Bubba was impeached ... the role of the House of Representatives. [Think of it as an indictment.]
The failure of the Senate to find Bubba guilty and thereby remove him from office ... is another matter. The senators, allowing politics to trump justice, failed completely and very publicly to perform their sworn duty.
On February 19, 1999 all but one Democrat Senators violated their oath to uphold the Constitution by voting "Not Guilty" on Impeachment Articles I and II and then voting to Censure Clinton for the exact same offenses!!
Only Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia) cast both not guilty votes and voted to not adopt the Censure Resolution.
The following is a statement from the Senate Byrd's closed deliberations on the articles of impeachment against President Clinton, excerpts of which senators were allowed to publish in the Congressional Record for Friday, Feb. 12, 1999:
"All of the institutions of government--the presidency, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the system of justice and law, yes, even the media--all have been damaged by this unhappy and sorry chapter in our nation's history....
"Hamilton observed that impeachable offenses `are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust . . . to injuries done immediately to the society itself.' Hamilton also observed that the impeachment court could not be `tied down' by strict rules, `either in the delineation of the offense by the prosecutors (the House of Representatives) or in the construction of it by the judges (the Senate)...
"Mr. Clinton's offenses do, in my judgment, constitute an `abuse or violation of some public trust....the evidence against Mr. Clinton shows that he willfully and knowingly and repeatedly gave false testimony under oath in judicial proceedings.
"When the President of the United States, who has sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and to see to it that the laws be faithfully executed, breaks the law himself by lying under oath, he undermines the system of justice and law on which this Republic--not this `democracy'--this Republic has its foundation.
"In so doing, has the President not committed an offense in violation of the public trust? Does not this misconduct constitute an injury to the society and its political character? Does not such injury to the institutions of Government constitute an impeachable offense, a political high crime or high misdemeanor against the state? How would Washington vote? How would Hamilton vote? How would Madison or Mason or Gerry vote? My head and my heart tell me that their answer to these questions would be, `Yes.'
But the matter does not end there. The Constitution states, without equivocation, that the President, Vice President or any civil officer, when impeached and convicted, shall be removed from office. Hence, one cannot convict the President without removing him from office.
Should Mr. Clinton be removed from office for these impeachable offenses? This question gives me great pause. The answer is, as it was intended to be by the framers, a difficult calculus. This is without question the most difficult, wrenching and soul-searching vote that I have ever, ever cast in my 46 years in Congress. A vote to convict carries with it an automatic removal of the President from office. It is not a two-step process. Senators can't vote maybe. The only vote that the Senator can cast, under the rules, as written, is a vote either to convict and remove or a vote to acquit.
So should I vote `Guilty' when my name is called, believing that President Clinton's offenses constitute high misdemeanors?
Should I vote guilty and vote to remove him from office? Some critics may say--some of my colleagues may say--they may ask, if you believe he is guilty, how can you not vote to remove him from office?
There is some logic to the question, but simple logic can point one way while wisdom may be in quite a different direction. It is not a popularity contest, of course. But remember our English forbears, who, on June 20, 1604, submitted to King James I the Apology of the Commons, in which they declared that their rights were not derived from kings, and that, `The voice of the people in things of their knowledge is [as] the voice of God.' `Vox populi, vox Dei.'"
Senator Byrd voted as he perceived the public polls dictated so as to not remove a 'popular' President from office, despite knowing that President Clinton was, in fact, guilty as charged.
For me February 19, 1999 was a defining moment for the Democrats ~ with their actions that day it became crystal clear that, when it suited their political purpose, our nation's laws, indeed our Constitution, were dispensable to the leaders of this party.
Teddy Roosevelt said: "My power vanishes into thin air the instant that my fellow citizens, who are straight and honest, cease to believe that I represent them and fight for what is straight and honest. That is all the strength that I have."
Teddy was so right! Millions of us (getting close to 61 million I read) have totally ceased to believe that Democrats represent this nation and fight for what is straight and honest!