Ten Lessons Learned From The Presidential Crisis
By Jere E. Frost
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Ten Lessons Learned From The Presidential Crisis By Jere E. Frost |
1) There is a different standard of justice for the politically mighty and the politically weak.
2) Politically motivated men are blind to justice.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkins, D-Mn., and high priest Caiaphas claimed that political expediency, the "good of society," was more important than simple justice for an individual. On this rationale Harkins recommended acquitting the guilty William Jefferson Clinton and Caiaphas recommended convicting the innocent Jesus of Nazareth.
3) Facts do not compel corrupt or weak judges.
As to fact, Pilate declared Jesus innocent and the U.S. Senate’s censure motion declared the president guilty of lying under oath and obstructing justice. But their official decisions reversed the facts.
4) Those who knowingly vindicate the guilty share the shame.
Senator Dick Durban, D-Ill., said, "No one, not any senator in this chamber nor any person in this country, will look at this president in the same way again." He could have added, "No one, not any witness of this chamber nor any person in this country will look at this Senate in the same way again."
5) It costs millions and millions of dollars to extract any answer at all, even a lie, from the powerful who can ignore questions and obfuscate behind a stone wall.
6) A chief executive officer of a company may have sex with a low-ranking female employee without any legal punishment, IF he can move his trial to the U.S. Senate.
7) Why there never has been and never will be a serious inquiry into the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick.
It did not rise to an impeachable, removable or prosecutable level. Besides, it might have overturned an election.
8) The presidential oath of office is meaningless.
He not only does not have to keep his oath to consistently execute the law. He may execute it when and if he feels like it, or he may deliberately break it with impunity.
9) All that matters is money.
If the economy is good, a naked emperor is well-dressed.
10) Men keeping their oath look better in defeat than men violating their oath look in victory.
The House, in keeping with the constitution, offered articles of impeachment and a full trial. The Senate, knowing its verdict before and without allowing the prosecutors to present a full case with corroborating witnesses, voted for acquittal independent of guilt or innocence.