| He Ain't Heavy; He's My Brother by NHARS BENDIR Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1998 The Republicans' witch hunt has become an embarrassment. Forget the fact that the polls show overwhelming public opposition to impeachment. Forget the fact that the Founding Fathers did not intend this kind of circus. Forget the fact that even the best legal minds discern no grounds in the known evidence which supports impeachment. Let's review some important realities. First, Bill Clinton is one of us: contemporary but imperfect. Second, these are the 1990's, not the 1770's. And third, the U.S. has far more important issues to face. |
|
|
Jump
to the
|
Like it or not, the U.S. is the leader of the world. We have paid a heavy price for this role, but it is one we must keep as we are best suited for the job. Among other things, "leading" requires putting aside one's personal interests to serve the greater good. In this case, the GOP should abandon its impeachment attempt and focus on strengthening America's leadership. The kind of political muckraking the Republicans are now playing out is beneath a world leader and an insult to those who depend on us. The U.S. in the 1990's is different from what it was in the 1770's. As a nation, we are no longer the rebels and bomb-throwers we were. We are no less self-determined, but we are beyond that. Among our accomplishments in a remarkably short 222 years, we have freed our citizens from oppression; abandoned slavery; embraced equal rights and established a robust capitalism within a democratic republic. This is no mean feat. Consider Europe today. Africa. South America. The East. We are, by nearly any measure, the best there is or ever has been. As for the fallible Bill Clinton, the Republicans should take care. They have their own baggage, a sometimes dark history equally stained with felonious behavior and Americans know this very well. None believes that the GOP's impeachment project is rooted in the law. Their motive is more base: envy and fear. Envy of Clinton's inexplicable popular support and fear of what it will produce in the 2000 elections. The unvarnished truth is this: to the American people, the Slick Willy the Republicans so desperately mean to destroy is one of them. He is a politician. A brother. And as you recall, the very first fraternal murder -- the one in Eden -- resulted in bad things for a long, long time. |
Send
your comments to Coffee Shop Times contributor Nhars
Bendir.
Thanks for visiting...
|
Front Page | Coffee Talk | Bad
Poetry | Writing on the Wall |
Copyright © 1998, The Coffee Shop Times
