What makes you think Clinton was guilty of perjury?
First of all, he was not convicted of it. Officially, he was not.
Second of all, for a lie to count as perjury, it must be material to the case. Whether he was having a consensual affair is not relevant to a civil suit about sexual harrassment, so the question should not have been asked.
Third, it IS arguable that oral sex is not intercourse, so one can argue that he did NOT have sex with 'that woman'.
This was purely political. Admit it! The GOP had an Impeachment Crusade in search of an offense. They were oput to impeach him BEFORE he had even met Monica!
And by bringing the matter to a civil suit and impeachment, the Republicans took our attention off the looming threat of Al Qaeda. THANKS!
Answer:
'What makes you think Clinton was guilty of perjury? First of all, he was not convicted of it. Officially, he was not. Second of all, for a lie to count as perjury, it must be material to the case. Whether he was having a consensual affair is not relevant to a civil suit about sexual harrassment, so the question should not have been asked. Third, it IS arguable that oral sex is not intercourse, so one can argue that he did NOT have sex with 'that woman'. This was purely political. Admit it! The GOP had an Impeachment Crusade in search of an offense. They were oput to impeach him BEFORE he had even met Monica! And by bringing the matter to a civil suit and impeachment, the Republicans took our attention off the looming threat of Al Qaeda. THANKS!'
There is no quick answer to your question.
You may wish to review the fact pattern of President Clinton's involvement in the civil litigation and his eventual impeachment.
As to your first point: The President was impeached. I don't recall the specific findings of the impeachment hearings, but that fact alone is pretty bad.
As to your second point: Perjury is, basically, a lie under oath. President Clinton's attorney (and the legal-savvy president himself) had the opportunity to object to the relevance of questions asked of him during the deposition in Jones v. Clinton. That is when he perjured himself. And, I think it's actually safe to say that an employer's sexual relationship with a subordinate employee is relevant to the issue at hand in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
As to your third point: Again, the perjury happened in Jones v. Clinton. However, President Clinton lied to the American public when he said 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.' Any reasonable, English-speaking person in America would conclude that the repeated performance of oral sex on the President by Ms. Lewinsky constituted 'sexual relations'-- even where it wasn't 'intercourse.'
As to the fourth point: Absolutely. Ken Starr's massive expenditure of government funds was a misplaced use of government resources and a political distraction that was totally devoid of benefit to the American public. The President's sexual affairs, his possible involvement in sexually harrassing an employee, and his testimony in a civil suit between two private parties-- not at all involving governmental conduct-- do not rise to the level of 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' The impeachment was a sham.
And as to your final point, it seems clear that Clinton's efforts at anti-terrorism were going smoothly-- even, to his credit, DESPITE the political harassment. Unfortunately, the next administration back-burnered those anti-terrorism initiatives and sat on their hands while terrorists plotted to strike on American soil.
I stongly believe that Bill Clinton was guilty of perjury. And I suggest you check your facts on the chornology and issues relating to the subject. But I must concur with your assessment of the situation. The petty impeachment of a sitting president on such a basis was misguided and it ultimately hurt the national security preparedness of the U.S.
I think it is hilarious when people talk with obvious ignorance on an issue. P.S. Last time I checked this was FreeLawAnswer and not your personal blog. Yeah. You are not a lawyer, clearly and have no idea what you are talking about. Your opinion is neither legally sound, nor politically important. Get over it- Clinton was a scum bag and still is. Don't quit your day job buddy! Oh wait- seeing your number of points it looks like you don't have a day job. Maybe it would be more appropriate to tell you to GET A LIFE!!!
