I see no possible arguments for prosecuting Nixon. Other then - let's just get him for the sake of getting him! His crime was political - so was the punishment. After all, those who wanted him prosecuted, did not mean that his crime was burglary, right? (Side remark - it is quite unlike the situation with Clinton - where his opponents wanted him to be prosecuted specifically for perjury.)
Truth be told - using the government agencies like this was not unheard of before Nixon. Personal files on the opposition figures, surveilance - all that was practiced regularly before him, by the most dear and beloved leaders of both parties. Now, stopping this was a Good Thing - and as far as it could be accomplished - it was. His resignation after the refusal of his party to back him up - was quite a result. It was a clear message and a new understanding what is not to be tolerated was formed in our "collective" mind. (Again, nothing like that happened after Clinton perjured himself - his party staunchly backed him up and the overall message was - "yes, he did it, SO WHAT?!")
The prosecution would have added nothing more to it. If we presume that the aim of the justice system is prevention and defense - and not revenge, then prosecuting Nixon was pointless.
However, Clinton's case was far more complex and more outrageous. Perjury was ultimatley not the issue. He did lie under oath, but that was declared of no consequence. He "lied to the American people" and that could have been more damaging politically. Ah, he looked us straight in the eye on the TV and said he did not have sex "with that woman"! His party, or to be more precise his choir, countered with the preposterous argument that honorable men are supposed to lie about sex "to protect the honor of their women".
That argument was put forward not to win the case but to distract the attention from Clinton's real "crime", which was office sex with a subordinate (to make the matter still worse, he was trying to arrange a plum job for her in return). Any executive would be fired today for similar behavior, a university professor would lose tenure, a senator would resign. Surely, the President could have been impeached for that. But the democrats very deftly converted the argument into a debate about lying and perjury. In the atmosphere of political correctness, that was more forgiveable! And it was forgiven. A classic!
Actually, for my taste, the biggest problem with Clinton was that he tried to fix a court case in his favor. The fact that he had a sex with a subordinate - well, I tend to agree that they are consenting adults. He did not try to get her a government job, as McGreevy did, after all - and what people do in private firms, or as private citizens - is their business.
Then he delivered a huge blow to the whole system by letting his people defend an idea that "everyone does it".
Finally, when a 50 year old powerful man screws a 22 year old intern, and then his lackeys go out and push the story of how it was all her fault, that she was a whore, who tried to seduce him and he rebuked her in a fatherly manner - and he hears that and allows her to be slandered this way by his office, by the office of the President of the USA - through the national tv and press. I mention this last, since this is probably his smallest failure as a President, but, frankly, to me it always seemed the most disgusting part.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Truth be told - using the government agencies like this was not unheard of before Nixon. Personal files on the opposition figures, surveilance - all that was practiced regularly before him, by the most dear and beloved leaders of both parties. Now, stopping this was a Good Thing - and as far as it could be accomplished - it was. His resignation after the refusal of his party to back him up - was quite a result. It was a clear message and a new understanding what is not to be tolerated was formed in our "collective" mind. (Again, nothing like that happened after Clinton perjured himself - his party staunchly backed him up and the overall message was - "yes, he did it, SO WHAT?!")
The prosecution would have added nothing more to it. If we presume that the aim of the justice system is prevention and defense - and not revenge, then prosecuting Nixon was pointless.
no subject
However, Clinton's case was far more complex and more outrageous. Perjury was ultimatley not the issue. He did lie under oath, but that was declared of no consequence. He "lied to the American people" and that could have been more damaging politically. Ah, he looked us straight in the eye on the TV and said he did not have sex "with that woman"! His party, or to be more precise his choir, countered with the preposterous argument that honorable men are supposed to lie about sex "to protect the honor of their women".
That argument was put forward not to win the case but to distract the attention from Clinton's real "crime", which was office sex with a subordinate (to make the matter still worse, he was trying to arrange a plum job for her in return). Any executive would be fired today for similar behavior, a university professor would lose tenure, a senator would resign. Surely, the President could have been impeached for that. But the democrats very deftly converted the argument into a debate about lying and perjury. In the atmosphere of political correctness, that was more forgiveable! And it was forgiven. A classic!
no subject
Then he delivered a huge blow to the whole system by letting his people defend an idea that "everyone does it".
Finally, when a 50 year old powerful man screws a 22 year old intern, and then his lackeys go out and push the story of how it was all her fault, that she was a whore, who tried to seduce him and he rebuked her in a fatherly manner - and he hears that and allows her to be slandered this way by his office, by the office of the President of the USA - through the national tv and press. I mention this last, since this is probably his smallest failure as a President, but, frankly, to me it always seemed the most disgusting part.
that was me