Transcript of the
Legislative Update
For the Week of December 7, 1998

No one should be proud of the impeachment proceedings of the past year. The tawdry behavior of the president makes even his staunchest defenders wince as the glory details of his sexual escapades are revealed to the public.

The ambivalence with which the public soaks up the details while claiming total disinterest and disgust, reminds me of the gawking by passing motorists at dreadful and bloody accidents. No one enjoys or wishes the accident, but try and diminish the desire of the observers to soak up the details. Curiosity prevails! In not, in the case of the Clinton affair, the TV ratings on nearly every nightly TV talk show would plummet. For nearly a year the airways have been saturated with all the particulars and yet the talk show hosts faint abhorrence at delving into the private life of the President.

Even with this intense in the President and Monica, I would agree that the polls and the election shows that the public is not inclined to punish the President or the President's party over the Lewinsky affair--and certainly not reward the Republicans. This conclusion, to some degree, may well reflect the moral standards of our age, but I'm betting there's a lot more to it. It is true that some conservative voters, demanding the Republicans in Congress hold the President to a greater accountability and "voted" by staying home. They did not want to encourage the Republicans who were seen as being soft on Clinton for his personal behavior and for capitulating on the big government agenda of more spending, and more taxes. But maybe there is a much more profound reason for a seemingly inconsistent position of the public who condemns the President while not having the stomach for punishing him through impeachment.

If my suspicion is correct we can claim a major victory. Polling across Texas, as well as nationally, confirms that more than 80% of the people are fearful of the Federal Government's intrusion into our personal privacy. That's a healthy sign and indicates that the privacy issue may well be the issue that will eventually draw attention to the evils of big government. The contest, as it has always been throughout history, remains between the desire for security and the love of liberty. When economic security is provided by the government, privacy and liberty must be sacrificed. The longer a welfare state lasts the greater the conflict between government intrusiveness and our privacy. Government efficiency and its need for financing through a ruthless tax system, prompts the perpetual barrage of government agents checking on everything we do.

Fortunately, the resentment toward government for its meddling in all aspects of our lives is strong and becoming more galvanized, and that should give us hope that all is not lost.

But this resentment must be channeled in the right direction. Belief that privacy and liberty can be protected while the welfare state is perpetuated with taxing our nation's producers, is a unrealizable dream.

The "sympathy", if that's what we want to call it, for the President reflects the instinctive nature of most Americans who resent the prying eyes of big government. It's easy to reason: "If the President of the United States can be the subject of a 'sting operation' and FBI ordered tape recordings, how can any of us be secure in our homes and papers?"

The ambivalence comes from fear that demanding privacy, even for the President, means that his actions are then condoned. And turning this into a perjury issue has not been successful.

The President, his advisors, and the friendly media were all aware that the sexual privacy issue would distract from the serious charges and knew it was their best chance to avoid impeachment.

But the President, the Administration and the Congress have all been hypocritical while demanding privacy for themselves yet are the arch enemies of our privacy. Although other Administrations have abused the FBI and the IRS, this Administration has systematically abused these powers like non other.

Let's declare a victory in despite of the mess we're in. If the President is not removed from office we'll call it a form of "jury nullification" and hope someday this process will be used in our courts to nullify the unconstitutional tax, monetary, gun, and seizure laws that are heaped upon us by Congresses and perpetuated by a judicial system devoid of respect for individual liberty and the Constitution.

Hopefully, the concept of the overly aggressive prosecutor will be condemned when it comes to overly aggressive activities of all the federal agencies whether it's the IRS, the BATF, Fish and Wildlife authorities or the EPA.