If Hypocrisy was a Flower, the GOP Would be in Full Bloom!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Rachel Maddow's blog ran an interesting piece yesterday that compared the way some members of Congress voted on two separate impeachments:  those of Bill Clinton in 1998-1999, and the just completed Trump impeachment and Senate trial.  Just over twenty years separate the two events, which means there are people serving in the House and Senate who were around for both.

First of all, with regard to a comparison of the charges, Maddow quoted lawyer George Conway, Kellyanne's outspoken husband, who termed it this way:

"As someone who knows something about what happened 22 years ago, I can state unequivocally that there's no equivalence and no comparison between Clinton's lying about consensual sex in a civil case and Trump's attempt to overturn constitutional democracy."

Nicely put, George.

Bill Clinton was impeached by the House on two counts, both related to his attempted cover-up of sexual dalliances.  One count said that he had perjured himself before a grand jury, and the other count centered on obstruction of justice.  Two other proposed charges were voted down in the House.  The Republicans controlled the House, and Speaker Newt Gingrich had been assured by a private polling firm that pursuing an impeachment of Clinton would result in GOP gains in the House of up to thirty seats.    Instead, that November (1998) as the House was pursuing impeachment charges, the Democrats picked up five seats.  They were still in the minority, but the embarrassment was too great for Gingrich who announced his pending resignation from Congress.    Louisiana Congressman Bob Livingston was his replacement-designate, but Livingston, too, had to step aside when it was revealed that he had had an extra-marital affair.    Other sexual indiscretions by GOP congressmen were revealed as well during that time.

When the Articles of Impeachment were brought to the Senate floor for a trial in early 1999, the Senate make-up consisted on fifty-five Republicans and forty-five Democrats.   Both Articles against Clinton needed a two-thirds vote (sixty-seven) in order to convict.  Article One, that of perjury before a grand jury, failed by a vote of 45 "yea" to 55 "nay," with all Democrats voting "nay" along with ten Republicans.  Article Two, Obstruction of Justice, failed on a fifty-fifty vote with five Republicans joining the Democrats in voting it down.

Bill Clinton won the day, while Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Henry Hyde and a couple of others in Congress clearly lost.

But there were four GOP senators who voted "yea" on both Articles of Impeachment on Clinton who are still in the Senate and saw fit to vote "nay" on convicting Donald Trump of what many see as a far more serious and provable offense - fomenting an insurrection against a co-equal branch of government, an act which placed the well-being and lives of members of Congress and Senators in danger.   Those four were Mike Crapo of Idaho, Chuck Grassley of Nebraska, Jim Mountain Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.  Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican of Alabama, voted for convicting Clinton on one Article of Impeachment and then voted to acquit Trump two decades later.

Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican Senator who went the other way.  She voted to acquit Clinton and convict Trump.

Interestingly Mike Crapo was a member of the House when the Articles of Impeachment were passed - and he supported them there, and then he was promoted to the Senate in time to vote to convict Clinton on both charges there.

Several other GOP Members of the House voted to impeach Bill Clinton, and then by the time Trump was impeached they were serving as US Senators where they voted to acquit him:  That group included Roy Blunt of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Rob Portman of Ohio, John Thune of South Dakota, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

And one more note regarding my senior Missouri senator, Roy Blunt.   Ol' Roy is nothing if not sanctimonious, and less than five years after voting to impeach Bill Clinton over matters rooted in sexual conduct, Blunt filed for divorce from his wife of thirty-five years, the mother of his children - and less than six months after the divorce was granted he married a pretty and much younger Washington, DC, lobbyist.

Matters involving sex seem to shock Republicans, until all of that nasty stuff affects them directly, but the overthrow of democracy and constitutional government - not so much.

If hypocrisy was a flower, the GOP would be in full bloom!