Ben Godar’s Oct. 9 column touched on an important point that has totally baffled me.

Many Americans still believe that the president of the United States is a normal citizen.

And as such, they believe he should be subject to the same rules as your average John or Jane Doe.

He is not, and he should not.

I know this has been said many times before by men far more eloquent than I, but it still rings true.

A man who is in control of one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, commander of the world’s most powerful military and defender and leader of over 250 million people is not a normal man. And as such, he cannot and should not be judged by normal standards.

Mr. Godar puts impeaching the president for perjury on the same level of extremity as McGwire hitting 70 home runs and a man on a mountain bike falling out of a plane in a Mountain Dew commercial.

These comparisons are not only laughable, they are just plain naive.

We are so “extreme” with the president because he is an extreme man.

Besides, Mr. Godar, if the president of the United States is not the most extreme position in America, what is?

To say that because other presidents may or may not have committed far worse crimes before and got away with it, we should have mercy and forgiveness for one who “willingly” admitted it, is foolish.

To say that because average citizens lie (generally not under oath, mind you) and still keep their jobs, then the president should be able to, is even more foolish.

And to allow Bill Clinton to get away with lying under these circumstances would be setting a standard for the president of the United States far more alarming than any “extreme” moral standard Mr. Godar fears.

Americans need to remember being the president of the United States is not just a right; it’s a privilege.

A privilege that is not easily attained, but when done so, must be constantly earned through hard work, honesty and respect for the position itself and the people for whom it represents.

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Chad Lamb

Senior

Computer science