The Return: A Book for Frances about Life and Death
             Preface
            Back Cover
      You're in Charge: A Guide to Becoming Your Own Therapist
            Introduction: The Art of Self Observation
             On Dreaming
            Foreign Editions
   Since the New Deal: An Annotated Chronology of the Events That Have Changed the United States
             The C.I.A. (excerpt)
             Origins of the Cold War (excerpt)
             Some Quotations that Demonstrate the Underlying Philosophy Since the New Deal

 
      Afghanistan, "Terrorism," and Blowback   About Anthrax
     Some Thoughts on 9-11-2001

The Starr Chamber and the Future of American Democracy The Starr Report

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The dimpled darling of the Religious Right and Big Tobacco released his X-rated report to Congress. In his zeal to "get" the President, he did not allow Clinton or his attorneys any of the due process afforded Nixon and Reagan when they were being investigated for genuine abuses of power. (No opportunity to preview the Report before its release--- even Gingrich was given a week to examine the ethics charges leveled against him.)

Next Congress---- all the Republicans and some of the Democrats---- voted to dump this one-sided material onto the internet before they had a chance to read it themselves, much less digest and evaluate it. (Just curious: I wonder how many of those voting YES on this also voted YES for that dreadful "Communications Decency Act" a few years back?)

So now we all know the tawdry--- and frankly, boring--- details of Bill Clinton's latest Zipper Problem---- from Monica's come-on display of her thong underwear to the two-minute blow jobs in the presidential bathroom to . . . .

The ONLY reason for the release of this report with its many gratuitous pornographic details was POLITICAL. The Republicans hoped the American public would have such a collective knee-jerk reaction that we would fail to analyze those eleven counts for impeachment and would then----
a) demand Clinton's departure by resignation or impeachment
b) stay home from the polls in November or vote Republican.

So far it's not working! The polls indicate that 62-66% want Clinton to remain in office at the same time that they certainly do not condone his personal behavior. (Nor do I.)

What happens if we allow the Republicans to get a landslide in November?

God help what's left of our democracy if we allow the Republicans to keep their majority in the House and expand to a veto-proof majority in the Senate. In that case we can expect:
---- tax cuts for the wealthy
---- welfare cuts for the poor
---- increased spending for the military ----- Hello, Star Wars!
---- less money for education
---- more money for prisons
---- privatization of Social Security
---- curtailment of Medicare
---- repeal of Roe v. Wade (recommended by Barbara Boxer's opponent)
---- defeat of the handgun bill
---- school vouchers
---- death and burial of campaign finance reform
---- reinstatement of offshore oil drilling (and other threats to the environment)
---- abolition of birth control clinics
---- the Istook Amendment or another threat to the separation of church and state
---- a green light for the Tobacco interests

Remedy: GET OUT THE VOTE IN NOVEMBER . . . . . . VOTE DEMOCRATIC Californians: Keep Barbara Boxer in the Senate!

Does the Starr Report contain grounds for impeachment?

Not for anybody who can read Standard English!
Sure Clinton lied to the American people. (Not good, I don't approve.) BUT lying to cover up a consensual sexual encounter is NOT in the same class as Eisenhower's lie about the U-2, or Johnson's lie about Tonkin Gulf (which precipitated our commitment to the Vietnam War with the resulting death of 58,000 Americans, many times that number of Vietnamese and the expenditure of $120 billion) or Nixon's lies about _____________________ (not enough space to enumerate), or the Reagan-Bush lies about mining the Nicaraguan harbor, aid to the contras (in violation of the Boland Amendment), arms to Iran, etc.

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© Janette Rainwater 1997-2004

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