The North Coast times-eagle., January 01, 1999, Page 3, Image 3

PAGE 3
I
I
I
I
I
come up wth. (Special Prosecutor) Starr saw there were
patterns that matched up in his investigations — giving people
high-paying jobs to keep them quiet; disappearance of vital
documents; patterns of how husbands and wives were involved
in Whitewater."
"I also wouldn't be surprised if Monica Lewinsky wasn't
sent to set Clinton up," Hampton said "Early stones out of Port­
land said she knew she was going to DC. to his get his Presi­
dential knee-pads. Who knows? Paula Jones' lawyers were after
him from the time it happened, vtfiereas Starr was a couple of
years down the line before he started investigating. I guess the
key here is how a 22 year old intern gets to get private with a
President."
He said the bombing of Iraq was "almost predictable"
because Hussein wasn't cooperating. 'The main thing was that
Clinton was in the Middle East and he informed the Israelis and
perhaps the Palestinians indirectly that Iraq was going to be
bombed Certainly the Saudis knew That part of the wrid was
amazingly informed about the recurrent bombing of Iraq. He
said that as soon as he was gone the bombing would happen.
He was there to assure that the peace process was not going to
end. Though it seems as if he accomplished nothing, it didn't fly
apart. As for the actual attack, planning had already been done.
If they had let it pass it would get worse The U.S. military
prowess was ready to strike! The carrier Vincent was only two
days away, ready to come in before missiles on hand were
exhausted. The fleet was totally outfitted to continue for a couple
of months if necessary How wuld they fight back? Our fleet at
sea is hundreds of miles away; we keep a whole country
between us and them. It was also a moderate attack — it wasn't
to get Saddam; word was that Ben Ladin and his group were
about to commit terrorism so we struck to curtail it."
"I think Clinton should be impeached (only by those)
vtfio voted for him both times," Todd Milliren said "And the
bombing of Iraq was needed The card was not played until the
most appropriate and political time, when it was least expected."
'These Republicans talk about the rule of law," Jim
Wilkins, contractor, Uniontown Cafe proprietor, musician and
former Astoria City Councilman said. "Henry Hyde was quoted
as saying an example of ignoring the rule of law is what happen­
ed in Nazi Germany, implying that wuld happen here and we
would become a fascist society. That is patently ridiculous. The
Jews were slaughtered by the rule of law. Instead, the rule of law
needs to be modified by a rule of men and common sense."
Wilkins knows first hand the trials of political persecu­
tion. "I have been targeted and it gives me a unique and rather
special perspective," he says. "A certain element of the local
society wanted me off the City Council. I put myself in a position
that allowed them to do that. Hundreds of column inches were
witten for a 20 minute interlude..."
("/ was recalled from my seat on the Astoria City Council
[because one summer night in 1996] I found myself in a room
with topless dancers and various substances," Jim wrote in an
article for this newspaper [MarprH'97]. "The investigation resulted
in a police report containing mostly false statements, supposi­
tions and inconsistent gibberish which the DA. assured my
attorney was to be confidential information. Almost immediately,
however, this report was leaked by the police to the daily news­
paper. It was then, with the relentless momentum of a tsunami,
that stories, rumors, distortions and outright lies began to appear
in local media and to circulate through the community. I found
myself confronted by a group of people who seemed to feel that
the allegations regarding my private non-harmful activities that
one evening in July were an outrage almost beyond comprehen­
sion. *)
'The actual articles (of Clinton’s impeachment) revolve
around perjury before the grand jury and that he lied to the
American public," Jim says. "I looked up sexual relations in
the dictionary — all definitions of sexual relationships are
'coitus'. In other wards, inserting 'Tab A' into 'Slot B' Never did
Clinton insert Tab A into Slot B. That being the case, no perjury
occurred If they had asked Clinton if he felt her up or stuck his
cigar in her, and he said 'No' — then he's lying. The impeach­
ment is obviously a partisan political attack like I endured and is
spurious at best. And by the way — I never inserted Tab A into
Slot B."
In regard to the bombing of Iraq, Jim says, "I would think
that if Clinton wanted to do an air strike to save his Presidency
he would have targeted Congress instead of Baghdad."
Cynthia Brown, a prospective teacher studying at
Western Oregon University, disagrees that Clinton should be
impeached because "he's a normal person living a normal life."
She says his affair with Monica Lewinsky was a "mistake" but
that "he's been doing a good job as President, especially with
the economy." As for Iraq, she says that "Clinton made a wise
decision. I thought the Gulf War was a legitimate reason to be
in a war. If we had not rescued Kuwait from Saddam Hussein
much worse might have happened. He needs to be stopped."
Sol Rosenberg, logger, fisherman and tugboat crewman,
says Clinton, "is an American citizen subject to the country's
laws. Basically, he took an oath as President to support the
Constitution and he has the rights and obligations of that oath."
He thinks Iraq "might be a smokescreen to throw off attention to
his problems, but in the long run he probably did wfiat he should
have.”
Commercial fisherman Paul Kujala's opinion is /hat
Clinton's impeachment is up to the Senate "He impeached
himself" by lying to the Paula Jones grand jury and he has "tned
to obstruct justice." Paul says Clinton's only real defense is that
GABLE (TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL)
"he accuse Republicans that it's a completely partisan witch­
hunt." "You don't reprimand a President," he said, "You either
fully support the President or tire him." As for the bombing of
Iraq, Paul thinks Clinton "should have done it a year and a half
ago. Iraq has been playing games for a long time and we should
have stopped him a long time ago."
Paul's brother Mark Kujala, who manages a seafood
business, is adamant that Clinton be impeached. "It's not about
sex. It's about perjury and obstruction of justice which under­
mines our legal system," he says. "If the President can’t live by
the same laws as citizens he is not fit to hold office " And "I think
Clinton's motivation to bomb Iraq is purely political." Mark says.
"He waited for what he thought was the right time to win public
support."
Jeff Gardner, who attends Washington University as a
business major, also believes Clinton must be impeached to
keep Constitutional "checks and balances in place If he doesn't
tell the truth to the legislative or judicial branches of government
then he negates those checks and balances." He is somewhat
ambiguous about the Iraq bombing: "In my heart I don't want to
link the bombing to political motives, but I can't help think there's
something there. Time after time we hear about our inspectors
pushed out of Iraq but nothing is done — so the bombing seems
to be right in time (with) Clinton's problems with Congress."
"I don't think (Clinton) ought to be impeached but he
should pay a price," says insurance agent Jeff Canessa. "He
should admit he lied and disgraced his office as President. He's
a sleaze; I'm disappointed he's never admitted he told a lie. He
should look his wife in the eye and admit the truth, and take
what's coming to him. But I think impeachment is a disruption of
the country." He agrees "completely" that Clinton timed bombing
of Iraq for his political survival 'The Iraqis have hampered our
inspections for seven years and Clinton had to pick now — a
complete joke!"
"Having an affair is not an impeachable offense and
lying to protect your family and yourself might not be ethical but
is understandable," says Phyllis Heilman, co-owner with her
husband of the Labor Temple Bar & Cafe "I think if you polled
Congress it would be interesting to see how many have had
affairs and admit it to their spouses." She believes Clinton's
impeachment is partisan "I think the public has made it very
clear they don't want him impeached His approval rating rose
past 70% when the House of Representatives impeached him —
higher than before and more than Reagan's ever was." She said
that past Presidents had affairs "though it might have been
common knowledge at the time" and that "in no way would any
of them have been called on the carpet."
Phyllis said that "what happened in Iraq was inevitable
because Saddam was not planning to agree with continuing
inspections of his weapons systems I’m not convinced of the
timing There's no way to know if impeachment influenced the
decision to bomb "
Phyllis' husband Robert Heilman, newly elected Astoria
City Councilman, says that Clinton's impeachment resembles
a "coup d'état" and that "there is absolutely no 'high crimes or
misdemeanors' about it. It was set out from the very beginning
to get something aroused about" in regards to investigations of
Clinton since he became President As far as the perjury count
against Clinton, "he was asked a question he should not have
been asked in a lawsuit that should not have occurred." Robert
said. "What we need to do is hold a Constitutional convention
to revise the electoral process and its financing Nixon's biggest
sin was to undermine the electoral process — now we have a
Congress trying to subvert it We need to undermine Congress'
power to dissolve elections I believe the Senate should be
dissolved We don't need a Senate that acts like Parliament's
House of Lords I think we need a government of the people
instead of the state We should be protecting people and
people's rights, and corporations should never be allowed to
intervene with money Corporations, like the tobacco compan­
ies, donate millions of dollars to political campaign and we have
the best government money can buy as a result We should
have a long-term legislature of people elected by the people for
the people, with terms of six years It's probably not practical
right now We have a long way to go Right now we have a
government by the PACs rather than the people "
Anthony Sales, owner of Tony's Tavern, said there is
"no question (Clinton) perjured himself. There are hundreds of
people sitting around in jails because they perjured themselves.
It would have been immensely easy for him to say, '1 lied before
the grand jury.' He took an oath to uphold the Constitution and
therefore he should have spoken the truth " He also thinks the
bombing of Iraq was "an unconscionable sin He used bully
tactics against Saddam Hussein, whom I happen to respect
more than I do Bill Clinton because he stands up for what he
believes in. The one President who refused to go into the
military has ordered more military actions than any other
President."
*
Chris Corbell believes Clinton's impeachment valid
but not for any of the articles brought against him or for his
liaison with Monica Lewinsky "I want to see him impeached for
signing NAFTA (the North American Trade Agreement) vdiich I
think was a 'high crime' against American workers." Chris, a
noted musician and volunteer programmer for KMUN as well
as a bartender at Tony's Tavern, also wants Clinton impeached
"for the 'misdemeanor1 of defiling Jeffersonian democracy. He
definitely defiles us all in his values as President. He is the
servant of capital interests, not the interests of the American
people." Though he regards the bombing of Iraq as a "conven­
ient coincidence," Chris says that it was "a continuation of the
past 50 years (of U.S. policy) in the Middle East."
Pete from Gearhart considers it "ridiculous to hold
Clinton as a bad President for screwing around. To be self-
righteous about sexual indiscretions is bullshit. I think 99% of
consenting adults are doing it — and lying about it also. I feel
the only ones out to get Clinton are Congress and the media.
The rest of us think it's a joke. That's my feedback from people.
Leave the guy alone! He's apologized and groveled enough."
Pete thinks Clinton might have waited a couple of
months to bomb Iraq if it hadn't been for impeachment. "If he
wasn't thinking of it he's a lot less astute a politician than I think
he is."
"I don't think Bill Clinton should be impeached because
I think half the members of Congress are hypocrites and are
probably doing the same thing they accuse him of," Dirk Beau-
Ifeu, brewer at the Wet Dog Cafe & Pacific Brewing Company. "I
think they should focus on domestic priorities such as employ­
ment, minority opportunities, megacorporate megatakeovers,
racism and poverty." He doesn't think Clinton bombed Iraq to
divert opinion. "I think it was an unfortunate circumstance of
timing I'm tired of us playing world policeman and I think we
should come with a new MidEast policy. I favor diplomacy over
force"
John Seaman, Alaska pilot and Astoria realtor says "I
think if (Clinton) cared anything for this country he would resign
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
& BREW PUB
CANNON BEACH, ORE.