To the Editor:
I was one of many Americans who didn't care much about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I felt that the President was doing a good job and that an affair was not basis for impeachment. I was tired of hearing the name "Monica" in the news every day.
I decided, on recommendation from a friend, to read the Starr report -- the full report with all the footnotes, not the newspaper extracts. After reading it, it seems silly that President Clinton could defend himself. He's like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar denying his intent.
I can forgive the sex, the abuse of his power, the abuse of his influence over a young woman half his age and his decision not to confess right away.
However, he had no right to ask Monica Lewinsky to lie or to file a false affidavit, and he was absolutely wrong to tell a federal judge under oath that the affidavit was truthful. He perjured himself-- before a federal judge and before a grand jury-- and thus could be convicted of a felony.
Public opinion should not be the test; laws like Jim Crow laws are good examples of what happens when public opinion is allowed to override the Constitution and Federal Law.
