I wasn’t in the Rose Garden when President Clinton came to the podium after being acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Now that the Senate has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility, bringing this process to a conclusion, I want to say again to the American people how profoundly sorry I am for what I said and did to trigger these events, and the great burden they have imposed on the Congress and on the American people. . . .
But I was at the National Prayer Breakfast eight days earlier, at a table somehow connected to Cal Thomas, and was moved by what became, basically, a prayer for peace. The President’s remarks began:
. . . You know, Senator Hutchison was talking about how when we come here, we set party aside. And there is absolutely no politics in this. I can tell you that is absolutely so. I have had a terrific relationship with Steve Largent, and he has yet to vote with me the first time. So, I know there is no politics in this prayer breakfast. . . .
Here is what Senator Hutchison had to say eight days later as he voted to convict the president. Though I don’t believe lying to cover up an affair requires removal from office, I respect what Hutchison had to say as thoughtful and factual.
(Here is here is what Mitt Romney said, 21 years later, as he voted to convict the president. If you ever wondered what courage and honor sound like, just click that link.)
Watching Trump defile yesterday’s Prayer Breakfast, then curse and preen and slander and lie at the White House, the contrast with 1999 was . . . how else to put it? . . . of biblical proportions.
