|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Analysis: Senate vote shows a contempt for publicBy Craig Staats/AllPolitics
January 26, 1999 WASHINGTON (January 26) -- Fifty-seven senators don't think you have a right to hear them debate whether to dismiss the charges against President Bill Clinton. They voted Monday to say they like their 19th-century rules and cannot be bothered to do the public's business under the oh-so-uncomfortable gaze of the public. At each step along the way during this unseemly scandal, Americans have had every right to be disappointed -- in Clinton's energetic public lies, in Linda Tripp's definition of friendship, in the graphic detail in Ken Starr's referral to Congress and in the wild, scorched-earth partisanship in the House of Representatives. People might have hoped for better from the Senate, but now we know that was a mistake, because a majority of its members have voted in a way that shows an utter contempt for the public. From the smallest city government to the so-called "greatest deliberative body in the world," the first impulse of elected officials always seems the same: Let's work this out in private. Senators who defend their secret deliberations say they get more done behind closed doors, without members' inevitable posturing. But that's a feeble "protect-us-from-ourselves" argument and a horrible confession, too. Senators are admitting they are incapable of speaking honestly and to the point in public, and can only do so in secret. You should remember that when they emerge from behind closed doors and run to the microphones. No one forced these senators to run for public office. If they don't want to work in the public arena, under the public eye, they should find another job. Here are the 57 people who voted for secrecy on Monday and who deserve a chance to work in the private sector where they obviously feel more comfortable. With luck, they will get the chance the next time they stand for re-election:
Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan)
Max Baucus (D-Montana)
Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)
Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia)
Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi)
Michael Crapo (R-Idaho)
Michael Enzi (R-Wyoming)
Slade Gorton (R-Washington)
Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma)
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-Arkansas)
Connie Mack (R-Florida)
Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska)
John D. Rockefeller (D-West Virginia)
Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland)
Robert Smith (R-New Hampshire)
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MORE STORIES:Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Transcript: Motion to depose witnesses introduced in Senate impeachment trial Document: House managers' memo in support of witnesses Document: House managers' motion for witnesses Sen. Mikulski hospitalized with flu Analysis: Senate vote shows a contempt for public Tough sentence for Espy's top aide upheld Hubbell 'disappointed' by appeals court decision Democratic fund-raiser Charlie Trie surrenders to custody Dole's hometown rallies for a presidential run Bradley splits with Gore on welfare Both parties' mid-term funds grew Poll: Mrs. Clinton ahead in Senate race War tales at impeachment trial Gore to unveil immigrant aid plan Clinton reflects on millennium $5.4 billion budget deficit recorded Clinton to explain his Iraq, Cuba policies to Pope |