What about “the relative demerits of fooling around with an intern vs. fooling an entire country into going to war based on false evidence” anyway? Where is the outrage from these moral guardians now? How many US service people from their subscriber rolls have been killed or wounded?
Newspapers Urge President to Quit:
Did newspaper editorials condemn Clinton for his screwing around, and lying about it, and leave it at that, or did they come out squarely for his exit from office?
What follows, from an Associated Press rundown on September 15, 1998, is a long list of newspapers that “called for President Clinton’s resignation.” AP added that some of those listed “did so before the release of Kenneth Starr’s report on Sept. 11.” [editor’s note: Sept 11? Odd, that. ]
Indeed, the Philadelphia Inquirer responded to the coming of the Starr report this way: “Bill Clinton should resign. He should resign because his repeated, reckless deceits have dishonored his presidency beyond repair.”
The Los Angeles Times pointed out: “The picture of Clinton that now emerges is that of a middle-aged man with a pathetic inability to control his sexual fancies.”
The New York Times, on its Howell Raines-led editorial page, thundered that until the Starr turn, “no citizen … could have grasped the completeness of President Clinton’s mendacity or the magnitude of his recklessness.” Yet a Washington Post poll that month showed that while a majority of Americans wanted Congress to censure Clinton, they did not want it to boot him out of office.
[Below the fold] is that AP partial list of newspapers calling for Clinton to quit (other papers no doubt joined in later):
NATIONAL:
USA TodayALABAMA:
The Mobile Register
Montgomery AdvertiserARIZONA:
Tucson CitizenCALIFORNIA:
San Jose Mercury News
The Orange County Register
The North (San Diego) County Times
The Record, StocktonCOLORADO:
The Denver Post
CONNECTICUT:
The Day of New London
Norwich BulletinDISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington Times
FLORIDA:
The Orlando Sentinel
The Tampa TribuneGEORGIA:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Augusta ChronicleILLINOIS:
Chicago TribuneINDIANA:
The Indianapolis Star
Chronicle-Tribune of Marion
South Bend Tribune
The Times of Northwest IndianaIOWA:
The Des Moines Register
KANSAS:
The Topeka Capital-Journal
LOUISIANA:
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans
The News-Star, MonroeMICHIGAN:
The Grand Rapids Press
Detroit Free PressMINNESOTA:
Post-Bulletin of RochesterMISSISSIPPI:
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, TupeloMISSOURI:
Jefferson City News-TribuneNEBRASKA:
Lincoln Journal StarNEVADA:
Reno Gazette-JournalNEW JERSEY
The Trentonian, Trenton
NEW MEXICO:
Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe New MexicanNEW YORK:
Sunday Freeman of Kingston
Utica Observer-DispatchNORTH CAROLINA:
The Herald-Sun of Durham
Winston-Salem JournalOHIO:
The Repository, Canton
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati PostOKLAHOMA:
The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
Tulsa WorldOREGON:
Statesman Journal, SalemPENNSYLVANIA:
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSOUTH CAROLINA:
The State, Columbia
SOUTH DAKOTA:
Argus Leader, Sioux FallsTEXAS:
San Antonio Express-NewsEl Paso TimesUTAH:
Standard-Examiner, Ogden
The Spectrum, St. George
The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City
Deseret News, Salt Lake CityVIRGINIA:
Daily Press of Newport NewsWASHINGTON:
The Seattle Times
WISCONSIN:
The Post-Crescent, Appleton
The Journal Times, Racine