SENATE Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch recently advised President Clinton that he could escape impeachment and “walk away with his head held high” if he confessed to lying about Monica Lewinsky in order to protect his family. The statement prompted head-shaking from fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill because it seemed to support the Clinton defenders’ line that lies about sex are to be expected and forgiven.
Although fellow Republicans tutted and outraged constituents called their senators’ offices to object, it appears that most Americans agree with Hatch: they’re willing to let the President off the hook despite his lies to them and under oath in the Jones case. Hatch’s comments anticipate the likely pattern of Republican response to Judge Starr’s work. Starr cheerfully greets the press each morning in his driveway despite dismal publicapproval ratings that would drive most politicians into a fetal position in a shuttered room. Republicans will just go ahead and assume the fetal position.
Comments