Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
Our
VIEW
Judgment
day
Impeachment trial
motives questioned
Our representatives said they would finish
the matter by Christmas.
The analysts said censure was all the
House could support.
But our senators are now conducting the
impeachment trial of William Jefferson
Clinton - a trial called the most important in
American history.
Those senators soon must decide whether
to call witnesses and pore over sordid details
or to streamline the trial for speedy closure.
Though it has one drawback, streamlining
the trial seems best for the United States’ gov
ernment and its people, and right now, sena
tors seem to support leaving key players,
including Monica Lewinsky, off the witness
stand and the airwaves.
First, streamlining would expose the trial
for what it now is - not a test of the presiden
cy or the Constitution, but a personal attack
against a man many feel is no longer good for
the country.
Legislators Know tne puDiic approves oi
the president as an officeholder but disap
proves of him on a more personal level. No
one likes a liar, and the same Americans who
approve of the president’s job performance
resoundingly agree that their figurehead lied.
Certainly many Republican legislators
realize this trial could be the only way to get
rid of a notably immoral man who has been
subject to a multitude of accusations and
investigations, yet has rebounded each time.
In the last election, all the accusations lev
eled against him didn’t hurt the Democratic
Party. It’s almost bewildering, and it must
anger many of his opponents.
Because this trial is an expression of per
sonal dislike for many officeholders, it should
be resolved as quickly as possible in order for
our elected representatives to move on to gov
ernment - not personal - business.
Next, half of Democratic senators would
have to vote to remove the president from
office in order to get the two-thirds majority
needed to oust him. Analysts say that two
thirds won’t materialize, so a trial is merely a
formality needed to arrive at closure.
The analysts’ prediction seems premature,
but dumping costly time into a formality is the
type of bureaucratic waste politicians lament
and taxpayers abhor.
Thus, a lengthy and detailed trial, filled
with the explicit details of an affair, would be
outrageous at best if Clinton was acquitted,
and acquittal seems certain at this time.
So it appears that the most important trial
in U.S. history could be compacted by our leg
islators in order to progress to more important
government business.
In that irony lies the drawback.
If the office of the presidency has lost its
importance, a streamlined trial could enforce
that sentiment.
Or perhaps the only importance lessened
would be that of one man named Clinton.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, its student body or the
University of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column is solely the opinion of its author.
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Mail call
New year brings challenge for more feedback
CLIFF HICKS is a senior
news-editorial and English
major and the Daily
Nebraskan opinion editor.
New semester, new year, new
world.
As the last spring semester opinion
editor of the 1900s, I have got to start
getting this section ready for the com
ing shift, when the-world hits the
rollover point and the first number we
write in the year is a two.
What does that mean?
Whatever you think it means.
See, the opinion pages are back and
the kid gloves are off. No more pulled
punches, no more taking it easy on
politicians, laws, the university or any
one else who’s doing something we dis
agree with.
The pages are more split now than
they have been in a while. We went out
of our way to try to find strong voices
from every walk of life and every
school of thought. But you know we
can never get diem all.
We’re not here to make you feel
better. We’re here to get your ire up
enbugh to discuss.
Discussion is the watchword for
the semester.
Don’t just sit there like Pavlovian
dogs and nod your heads every time
we say something. We’re itching for
you to fight us on this one, or any
other one. And when you agree, don’t
think that means you don’t have to
say anything either.
This is about “us” as a com
munity.
The opinion pages are just that
an open forum for students and fac
ulty, administrators and local resi
dents, anyone and everyone who has
an opinion. Gov. Johanns doesn’t
pull any more clout on our pages *
than Newblood Freshman A.
Everyone’s an opinion.
Including you.
There’s going to be someone
on these pages who will offend
you this semester, be it because of
their political point of view or their
irreverent attitude towards something
you cherish. And that’s what I want.
See, I want to see something on these
pages that gets under my skin.
I have to hear the nutcases on CNN
all the time, telling me how / need to
return to family values because other
wise I’m corrupting the people around
me. And that’s good.
If an opinion section goes a whole
semester without going against every
individual at some point or another,
they’re being too limited - too liberal
or too conservative, too religious or too
atheistic, too tame or too radical, too
much of one and not enough of the
other.
That shouldn’t be a problem this
semester.
It’s time to start the arguments, to
set things afoot, to make people think
and discuss.
Don’t think the opinion pages are
lightweight either, because we’ve buck
led down and refocused. We’re clean
ing house and making sure that we
tackle hard issues just as much as we
make you laugh.
But we can’t do it alone.
Between myself, the columnists
and our cartoonist, we’re only 15. *
You’re 15,000.
Which do you think
This isn’t to say we’re aren’t going
to say a lot this semester - we just
know that you should be a part of this,
too.
When a letter doesn’t see print, it
doesn’t mean that we didn’t read it. It
might be similar to another letter we
got recently. It might be too long, or too
short. It might attack someone person
ally, instead of attacking his or her
opinions.
But we read it, trust me.
Not only do I read it, but whoever it
was written to reads it. And they proba
bly thought about it for a minute. They
may or may not have agreed with it, but
we are listening.
But you can’t be quiet.
We’re here to engage you in a con
versation. This is a dialogue among
people.
And don’t think I haven’t overheard
you between classes. I’ve listened as
students complain about this column or
that column, heard them argue with
something that was printed or wasn’t
printed, heard them actually discuss
what they read.
I’m not asking you to stop doing
that. Far from it. I’m actually encourag
ing it. I just want more people to be a
part of it.
It’s my goal to have letters on these
pages at least half of a week. But like J
offered last semester, I’ll recap them
quickly, just in case you’ve forgotten:
1) Keep it short -100-300 words.
2) No personal attacks or profanity.
"3) Give your own opinions as
* much as you debate your
opponents.
4) Don’t get discouraged if you .
don’t get published.
5) Be sure to sign your letters.'
6) Don’t write about some
thing you read two or three
weeks ago. Write today about
today.
We want to hear from you.
When you agree with us, we
want letters. When you dis
agree with us, we want let
ters. When you think we
„ missed something, we want letters.
When you’re proud of something
we said, we want letters.
No one lives in a vacuum, but we
can’t know everything about
everyone unless you tell us.
So here’s the gauntlet
thrown, die line drawn in
the sand, the official chal
lengeissued.
Weregomgto
come out swinging.
DebLee/DN I Howaboutyou? 'M
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