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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1998)
should ict more^ n presidency ERIN GIBSON is a missing the report as “nothing but die details of senior news-editor- a private sexual relationship told in graphic M ial major and details with the intent to embarrass.” M Daily Nebraskan h’s an’understandable spin on the news. As a oditnr in longtime Clinton supporter; I was embarrassed '* to hear the explicit, X-rated details of his Enough is Plough. actions. Starrcould have^summarized die details Rirthepasteirit of Chmonsaidtay for the sake of the country months, the public, the Clmtonkfamify. ■ ■ media, Congressand the . Butte feet is he data tSlarr did his job I ■ ■ courts have beenjedeed along by ^rou^, as rerpiire<imdmv«^ated every ■ . ■ leaked information and White allegation of CbnKm s behavior before releasing ■ House lies, while all Americans were a graphic, disturbing report _ X A ■ burdened by a mounting bill for TTte h^tory c^crtbe amd mvestigatiii and defending Iheinde- ^W cent,teSandiltolansofthe pertinentfects to determine president of the UnitedStates. wbeteClinton upheld the duties of his office. :■■*** si_ , The time has come to sav fiet The facts presented show our president lied CLIFF HICKS is a senior news-editorial and English major and Daily Nebraskan opinion edi tor. Enough is enough. The past eight months have become an absolute media horror show as we, die media, have overwhelmed die airwaves, printed pages and die Internet with a bombast of information regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, and, even by writing this column, I am contributing to die fire. The time has come to say: Shut up. A lot of people have asked me if I am ashamed of the president Not really. Am I embarrassed by what heis done? I’m embar rassed that he got caught, but it his personal life, and it isn’t affecting my paycheck. Is there anything I really regret about the whole issue? I regret that everyone can’t let it go. Both die media and the populace at large are responsible for this insane circus act We in the media are more ashamed of our selves than we are of die president Full-grown journalists have become schoolchildren, yelling at one another about what they might (or might not) have heard. Muckrakers like Matt Drudge are considered “cutting-edge journalists.” We’re fighting for ratings and ith pathetic. All anyone wants is to try and top the compe tition. “Do we have the first scoop? Can you get it verified? Is it going to beat the rest?’ There^s a reason journalists are doing this, of course: You want to know. Whoever has the first news on the scandal is watched more than anyone else. If a paper’s got quotes someone else doesn’t, that paper will sell. There is no second place. When the report was released on die Internet, it was flooded with a deluge of attempts to try to gw me aosoiuieiy maecent report, i ve got strong tolerance and I’ll confess, I read the whole thing, but if this had been anywhere else on the Web, it would be called pornography. It's a stab of wicked irony that, had this report been put on the Web a year and a half ago, it would have put Congress in check with itself. The Communications Decency Act, which was overturned not too long ago, made text such as the report obscene, but now that the CDA is no more, anyone can read what would have been deemed obscene not too long ago. Newspapers have printed whole sections of the report with disclaimers like, ‘This contains graphic descriptions.” Writ, no kidding. Then why would you print it at all, if you’re that squeamish about it? I’ve been debating the Clinton situation with friends fora long time, and I’ve come to the con clusion that his is not an impeachable offense and we have to let it drop. Sex is not a high crime, in or out of wedlock. Lying about an affair is perjury, but who would n’t lie about it? I don’t care who he slept with, or how ugly the intern is. It could have been a dog for all I care. Ith none of my damn business what he does in his private life. ^ the media can’t keep track of everything, and wre shouldn’t have to. The public’s right to know ends right about at the feint door of a per Obsession with president's inside life should stop son’s house, even the White House. The intense amount of investigation we sub ject anyone in the public eye to is inhumane. “The Truman Show” isn’t unfeasible; in fact, it’s becoming reality. Fairly soon, people will want to see celebrities every minute of their lives. Smile, your life is “Candid Camera.” If you were to become famous, for whatever reason, would you want us to be able to watch you get up every morning? I look like hell in the morning - how about you? The bathroom wouldn’t be safe, friends’ houses wouldn’t be safe - there would be no place safe from die evil eye oftbe cameras. But maybe fhaft what you people want, and if so, that in itself is more disgustingthan any thing found in Stands Harlequin-esque report. Do you really want people under surveil lance? Are you that untrusting of your civil lead ers and celebrities? Do you enjoy having every iota of someone Is life at your fingertips? Do you care that much about someone else’s life and so little about your own? The 24-hour “President” Network Oh . / boy. n You have an obligation to stop this: Him it off. Him off the television showing the latest Ken Starr news. Him off the television with first hand pictures of the infamous blue /i dress, with Bill Is spills still on it / Don’t buy the paper that put / Clinton on the front page. If you f f do, don’t read the article about Ay it o\ Better yet, write ’em a letter \ and tell them therefe more impor tant things happening in the world than who slept with Whom. M It’s like high school, isn’t it? fl When our president gets to second\V base, dammit, people want to be ^ there with him. But you can stop this. You. You’re the readers and the watchers, die audience and the client, th reason we’re all here. We’re here to give you what you want, and right now, what we think you want is this. i ; Tell us we’re wrong. Lambaste CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, TheWashington Post, The NewYork limes, USA Today and everyone else whoh beating this thing past death. , Turn off, put down and walk i away. , I We’ve already beaten this j 7 f horse to the point of having glue.' Ifyou don’t, the barrage will >1 continue, no matter how long it’s >| important What do you know now that you didn’t six or seven months ag°? A. The sooner we let this go, ^^JR the better off we’ll be. Close this torrid novel we the media are ^ forcing you to read, because you can. Enough is enough. out President Bill Clinton should step down before he further burdens Americans and die government with impeachment proceedings. The burden the president already has laid upon the American people is great enough. By lying, he broke the laws we trust his branch of government to enforce. By lying, he cheapened the office of die presidency, an office that has been gasping for life-giving public trust and approval since President Richard Nixon. By lying, he brought more distrust into a political system where voters’ apathy overrules their belief that leaders such as Clinton are empowered by the people to represent the peo ple’s interests. Americans witnessed a leader who conve niently forgot how his actions affected the peo ple when self-gratification was involved. They saw a leader who only acknowledged and regretted his unethical behavior when his secret got out and his ego was damaged. Many people believe the shame in this scan dal lies not in die revelation of Clinton’s actions but in an intrusive media and a gossiping public. Not so. An impeachment report-provided to Congress by an independent counsel is rightful ly news and should concern everyone governed by the president Others blame this scandal on Ken Starr, who has pursued his job as independent counsel with a relentless determination that has made him appear to have a personal vendetta against the president Clinton’s lawyers, in a preliminary rebuttal Starr’s report, seem to take this tack bydis unoer oam aoout ms aaunerous acts mat occurred in our most revered publicly funded building. Those facts show Clinton tried to obstruct justice by launching a cover-up campaign dur ing which he lied in order to save his own ego and political agenda. He also abused his power by having sex with a subordinate employee and using White House resources to coyer his missteps. The president forgot he answers to the peo ple; die president thought he was above die law. His dishonest acts violated die trust of every American, and they corrupted his respect among congressmen and congresswomen to a point where he may no longer be able to lead effectively with the respect ^nd trust of our highest leaders. Ironically, several opinion polls show . Clinton stiU carries a popular approval rating of well more than 60 percent It seems the average American is willing to accept the president lied, because, hey, all presidents have lied It also seems die average American doesn’t want to prosecute him for lying about an affair, because, hey, anyone would he about an affair. Such beliefs only help further destroy the integrityofthe Oval Office. We, as Americans, must again demand our highest office uphold the values of our land as we define them today. Some claim we shouldn’t care whether the president has affairs and lies about them, because some past presidents have had affairs without them being w reported to die public. 1 Nonsense. Americans’ votes and opinions on the presidency are not bound by historical convention. With our votes, we can demand our president not lie, cheat, steal or break his ./ covenants. ^ *v We can also demand he not champion women’s rights, then have his spin doctors paint Monica rr Lewinsky - his consen sual sex partner - as a lying, gossiping, chubby cheeked girl enamored with his powerful office. And, until the next election, we can demand with raised voices and pens that our president step down if he has broken die laws of our land and thus proven himself unfit for the presidency. Adultery is not an impeachable offense; perjury, abuse of power, witness \ ^^tampering and obstruction of justice are. / \ Were Clinton not a leader in the most 1 wealthy, most elite power structure of our country, he would have abandoned his office months ago. If our own university I president pequred himself after having an I affair with a college-aged intern, an outcry I would have demanded his immediate release. Our leaders must obey our laws. To let I Clinton slip by because his acts are so embar 1 rassing we don’t want to hear about or to dis 1 cuss them anymore - or to grant him lenien \ cywiffihis high office-is foolishness. \ He is human, but he also is our presi ' \ dent, and, out of reject for our country k N \ and Constitution, we must hold him to the ideals of his office. We cannot lethkn continue with injustice and debauchery while he is president We must demand he step f / down and allow a more fit / leader to continue. / Enough is enot^h