On Wed, 20 Jun 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In a message dated 6/19/01 10:19:01 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> << They could not possibly have principled differences - your side of the
> political spectrum of course has a monopoly on virtue and everyone who
> disagrees with you is evil. >>
>
> But that's exactly what you and John seem to me to _be_ saying -- the GOP
> acted solely out of principle, with nary a single thought of gaining partisan
> advantage or embarassing a political foe. A particularly hated foe, at that.
As this is my first posting on the topic in some years, and my first
posting ever (as far as I recall) on the topic of Republican motivations,
I ask that you not attribute to me opinions that I do not hold, and have
given no evidence of holding.
> I'm not suggesting that every Republican who voted for impeachment did so
> solely out of black-hearted evil. I'm certain some did feel morally compelled
> to do so. I do take issue with the notion that it was the _sole_ motivation
> of _every_ Republican.
But I have not argued that it was. I simply took objection to Doug's
contention that malice _was_ the sole motivation of every Republican who
supported impeachment.
> Is it beyond comprehension that some Republican, somewhere, might have
> thought for even one second about the possible political advantages of
> distracting and tarnishing the Administration of the rival party via
> impeachment?
>
> Patrick Sweeney
Not in the least. I think some did. I think, on the whole, that
impeachment was a political mistake - and the real way to measure that is
its effect on th electoral careers of the Republican members of _Congress_
- the people doing the actual impeaching - as opposed to whether
Republicans held the Presidency. Notably, the Republicans lost seats in
Congress in both 1998 and 2000, suggesting that they did not gain much
political benefit from the impeachment at all. But I do think that some
Republicans were doing it for political benefit, and some because they
genuinely believed that Bill Clinton was an evil man who had to be removed
from power. Some Democrats undoubtedly impeached Richard Nixon for the
same reasons. My objection was to the remarkable contention that the
possibility of principled difference on the subject does not exist - that
everyone who supported impeachment was seeking "vengeance". The
contention is absurd, and more than anything else, suggests the
shallownesss of the arguments against impeachment that ludicrous ad
hominem attacks are the best defense against it.
Gautam
