore's "smart growth" plan is a no-brainer? Think again
(01/21/99)
The war against sprawl, II
By Susan Zakin
It's owls against developers in Arizona's Oro Valley
(01/21/99)
We interrupt this impeachment ...
By Joshua Micah Marshall
Two years in a row, Clinton's State of the Union address proves he won't follow the Presidential Tragedy script
(01/20/99)
Dear Henry
By Sean Wilentz, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and C. Vann Woodward
Historians talk back to House impeachment managers
(01/20/99)
What might have been
By Joan Walsh
It's hard to watch this president perform so well, knowing that he has already undermined his -- and our -- hopes for any real legislative success
(01/20/99)
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-----The tide turns -- again
A WEEK INTO THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, SENATE REPUBLICANS MAY BE LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT THAT DOESN'T EMBARRASS THEIR COLLEAGUES IN THE HOUSE.

BY JOSHUA MICAH MARSHALL | WASHINGTON -- After a week of hanging tough in the face of relentless criticism from the House managers, on Thursday the White House felt the tide of the impeachment trial moving measurably, if not decisively, in their favor. Democratic Senators even allowed themselves to indulge some hope that the process could be stopped short of calling witnesses -- a hope that had seemed beyond reach only a few days ago. Even Christian conservative Pat Robertson told his fellow conservatives on Wednesday that it may be time to pack it in. And Thursday ended with some speculation that the question for Republicans might no longer be how to continue the trial to its full extent, but how it could be brought to a dignified conclusion without humiliating its chief architects, the House Republicans.
On Thursday the president's personal lawyer, David Kendall, came out punching. He introduced himself to the Senate as the lawyer who had represented Clinton through what he called the "tortuous and meandering Whitewater investigation." But after Kendall's methodical refutation of the obstruction count against the president, Clinton's team concluded with perhaps its best weapon: Dale Bumpers, the recently retired Arkansas senator and personal friend of the president. Bumpers had an advantage that no other presenter had. He was a club member talking to the club; he could address his listeners as his "colleagues"; when describing how his reverence for the Constitution slowly grew over years in the Senate, only he could have turned to the chief justice and sheepishly admitted it was "fairly arcane to me" when he studied constitutional law at law school.
He brought the Senate back to the central issue in Clinton's defense: His moral lapses were crimes against his family, perhaps, but not the country. "It was a breach of his family trust. It is a sex scandal," Bumpers said. He quoted writer H.L. Mencken, who said, "When you hear somebody say, 'This is not about money,' it's about money. And when you hear somebody say, 'This is not about sex,' it's about sex."
All of this is in some contrast to where matters stood over the weekend, when the House managers concluded their initial presentation. Late last week, commentators were giving the House fairly high marks. Most agreed that Rep. Asa Hutchinson's presentation of the factual case against the president was especially well articulated and persuasive. Listening to Hutchinson walk listeners through this phone call and that, this job offer and that, this deception and that, even the staunchest defender of the president might have had to admit that this case had a ring of credibility about it.
This week, though, the Clinton defense demolished much of the factual case against the president, as well as the attempt to prove his offenses are impeachable. Lindsey Graham's faux-folksy presentation hit a low mark when he tried to convince the Senate that a "high crime" was nothing more than when "a high person hurts a person of low means." He had lawyers, scholars and journalists re-reading the Constitution to find grounds for that formula.
Chief House manager Henry Hyde tried to paint a picture of even grander proportions. For Hyde, the trial of president Clinton is an epochal turning point that will decide whether mankind continues to build on Magna Carta, the Constitution and the 20th century's epic battles against totalitarianism or slip back into the primordial slime. In his concluding remarks, Hyde called on the assembled senators to cut short Clinton's war on the rule of law in the names of the "political prisoners" and "the families of executed dissidents" around the world.
But Hyde went too far. For all the Republicans' outrage, and their many invocations of God, morality and patriotism, they lacked the emotional impact and gravity of Charles Ruff's evocation of his father's landing at Normandy, or Bumpers' homespun but gripping description of saying goodbye to his parents as he boarded an early-morning bus to enter service in World War II. They demolished Hyde's claim that acquitting Clinton would let down soldiers who had fought and died to defend the rule of law.
N E X T+P A G E+| A certain bounce in the step of Senate Democrats

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A L S O+T O D A Y Stalking the president By Mollie Dickenson Linda Tripp could help Julie Hiatt Steele -- and President Clinton -- refute Kathleen Willey's charges Reactions to the president's speech Experts discuss Clinton's performance and what effects his proposals would have on the actual problems he identified as priorities T A B L E+T A L K What medicines do you take? Discuss the meaning of your medicine chest in the Science and Health area of Table Talk ___________________ Visit barnesandnoble.com for politics books on both sides of the aisle ___________________ R E C E N T L Y The war against sprawl I By Rob Gurwitt Think Al Gore's "smart growth" plan is a no-brainer? Think again (01/21/99) The war against sprawl, II By Susan Zakin It's owls against developers in Arizona's Oro Valley (01/21/99) We interrupt this impeachment ... By Joshua Micah Marshall Two years in a row, Clinton's State of the Union address proves he won't follow the Presidential Tragedy script (01/20/99) Dear Henry By Sean Wilentz, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and C. Vann Woodward Historians talk back to House impeachment managers (01/20/99) What might have been By Joan Walsh It's hard to watch this president perform so well, knowing that he has already undermined his -- and our -- hopes for any real legislative success (01/20/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		-----The tide turns -- again A WEEK INTO THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, SENATE REPUBLICANS MAY BE LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT THAT DOESN'T EMBARRASS THEIR COLLEAGUES IN THE HOUSE. BY JOSHUA MICAH MARSHALL \| WASHINGTON -- After a week of hanging tough in the face of relentless criticism from the House managers, on Thursday the White House felt the tide of the impeachment trial moving measurably, if not decisively, in their favor. Democratic Senators even allowed themselves to indulge some hope that the process could be stopped short of calling witnesses -- a hope that had seemed beyond reach only a few days ago. Even Christian conservative Pat Robertson told his fellow conservatives on Wednesday that it may be time to pack it in. And Thursday ended with some speculation that the question for Republicans might no longer be how to continue the trial to its full extent, but how it could be brought to a dignified conclusion without humiliating its chief architects, the House Republicans. On Thursday the president's personal lawyer, David Kendall, came out punching. He introduced himself to the Senate as the lawyer who had represented Clinton through what he called the "tortuous and meandering Whitewater investigation." But after Kendall's methodical refutation of the obstruction count against the president, Clinton's team concluded with perhaps its best weapon: Dale Bumpers, the recently retired Arkansas senator and personal friend of the president. Bumpers had an advantage that no other presenter had. He was a club member talking to the club; he could address his listeners as his "colleagues"; when describing how his reverence for the Constitution slowly grew over years in the Senate, only he could have turned to the chief justice and sheepishly admitted it was "fairly arcane to me" when he studied constitutional law at law school. He brought the Senate back to the central issue in Clinton's defense: His moral lapses were crimes against his family, perhaps, but not the country. "It was a breach of his family trust. It is a sex scandal," Bumpers said. He quoted writer H.L. Mencken, who said, "When you hear somebody say, 'This is not about money,' it's about money. And when you hear somebody say, 'This is not about sex,' it's about sex." All of this is in some contrast to where matters stood over the weekend, when the House managers concluded their initial presentation. Late last week, commentators were giving the House fairly high marks. Most agreed that Rep. Asa Hutchinson's presentation of the factual case against the president was especially well articulated and persuasive. Listening to Hutchinson walk listeners through this phone call and that, this job offer and that, this deception and that, even the staunchest defender of the president might have had to admit that this case had a ring of credibility about it. This week, though, the Clinton defense demolished much of the factual case against the president, as well as the attempt to prove his offenses are impeachable. Lindsey Graham's faux-folksy presentation hit a low mark when he tried to convince the Senate that a "high crime" was nothing more than when "a high person hurts a person of low means." He had lawyers, scholars and journalists re-reading the Constitution to find grounds for that formula. Chief House manager Henry Hyde tried to paint a picture of even grander proportions. For Hyde, the trial of president Clinton is an epochal turning point that will decide whether mankind continues to build on Magna Carta, the Constitution and the 20th century's epic battles against totalitarianism or slip back into the primordial slime. In his concluding remarks, Hyde called on the assembled senators to cut short Clinton's war on the rule of law in the names of the "political prisoners" and "the families of executed dissidents" around the world. But Hyde went too far. For all the Republicans' outrage, and their many invocations of God, morality and patriotism, they lacked the emotional impact and gravity of Charles Ruff's evocation of his father's landing at Normandy, or Bumpers' homespun but gripping description of saying goodbye to his parents as he boarded an early-morning bus to enter service in World War II. They demolished Hyde's claim that acquitting Clinton would let down soldiers who had fought and died to defend the rule of law. N E X T+P A G E+\| A certain bounce in the step of Senate Democrats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.