Perjury, Rule Of Law, and The Trivialization of Treason
Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison and other GOPs were "Against perjury before being for it."
We see Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) is of two
minds when it comes to politicians lying under oath. Where
are all those enraged Republicans who loudly proclaimed: "It's
not the sex, it's the lying under oath." Kay Bailey Hutchison, Sunday on Press the Meat:
I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that
says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not
some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime so
they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation
were not a waste of time and dollars.
Let's
revisit what was said during the Clinton Era of Peace and Prosperity:
Sen. Hutchison: "The edifice of American jurisprudence rests on the foundation of the
due process of law. The mortar in that foundation is the oath. Those
who seek to obstruct justice weaken that foundation, and those who
violate the oath would tear the whole structure down.
Sen. Frist: "There is no serious question that perjury and obstruction
of justice are high crimes and misdemeanors...Indeed, our own Senate
precedent establishes that perjury is a high crime and
misdemeanor...The crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice are
public crimes threatening the administration of justice."
[Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Kyl: "...there can be no doubt that perjurious, false, and
misleading statements made under oath in federal court proceedings are
indeed impeachable offenses...John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the
United States, said `there is no crime more extensively pernicious to
society' than perjury, precisely because it `discolors and poisons the
streams of justice.'" [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. DeWine: "Obstruction of justice and perjury strike at the very
heart of our system of justice...Perjury is also a very serious
crime...The judiciary is designed to be a mechanism for finding the
truth-so that justice can be done. Perjury perverts the judiciary,
turning it into a mechanism that accepts lies-so that injustice may
prevail." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Talent: "Nobody else in a position of trust, not a CEO, not a
labor union leader, not a principal of a school could do half of what
the president has done and stay in office. I mean, who would have said
a year ago that a president could perjure himself and obstruct justice
and tamper with witnesses... and stay in office." [CNBC, "Hardball,"
12/19/98]
Sen. McConnell: "I am completely and utterly perplexed by those who
argue that perjury and obstruction of justice are not high crimes and
misdemeanors...Perjury and obstruction hammer away at the twin pillars
of our legal system: truth and justice." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Voinovich: "As constitutional scholar Charles Cooper said, `The
crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice, like the crimes of
treason and bribery, are quintessentially offenses against our system
of government, visiting injury immediately on society itself.'"
[Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Craig: "There is no question in my mind that perjury and
obstruction of justice are the kind of public crimes that the Founders
had in mind, and the House managers have demonstrated these crimes were
committed by the president. As for the excuses being desperately sought
by some to allow President Clinton to escape accountability, it seems
to me that creating such loopholes would require tearing holes in the
Constitution-something that cannot be justified to protect this
president, or any president." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Brownback: "Perjury and obstruction of justice are crimes against
the state. Perjury goes directly against the truth-finding function of
the judicial branch of government." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
The same KBH who managed to avoid indictments previously by Ronnie
Earle purportedly with legal shenanigans, evidence tampering and a
friendly judge.
I'd love to hear KBH expound on how Clinton's grand jury testimony
about blowjobs was false, willful, and material to Starr's 7-year,
$70,000,000 investigation into a failed land deal, yet the testimony
(under oath or not) from Bush and myriad administration officials in
Fitzgerald's short and focused investigation into the outing of an
undercover CIA agent doesn't tear the whole edifice of American
jurisprudence down. Should we alert Bill Clinton that Kay Bailey Hutchinson's note of apology is on its way?
Ya just gotta stand in awe of such majestic hypocrisy.
My other favorite line is the one about the "criminalization of
politics". Hey, guys, the way these guys practice politics, it IS
criminal!
We see Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) is of two
minds when it comes to politicians lying under oath. Where
are all those enraged Republicans who loudly proclaimed: 
