Students, America witnessing history

Although some may turn a blind eye to Washington, I urge you not to blink. We are witnessing history.

President Bill Clinton stands at the crossroads of not only his presidency, but also history.

President Clinton's world is beginning to crumble. His actions were as indefensible as those of a student caught with class notes written down his arm during a final.

Yet, the President is still directing the blame at Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. White House guests have reported that when the subject of conversation turned to Starr, the president could not contain his anger.

"That man is evil," he would tell friends. "When this thing is over, there is only going to be one of us left standing. And it is going to be me."

The idea of a personal battle that has consumed Clinton (similar to President Richard M. Nixon before his resignation) will only assist in his self-destruction.

The president's defiance angered many who took him on his word and supported him in recent months.

Connecticut Democrat Joseph Lieberman was one of the first to scold the president in a speech on the Senate floor, calling the president's actions "wrong and unacceptable, and should be followed by some form of public rebuke and accountability."

Georgia's democratic Senator Max Cleland said he agreed with the rebuke and the president's actions were "depressing and discouraging for Democrats like myself, and for the democratic candidates around America, and for democratic voters."

Democrats on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation have expressed concern over the public disgust with Clinton and the effect it is expected to have this Election Day. Over the past week, two democratic gubernatorial candidates have snubbed the president, saying no thanks to a Clinton campaign visit.

Perhaps selfishly, as a student of political science, I consider these times in many ways the best. However this sense of excitement should not be exclusive to those with a front row seat to a president's historic battle for life. All Americans should treasure the events in Washington. Americans are reminded that no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States.

However, as the Starr report was delivered to Congress, I was eventually sobered. As the frenzy of the day's events were submerged in the glow of the Washington night sky, I was sitting on the steps of the Capitol building. I gazed over the National Mall toward the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. My eyes also caught the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

It is not only these patriots, however, who deserve more, but also our nation. America deserves more than a President who will not only lie to his own family, but send his wife out to publicly defend him, leaving her to be perhaps more humiliated than anyone.

After displaying a pattern of habitual wrong-doing, it is at last time for the president to do what is right. The right thing to do is for William Jefferson Clinton to resign. He lost the faith and trust of his own party, his own family and the American people.

If the president does not want to take my advice, perhaps he should take his own:

"I think it's plain that the president should resign and spare the country the agony of this impeachment and removal proceeding-. the country could be spared a lot of agony and the government could worry about inflation and a lot of other problems if he'd go on and resign."

- Bill Clinton referring to President Richard M. Nixon, Aug. 8, 1974.

Al Mollo is a political science senior with an intern-ship in the office of Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.