Unanimous Censure, Immediate Shunning

The president deserves to be impeached, but he should not be. Democrats and Republicans can still join in calling on him to resign for disgracing the office, for lying under oath, for lying to the public and for perverting the laws rather than executing them faithfully. But since “high crimes and misdemeanors” is, ultimately, a political standard and not a legal one, and this case is a close one, the public’s desire for Bill Clinton to cop a plea warrants considerable respect.

Instead of impeachment, congressional leaders should concentrate on ensuring that the president’s reputation pays the price. Indeed, Cabinet members and political appointees in the White House should reconsider continuing to associate their good names with his. And the public should be encouraged to wonder: “How can it be that a serial liar and reprobate is fit to represent this country?”

Impeachment is not the right answer now because the public is not there and, as a practical matter, it could only be produced by a divisive, partisan bloodbath. By censuring the president, Congress can pass a judgment that will not be discounted by the public as the product of partisanship. It is simply more important to impress 250 million Americans with the good faith gravity of this matter than it is to persuade a few moderate Republicans to vote with all their colleagues in the House rather than with all the Democrats.

In short, a partisan vote for impeachment will do nothing to lift Americans to a higher ethical plane. It will tar Clinton forever, but it also will cause Americans to tune out the serious message. The better way to get through to the public is for public officials--of both parties--to provide examples of their own good character by transcending partisan fury.

While President Clinton will never do the honorable thing, others in Washington can. They can express their disgust and repugnance for his lying and sordid behavior by shunning him in polite company. Clinton may remain president, but he should be disgraced now, not just in the history books. The business of the country must go on, but persons of good character should decline to join Clinton in ceremonial and social occasions.

The Clinton scandal presents an opportunity for people who believe strongly in legal and moral values to stand up for those principles by disassociating themselves from him. Though it is has proved hard for the country to judge Clinton, each of us must judge our own response to the scandal. Have we contributed to raising the standards of our children and our communities? Or are we stuck in the rut of attack and defend politics?

With the exception of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and a few others, the Democrats in Congress have been relentless partisans. By claiming that the president’s adultery with a federal employee in the Oval Office and his lies and obstructions are not relevant to his fitness to hold office, these Democrats have helped debase national standards. They should instead feel responsible to help turn around the public’s relative indifference to Clinton’s serious misdeeds and his scoundrel’s code of conduct.

To get the Democrats on board and to persuade the public that the Republicans are rising above politics, the Judiciary Committee should issue a report finding probable cause that Clinton committed impeachable offenses, but recommending censure in the full House. If every representative and senator supported a resolution censuring William Jefferson Clinton, it would represent a consensus judgment condemning him in a manner that never could be explained away. A narrowly passed (or failed) vote on impeachment will be ascribed to business as usual in Washington--partisan politics. On the other hand, a duly recorded consensus that this president was dishonest and placed his interests before those of the public would not only stand the test of time, but also would be historic.

Some will argue that a censure is no sanction and that it connotes a perjuring president is above the law. The answer to that is for men and women of principle to stand apart from this man. Let him retain the powers of his office for two more years, but not the honor.