Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: bigger than themselves

Author:Jason Gerry
Posted:12/20/1998; 10:35:14 PM
Topic:Cardboard Cutout People
Msg #:1533 (In response to 1488)
Prev/Next:1532 / 1534

Personally, I'm getting aggrevated by the fact that everyone is looking to these polls as the word of God. Let me tell you, it's not the case.

If you've ever studied polling, you'd be amazed at how non-scientific they are. Really good ones -- that is, polls that are truly trying to measure quantitative groups -- are vastly more expensive than the cheap-o ones (read: random polling) that are done for news organizations. These news organizations, being pretty cheap, will spend $1500 - $3000 on a poll. Even that is high for some. A serious poll will cost 10 times that, and the news media simply doesn't want to spend that.

Barring the fact that they're not very scientific, the better polls I've seen say that over 60 percent the college-educated, voting public wants him gone. Personally, I'd rather see him resign than go through this impeachment ordeal, but hey, Clinton's not listening to anybody, especially me.

Also, let's remember that this is NOT for the public to decide. We don't live in a democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic, whereby we elect officials to execute our will. In this case, we're not having a referendum on the issue; it's not a matter for public decision. We get our say, but we don't get to decide. It's strictly a constitutional matter, and needs to be weighed on those grounds. If the evidence proves that he has lied under oath, and the Congress deems that to be reason enough to impeach him (the House already has), so be it. I wish it were a less partisan decision, because I have to imagine there are a lot of people on both sides that would like to vote their conscience (do politicians have one of those???) but are afraid to 'break ranks' with their respective parties. I find that part offensive as hell.

Finally, the best constitutional tack I've read on the subject basically states that, hey, you can impeach a president for pretty much anything, as long as he's broken the public trust. That's an open and shut case for me. Let's lose the guy and get on with our lives.

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