Posted on 08/04/2004 6:09:08 AM PDT by harpu
It’s said that those in power are the ones to write the history books, but this isn’t always true, according to the evidence. The few serious books about the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton were written by advocates for Clinton’s removal from office.
The newest book is from former Congressman Bob Barr, a republican from Georgia. Many have encouraged Mr. Barr to write his version of events because those who worked hard to bring Clinton’s high crimes misdemeanors to the attention of the public know that Congressman Barr was the insider who led the charge. Barr’s well-timed book is entitled, “The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton”. This 239-page hardcover is an objective answer to Bill Clinton’s recently released autobiography and is published by Stroud Hall.
I’ll disclose that I’m a good friend of former Congressman Barr. He was the first of the congressional leadership to support my efforts to surface serious wrongdoing in the Clinton White House, and he now serves on the legal advisory board of my Patrick Henry Center foundation.
When I first approached Congressman Barr and others with information about national security being damaged by Bill Clinton, Barr was an attentive listener. Barr’s interest in hearing what I had to say had nothing to do with suspicions about Clinton’s abhorrent sex-life but everything to do with Clinton’s abuse of power and the damage he was doing to our national security. Slowly, a plan to impeach Clinton was developed, in large part thanks to Barr’s efforts. By late fall of 1997, Barr had introduced legislation to begin the process. But in early 1998, the focus shifted immediately to Clinton’s reckless womanizing due to the revelations of Linda Tripp regarding Monica Lewinsky.
While the nation’s media was obsessed with Clinton’s sex life, Congressman Barr remained steadfast in his quest to hold Clinton accountable for the damage done to our national defense. He knew what else Clinton had done, and it was much worse!
The 9/11 Commission confirms in its report what Barr and few others knew in 1995, the year I left the White House – the nation as a whole had little concern for national security. But Congressman Barr, having spent years working for the C.I.A., understood the ramifications of Clinton’s high and low antics. Clinton’s policies and behavior placed us in grave danger. His sexual proclivities distracted him from important matters of his presidency. Of course his defense against the claims that he had violated the precious trust placed in him by voters consumed much of his attention. But Barr makes a persuasive case that even if Clinton wasn’t chasing Monica or trying to lie about it to protect himself, he would not have given any more attention to the growing problem of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
Barr’s book is an easy and enjoyable read. It takes the reader behind the scenes into the corridors of power and exposes the weak politicians on both sides of the aisle who failed to hold Clinton liable. They let Clinton off the hook, not because Clinton was falsely accused, but because his removal from office would have taken the political establishment into uncharted waters and that made them very afraid.
Former Congressman Barr describes the brave thirteen House Managers who stepped forward to move the case to impeach Clinton into a hostile Senate environment. They knew from the beginning that the “fix” was in and that Clinton would never be removed from office. They also knew that their duty would bring them much scorn and retribution. With their political careers on the line, they marched forth because each of them had a greater vision for this country.
The 9/11 Commission Report makes a point that one reason we were attacked so easily by Al Qaeda in 2001 was because the nation lacked leaders with imagination. The commission had it half right. We have such leaders. Bob Barr and his fellow House Managers not only had the imagination, they also had the goods on Bill Clinton, and, more importantly, they possessed the political courage to bring Clinton to justice. There should be monuments to these men and their courage. If we were a nation who really embraced a vision for a better government as our founders’ intended, those monuments would be in place, and well visited. But for whatever reason, our nation’s vision of itself as a “Shining City on a Hill”, as Ronald Reagan so wonderfully put it, is in remission.
However, there are those like Bob Barr who believe that this remission is a temporary circumstance.
These men of reason – most of them lawyers - had seen all the evidence against Clinton, not just about his antics with Monica. They knew Clinton had weakened this country’s defenses for a possible terrorist attack, practically inviting acts of blatant espionage. Having that knowledge drove them to press on in spite of tremendous political pressures. They tried to warn the nation by holding Clinton responsible. But it was the U.S. Senate leaders who lacked both imagination and political courage. They could not imagine what might happen if Clinton was actually removed. They were afraid their own careers would be negatively impacted somehow. They never understood that such publicly displayed political weakness not only encourages our enemies but also gives license to an abusive executive.
After he had escaped removal from office, Bill Clinton knew he had been given a blank check.
Bob Barr believes our nation would have easily survived the removal of Bill Clinton for good cause, and he knew it would have been made stronger in the process. But most of our current political leadership could never imagine that, so they voted to maintain the status quo. In this his first book, Bob Barr, clearly a man of vision, makes his case for political courage in a well organized, thoughtful recording of what really happened when William Jefferson Clinton was impeached in 1998.
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Jim Traficant voted against impeachment but did so only because he felt that it was for the wrong reasons. However I think Traficant was on the right track. He believed the "blowgate" scandal was an effective smokescreen to hide other serious and more impeachable charges against Clinton.
PING to a GREAT read!
Bob Barr and his compatriots in the House were heroes and patriots as relates to the action against Clinton. We are still not done feeling the negative impact and the danger associated with not bringing him down and removing him from power.
Thanks for the post.
Thanks for the ping Sarge.
It is a shame and a travesty that this nation could be betrayed so blatntly at the highest levels and that the culprits, with the complicitiy of many in Congress, could get away with it.
I am afraid we are not done experiencing the consequences of that period...and if Kerry is put in power, we will see much more of it.
Why is Bob Barr no longer in the Congress.
Was he deselected by te GOP or did he lose an election or did just get tired of the whole thing?
I remember him as one of the voices of reason during those sordid Clinton years. I will definitely buy his book.
ScaniaBoy
BTT!!!!!!!
Thanks for the ping Sarge! You're right, great read!
One thing that really stands out about this "blank check" statement also makes me feel that is the reason slick willie got away with pardoning all those crooks at the end of his administration. He was one of the most vile and worthless presidents this country has ever had in the WH.
A small correction to this concept - Those in power protect the ones who write the history books. Have no doubt, that had Gore been found to be the victor in Florida, the whole story of the impeachment would have been buried so deeply that historians could have only reconstructed the story from scattered headlines and isolated stories that managed to survive. The impeachment itself would have become an "urban myth", discounted in academia and formal records of state alike, the product of fevered minds of "hate-mongers".
Only after the fall of the Soviet Union was the real story of the penetration of so many of our government agencies by the KGB documented, finally giving credence to Joe McCarthy. "McCarthyism" was a wholly bogus charge.
I agree - the whole thing would've been down the Memory Hole inside three years.
Can you imagine the Monicagate and impeachment being relegated to Snopes? They themselves would be complicit in the urban legend efforts.
IMHO, it was not a bogus charge, it was just misdirected. It has proven to be a charge about a badge of honor.
1. GOD does indeed exist.
2. He loves this country.
3. he has a "wicked" sense of humor..
BTW..just got your newest book..saving it for a rainy weekend in August..
So true, unfortunately!! Kerry and his ilk delight in the Clinton/Kennedy method of "doing business". Unfortunately, patriot Democrats, such as Zell Miller, (for the most part) Lieberman and only a handful of other honorable people are shoved onto the back burner of the party.
Clinton ran on "being the most ethical administration". Does anyone have a clue as to what the hell Kerry is even running on yet???? No....if, by some outside chance Kerry gets in, the "fight", for the rest of us, starts on inauguration day!
An impeached and removed Clinton would have opened the door to a much more thorough and indepth investigation of the other, much more serious charges against him.
Either way, I agree...God does live and His hand is in all of this. I pray we as a people are equal to whatever task, whatever circumstance we are called to pass through.
I try and portray the optimism that we will be equal to the challenge (in the end, we always have been) in the horrific circumstances depicted in:
I know you will enjoy Volume IV...and Volume V (the last in the series) will be released late this month.
As always, let me know what you think as you read Volume IV...and God's best to you and yours.
The fight against Kerry and his supporters is now...if we wait until his inauguration, then we have waited too long...like waiting for the terrorists to attack and kill us before we react to them.
We are in a physical war with those terrorist enemeis, and it is a mortal struggle. We are in a spiritual, ideological war with our internal enemies...and it is just as mortal to the long term health, iability and existance of our Republic.
My friend, gotta disagree...and that's why most Dems are kicking themselves in the rear continuously..had the senior Dems in the Congress emulated the GOP leadership who told Nixon it was time to go, Gore would have assumed the presidency, and been an incumbent running for re-election. It wouldn't have been close..
We have the plate that has been served us, and it is from that plate we now must sup. I for one (and I know you share this sentiment completly) despite whatever other failings or ills, am thankful to God in Heaven that it was Bush in office on 911 rather than Gore.
God continues to watch over the affairs of nations and it is His will that shall be done.
Best Fregards.
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