Bill Clinton’s marital infidelity cost him his reputation as a president and saw him impeached. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tangled web of lies may see him losing his office and several of his associates fined or imprisoned for contempt of Congress. Uber-heiress Paris Hilton spent a well-publicized month in jail, where it looks like fallen-child-star Lindsay Lohan will be headed if convicted for her DUI and cocaine possession charges. And today, Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick appears in court for his leadership role in a vicious, disgusting, and disturbing dog-fighting ring. During Paris Hilton’s time in jail, some people claimed she was being forced to pay an unreasonable price for her driving drunk with a suspended license. Likely, as Lindsay Lohan’s unstable future plays out in court, her defense will argue along similar lines, that the D.A. is looking to make an example of celebrities.
Whether or not public figures who commit criminal acts regard themselves as above the law or not, the very fact that they are "public" figures is what makes the cases, the verdicts, and the crimes that much more explosive. Paris Hilton did not ask to be born into one of the most notable families in America, but that does not excuse her recklessly endangering the lives of others by operating a car while intoxicated. Nonetheless, while she is solely to blame for her irresponsible actions, I do not think we can blame her for the DUIs of other young women. What I mean is, if another 25 year old non-celebrity drives home from a party blitzed, she cannot blame Paris Hilton for inspiring her to do so. That argument is as weak as blaming Marilyn Manson for Columbine.
Marilyn Manson didn’t put automatic weapons into the hands of high schoolers, and Paris Hilton isn’t handing over wine coolers and car keys (to my knowledge). As cruel and grusome as his alleged involvement in a dog-fighting ring has been, by this same argument, Michael Vick cannot be held responsible if there is a sudden influx in the number of people participating in dog fighting, can he? Being an athletic icon whose poster is plastered on bedroom walls across the country shouldn’t make him more guilty of the charges than a non-celebrity convicted of dog-fighting. But the sensationalism, the fact that parents have to now tell their sons to pick a new favorite footballer, or in the case of Britney Spears, parents have to tell their daughters to buy a different artists’ album, is what makes their crimes and addictions seem so magnified.
Where the lines of influence become blurred is in our government. Whereas nobody elected Paris or LiLo to public office, George Bush is our president. And while there are equal numbers of people who will argue that he was or wasn’t elected president, the president is constitutionally obligated to pick cabinet members that uphold our Constitution, Democracy, and justice system. We didn’t elect Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to his position. But President Bush selected him, and the Congress we elected confirmed him. And whereas a celebrity is still a private citizen, members of our government are not. Gonzales, particularly, as the #1 top gun at the Justice Department, is sworn under oath to protect and uphold justice in our country as governed by our Constitution. Instead, Alberto Gonzales has sworn an allegiance to the President which is far more important to him than any law, trial, or Constitution.
This allegiance to the President may be why Gonzales finds himself under possible investigation for having perjured himself before of Congress. And for this, I think Gonzales should be punished to the most severe and thorough extent of the law. The number of crimes, violations of human rights, and conspiracy that has occurred due to Gonzales bending and breaking of the Constitution in his few years as Attorney General most likely cannot be tabulated. We know he has condoned and even encouraged torture. We know he has favored wire-tapping programs and other measure to invade the privacy of innocent American citizens under guise of the "Patriotic Act". We don’t know how many innocent Americans and foreign nationals have been wrongly imprisoned under Gonzales’/Bush’s joint trouncing of the Justice System.
I caution you to think about this: often, the government is able to sweep things under the carpet with only fragments being discovered by the media or public. If Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay were discovered by the public at large, what terrible horrors are we yet to hear about once this administration has vacated its post? Today a letter was sent from four Democratic senators to Solicitor General Paul Clement. Below, you can find the opening text of remarks by the senators at a press conference, courtesy of Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) website. You can read the entire remarks here, and I urge you to do so:
July 26, 2007
SCHUMER: OK. Good morning, everybody.
And I want to thank my colleagues who are standing with me today. We’re here at a sad moment. We’re asking the solicitor general to appoint a special counsel to investigate potential perjury by the attorney general.
Earlier this week, Attorney General Gonzales testified before the Judiciary Committee. And his inability to answer simple and straightforward questions was just stunning.
The attorney general took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Instead, he tells the half-truth, the partial truth and everything but the truth. And he does it not once, and not twice, but over and over and over again. (Read on)
Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship with a woman who was not his wife, and he was on the verge of being thrown from office. His "crime" wasn’t really even a crime, he betrayed his wife. He lied to Congress about his infidelity, but should he have had to testify about it at all? What a slap in the face, what disrespect to a man who led our nation dutifully and with utter respect to and for the Constitution. Today we have a president who has surrounded himself with known crooks, liars, and torture-mongerors. We have a president that, despite a failing war, a conviction in his inner circle (which he eagerly commuted), a Justice Dept. chief who cannot speak a word of truth to anyone and seems to mock the very institution charged with holding him accountable... our Democracy is in shambles. I think dog-fighting is a terrible crime, and hearing details about Michael Vick’s operation made me gag to the point that I had to shut off my radio. I am angry when I hear about celebrities driving drunk or under the influence of narcotics because I have been in a drunk driving accident (as a victim in another vehicle, not as a drunk driver or the passenger of a drunk driver) and I walked away in much better shape than most do. These crimes hurt people and animals, they leave a bad taste in your mouth, they make you wish people with the money to buy themselves a good education would do so instead of spending their entire income at Luis Vuitton or on Bentleys. But our government. Our government is where those rules that tell us not to drive drunk or kill indiscrimanantly are born and upheld. When the people responsible for their oversight are the worst criminals of all, should they be held to a higher standard? My answer is an emphatic yes.
If we can not expect those who voluntarily assume roles as officers of justice, and whom accept a paycheck for their services as such, to hold themselves to the same moral standards, then our system crumbles. Everyone is only human. Like Bill Clinton. He took a moral misstep. But who, other than his family, was hurt by it?
The same people who torture, lie, wage unfounded, wars, and cover up their tracks are running this government into the ground, all the while claiming moral superiority over homosexuals, minorities, pro-choice advocates, etc. If they set the bar that high, they need to measure up to it, end of story. When the punishments are handed down for this administration, and there is a Democratic president who won’t be passing pardons out like party favors, I hope justice can be restored to our democracy. However, given what has transpired to this point, I fear justice in America has been violated beyond repair. Perhaps that is why celebrities commit such stupid crimes. They know what we’re learning; that the justice system has been failed by those sworn to protect it, and we are entering a world where crimes only have consequences for those too poorly connected to buy themselves out.