BY PETER BRONSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For six years, whenever President Clinton got caught joyriding with the truth like a teen-ager in a stolen car, his most loyal supporters told the opinion cops to back off: "There's no proof he broke the law."
Now look at them, flailing their arms like a drunk on a diving board, twisting and whipsawing in every direction to avoid a sobering plunge into cold reality.
Forced to admit that the president broke the law and lied under oath, they now insist that even criminal violations don't count if he makes a quick getaway in the polls.
Some people will change anything -- their standards, their morals, their expectations -- to avoid changing opinions.
That's why my favorite letter about the incredible shrinking presidency is the one from Angela K. Forbes, a "soccer mom who voted for Clinton." She did something unusual. She changed her mind. "Clinton has betrayed me," she wrote. "Had Clinton any small sense of honor, he would resign -- today."
I'd like to believe I'd change my mind if it were my hero disgracing the nation. But humility is the copper penny of today's moral currency -- almost nobody will stoop to pick it up in public.
So we go on with a charade of garish contradictions.
The polls say we have to keep a crippled president because he alone could fix our problems -- if he were not so crippled.
The polls say women still support a president -- who exploits, harasses and abuses women.
The couple that bragged about a "co-presidency" now have Americans wondering how Bill and Hillary can super-glue their marriage together. As Rep. Dick Armey reportedly said when asked where he would be if he did the same things Mr. Clinton did: "Lying on my back in a pool of blood with my wife standing over me saying, "How do you reload this thing?' "
The president who has done everything from Waco to Filegate "for the children" is now the one president we can't stand to even talk about with our children.
And here's one that gives me the creeps:
The president who lied to us, insulted our White House and demeaned his office has the gall to tell us what is "the right thing to do" -- staying in office, of course. And he has enlisted ministers to sermonize about forgiving him, so we can all move on.
I get squeamish stirring politics with faith. I'm certainly no preacher. But Bill Clinton dared us to judge him. And that troubled me. I searched my soul. I asked other Christians I respect. I studied the Bible. And finally, I agreed with Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who says that Mr. Clinton's most serious sin may not be violating the commandments against adultery and bearing false witness; it's the one against taking the Lord's name in vain.
By imposing on our faith to ask our forgiveness, he is asking us to forfeit our civic duty to hold our leaders accountable. Our nation can't work that way.
By asking us to forgive him, he is dragging us down to the "rock bottom" where he says "we all are." Sorry, I'm not there -- he is. And by asking us to forgive him, he is once again putting himself first. He begged us to heal his broken spirit, not the damage he has done to the country. Then he arrogantly "accepted" absolution. Meanwhile, his attacks on "enemies" make a lie of his contrition. They reveal a man so desperate he would even take God as a hostage to avoid surrender. He is the epitome of the selfish me-generation. I asked an expert about the polls.
"One third are staunchly in his camp, one third intensely dislike him, and the middle third are kind of apathetic and don't pay attention," said Alfred Tuchfarber, director of the University of Cincinnati's Ohio Poll.
The "swing third" thinks Mr. Clinton is dishonest, but likes the economy, so he gets two-thirds negatives on trust, and two-thirds positives on job performance. "The polls will change a little, very slowly, after the videotaped deposition comes out," Dr. Tuchfarber said. "TV is really powerful."
There's another irony. The president who can charm a camera like a TV faith healer -- may be damaged most by his own TV testimony. But polls don't matter. The Constitution doesn't call for a national vote on impeachment. We're a republic, not a democracy. House members and Senators take a constitutional oath to hold the president accountable -- and they will do it.
Here's the best irony: Without shedding a single drop of blood, we can defend our national honor, dignity and character -- simply by removing a president who has none of the above.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. If you have questions or comments, call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
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