BY NANCY cotten HIRST

Contributing Editor, Delta Business Journal

Once more IÕm going to rail about the Clinton situation. Then if he doesnÕt do anything more horrendous, I’ll quit. My theme this time, to those of you still saying this thing should just go away, is reality check. How do you want to live? How do you want your children to think of you, their leaders, their laws, indeed their country?

The reality is that Clinton broke the sexual harassment laws, as HE HIMSELF wrote them Ð or at least the party that he leads wrote them. For those who think that presidential law-breaking isnt serious, then heres another reality check: if your husband, wife, significant other, or same gender partner did what Clinton did with Monica, with someone other than yourself, would you or would you not consider that you were being sexually betrayed?

I know Im behind on sexual ethics as they apply, or fail to, in this day and age, but by Clintons definition of sexual relationships, we could all be having a high old hedonistic time Ð at work, at school, at play and still claiming fidelity. If caught, of course, we should apologize to our spouses and children. Im still not clear, according to Clinton, if were apologizing for the unrelationship or simply the hurt caused by its being made public.

Actually, according to Clintons definition, homosexual people NEVER have a sexual relationship. If that be the case, then what in the world has all the hoopla of protecting their rights been about? If they arent doing anything sexual, then why are we concerned? Actually, that would be good. We could go back to the time when we just tolerated behavior that we thought was peculiar because so-and-so was, after all, a member of such-and-such family and we didnt want to embarrass them.

But I digress. If you can honestly say that you wouldnt mind if your partner indulged in what Monica calls fooling around but not a sexual relationship, then I suppose you can honestly continue to support the Presidents behavior. But lets hear of no lawsuits about harassment. If offensive remarks and occasional inappropriate touching occur in your workplace, remember, this isnt sexual.

More seriously, Clinton broke the laws of perjury. I dont want to hear that limp excuse, It was just about a sexual relationship Ð embarrassing. First of all, weve already established that it WASNÕT a sexual relationship, so we cant fall back on that. Secondly, I dont know about you, but Id be a thousand times more embarrassed if I got caught robbing a bank or killing someone than if I got caught fooling around.

If ever there was an understandable reason to perjure oneself, it would be for a serious offense. Reality check. Perjury about something thats only embarrassing, particularly when youve been notorious for this type behavior and people are accustomed to it, is much more serious than it seems. To me it says, if he would lie under oath about this, what in the world would he do to keep the Whitewater truth under wraps?

If Clinton gets off with a tiny slap on the wrist for this, I would never personally feel that anyone expected me to tell the truth under oath. If the American people think its okay, then they think its okay, and no judge or jury is going to be able to expect truth. I suspect that the reason the American people think its okay is perhaps that no judge or jury has heard anything close to the truth in many years. I hope Im not right about this.

Then, of course, theres the flagrant obstruction of justice and suborning of perjury, both of which are illegal, but more than that, point to an abuse of power that is terrifying. Throughout the entire investigation, beginning with Whitewater, people have been so frightened to tell the truth that they have languished, indeed died, in jail or risked going there.

What sort of threat is being used to so frighten these people. Dont speak to me of loyalty. People with so few ethics that they know of and tolerate Clintons deceitful behavior are hardly candidates for that kind of loyalty. Thats the kind of loyalty that would produce faithful spouses.

It could be the old honor among thieves thing Ð that they would be implicated too. But that wouldnt be true of many of the people. Many are just scared that they will be ruined, whatever that may mean. If Clinton or his henchmen are using the power of the Presidency to ruin people, this is by far the most serious offense. Reality check. Ask yourself why so many people are frightened. What would it take to frighten you?

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