Where I Stand - Brian Greenspun: Asking for Clinton's resignation does disservice to nation

THERE IS no honor in resignation. There is dishonor in those who demand it.

There has been a flurry of activity in Washington since Ken Starr sent his truckloads of paperwork up to the Congress, alleging impeachable offenses by President Bill Clinton. And there has been an avalanche of input and output on the Internet as the curious and the concerned call up the hundreds of pages of Starr's report, which probably will be in paperback by next week.

It is also easy to predict that life inside and outside the Beltway is going to get ugly -- but for different reasons. In my opinion, things have been ugly on the inside for months.

On a personal note, it is difficult to describe my level of disappointment in the way the events of the last few weeks have turned out. Like most Americans, I wanted to believe the president when he denied an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Unlike most Americans, though, I chose to accept his denials; most Americans saw through his lies. That made hearing the truth that much harder for me.

Having said all that, it is incumbent upon me and every other American concerned about the presidency, this country and the nature of political discourse in the future that we keep this entire matter in perspective. For there is probably no more solemn responsibility under the Constitution of the United States than what the Congress is about to undertake regarding possible impeachment proceedings.

So it was heartening to hear the sentiments about responsibility expressed Thursday by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. They understand the seriousness of any discussion that might lead to the undoing of what the voters in the United States have done.

I expected such sentiments to last longer than the next morning, but that was a further expression of my naivete. The fact that the whole thing is turning partisan and, soon, bitter should disappoint all but not surprise anyone. It is the nature of political life in America in the last part of the 20th century.

It is, to be sure, ugly and immature, but it is a creature of our making. For we have allowed the deterioration of our political system to occur, either through our actions or, more likely, our inaction. The diatribes on nightly television from the mouths of partisans are not new. What is different, though, is the hate and venom that spews forth at the same time. It is our fault that our elected officials have stooped so low, which means only we, the people, can make it stop.

This discussion will be had in most homes across the county, I hope, in the coming months. Questions dealing with the kind of politicians we expect, the potential for criminalizing what has heretofore been politics as usual and the extent to which we will continue to delve into the private -- and sometimes X-rated -- lives of those we elect to office will have to be answered. To continue to ignore them, more inaction, will lead us further from representative democracy and closer to an anarchic society in which the will of the moment wins out. That is not what our Founding Fathers had in mind.

Nor did they have in mind what a few misguided, small-minded or even hateful individuals have been posing as the only honorable way out for President Clinton. To be fair, it is not only Republican idealogues who have stepped forward demanding that the president resign. There are media outlets, religious people, a Democrat or two and some others who claim that President Clinton must do what is right for America. In their minds, that answer is resignation.

I believe that those screaming for resignation are asking President Clinton to take the coward's way out. They want him to quit just because life has gotten tougher (that's an understatement) and, most importantly, leave the office to which the voters have elected him -- twice -- just because he made a huge mistake, error in judgement or whatever we want to call his sexual antics and efforts to cover them up. Many of the politicians yelling the loudest want him to quit so they won't have to make the hard decisions ahead.

In calling for his resignation, those who see a political advantage or a personal one are acting dishonorably. They dishonor the Founding Fathers who knew that the time would come when decisions to undo a presidential vote might have to be considered and created a process for that consideration. They dishonor the office of the presidency for thinking so little of that exalted position to say that a resignation could right any perceived wrongs. And they dishonor the voters who have fulfilled their solemn responsibilities as citizens by electing a person to serve as president for a four-year term.

To be sure, there are times when a resignation is appropriate. This is not one of them. This is not a case of the president selling secrets to an enemy country. This is not a case of a president using the power of his office to subvert the will of the American people. And this is not a case of a president abusing his office to a level that demands immediate vacation.

What this is, is not good. In fact, it disgusts some, horrifies others and probably, in a strange way, titillates the rest. It is about sex and, at its core, it shows the delicate underbelly of puritan America. More than practically any other nation on this planet, we have demonstarted a sexual schizophrenia that is understandable only in the context of our own ability to rationalize.

We demand family values, yet we choose as our leaders in that cause people who have abused those values beyond recognition. We preach sexual purity, yet we follow the words of people who have offended that concept beyond our ability to understand it. And we teach our children the benefits of sexual abstinence, yet we advertise to the world our goods and services with, at best, an undertone of sexual gratification for anyone at any age and in any circumstance. We hear our priests and pastors on Sunday tell us of the benefits of a good and pure life, but when we leave our houses of worship, we walk or drive past some of the most provocative sex shops that man's imagination can create. We tolerate them because our Constitution demands it and, I suspect, we'd live in a pretty boring world without something like that to at least talk about.

In short, we are as confused about sex in this country as we can possibly get. So when the president admits to a sordid sexual affair and all that goes with it, we are not sure how to react. We want to strike out and punish, yet we don't want to go too far. That's the dilemma Congress will find itself in as it tries to deal with Starr's report that says Clinton had sex, lied about it and tried to keep his family and friends from learning about it. Not the first time you've heard that, huh?

And that's the decision, ultimately, that the people of this country will have to make, for that's what our weak-kneed politicians require before they'll act. We'll have decide whether sex is an impeachable offense. And before we get that far, we'll have to apply that standard to our own lives.

That's why impeachment will be hard to come by for those who pray for it nightly. And that is what our Founding Fathers intended the process to be. The public understands how good this president is in doing his job and, now, how bad he is in conducting his private life. If they are willing to live with the latter -- as they do in their own little worlds -- to afford themselves the enormous benefits of the former, then the decision (however difficult and destructive the process will be in getting there) will be based on sanity and reason.

Resignation now would shortchange that process and seriously undermine a nation that may very well decide to keep the man who has gotten us this close to the 21st century. There is no honor in resignation, only dishonor in those who wish it now.

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