While reading David Roepke’s column on Thursday entitled “In the hearts, minds and pockets of Americans,” my initial reaction was mixed.

He was simply asking the question as to why the president’s approval rating is so high and why so few are in favor of his removal. This did not shock me, since I have wondered this myself, even though I am a Democrat who thinks the whole thing is just the GOP’s attempt to say “Sure Watergate was bad, but we’re not the only ones who can screw up!”

Then Mr. Roepke went into several paragraphs that ended up being just a big insult to the American public with nothing to back up his argument other than his own opinion.

He claims that the American people are hypocrites because they approve of Clinton because the economy is good. While this may be true, I doubt that people like Mr. Roepke pointed this out when everyone was patting Ronald Reagan on the back for his economic plan. And while I am on the subject of hypocrisy I am surprised the Republican party wasn’t mentioned. If any group in America is worthy of the label hypocrite it is the leaders of the GOP. This is the same group that says the press is immoral for invading their private lives but have no problems meddling in the private lives of every other person in the country. And the one that really made me mad was when the Republicans condemned President Clinton for admitting that he engaged in actions that were “not appropriate” but called Bob Livinston’s admission of his extra-martial affair “the most honorable thing that has ever happened in Congress”… if that isn’t hypocritical, what is?

Then he states, with absolutely no backing, that the idea that perjury isn’t an impeachable offense is “ridiculous.” This is where Mr. Roepke’s argument completely fell apart, especially since he provided no support of his biased opinion. Not only is this idea not ridiculous, but it is completely correct. The Constitution states the president “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” So the real question is “Is perjury a high crime?” And more importantly is perjury by a president a high crime against the United States? The answer to both questions is no. Yes, perjury is considered a crime, and I am quite certain that once this whole mess is over President Clinton will be formally charged with perjury, but that doesn’t mean that he can or should be removed from office for it. And more importantly, it is not a crime that undermines the fabric of our society, which is specifically what the original authors of the Constitution intended. They felt that a president should only be removed from office if his actions hurts the country itself. And to be quite honest, Clinton’s actions haven’t hurt our society, the GOP’s have.

It is still impossible for me to understand how someone who is supposedly an educated person (let’s take Mr. Roepke as an example) who says that perjury, which is generally considered a minor crime in normal society, is worthy of removing a president. Think of how that could undermine the actions of future presidents. If you can be removed from office simply because you are in the same party as the minority of Congress and the majority party decided to get rid of you. It is absurd, and any educated and patriotic person should be able to see that.

But, I guess Mr. Roepke is right. The American people are very stupid. Just one look at Mr. Roepke’s writing and anyone can see that.

Michael Mischnick

Senior

Chemical engineering