More shameful Republican behavior

First off though, a tip of the hat to Congressman Henry Hyde. Though I'm about to read him the riot act, I also think it's important to note that at least Hyde was honest about this issue. Honesty is an increasingly rare attribute in politicians these days, even if what he's being honest about is a shameful event.

Hyde was recently asked if the Clinton impeachment was payback for the Nixon impeachment. He couldn't say it wasn't. "That's not an admission" you might offer, to which I'd reply "if it weren't payback the proper answer is something like "absolutely not!" Hyde's "can't say it wasn't" was PR-talk for "okay, I admit it: it was."

He went on to say that if he had it to do all over again, he probably wouldn't. He felt that at that time the Republican party had to stand for something and to walk away wouldn't have been right. And I agree with him. That's why the House is given the option to censure. Looking at things comparatively, censure is prison time, impeachment is the death penalty.

So the Republicans, in the name of standing for something, and in retaliation for the Nixon impeachment, sentenced Clinton to the most severe of penalties for his behavior. That kind of collective thought process isn't good government. It's shameful. They made two errors, compounded by the rest of reality, which I'll get to in a moment.
Error #1: making a decision based on retribution for absolutely un-related matters (the Nixon impeachment)
Error #2: giving the president the harshest penalty possible, instead of something which more befit the presidential misbehavior.

To top it all off, nearly all the movers and shakers on the Republican side--including Hyde-- were found to have participated in similar behavior themselves. Did they tender their resignations? Only one--Bob Livingston.

So the most severe of steps to rein in presidential misbehavior was done for reasons that weren't earnest, weren't what they were stated to be, and weren't in the national interest.

There's no way to take ego out of the political process--it's part-n-parcel to it. But we have to do better than this. And I'm ashamed to add that I suspect the quality of politicians has only eroded in the last 6 years, not improved.