*In the 1/2 hour time slot on CNN which used to be Evans and Novak ( the Democrat sponsored network decided to add a liberal point of view for " fairness " with Hunt and Shields, and ruined the show ), Republican House Judiciary member Lindsey Graham got to air his want to present the case for Bill Clinton's trial in the Senate. He reinterated that the olive branch he was offering to the President was genuine, but without any admission of real guilt, a trial must go on for his removal. Graham illustrated how many of us feel about Clinton's failure to admitt and take responsibility with, " I believe in the bottom of my heart, without that dress, they were gonna' roll all over her ". Beside this reference to Monica Lewinsky, Graham also characterized the portions of evidence that will be admissable, as only that which can be cross examined. In addition to Monica Lewinsky, names like Bruce Lindsey, Betty Currie and Vernon Jordan came up as possible witnesses. He refused to comment about unsubstantiated testimony available to Congressmen in the Ford building, which has been bouncing around the air waves for the past few weeks. On ' Deface The Nation ', Graham did offer some additional details on this matter, but he was very careful not characterize them as proven true or false. I find it more productive to hear from Senators, as they are now of the body that really counts.

*Of more immediate interest, Tim Russert had a half dozen Senators on his show to answer the ' Bleat of the Press '. He asked some relevant questions ranging from; ' will there be a trial? ' to ' should the President postpone his state of the union address if a trial is in progress? '. This group of Senators illustrated that partisanship is not only alive in the House of Representitives, but quite present in the Senate as well. A majority of the Senators only agreed on one thing; the President's state of the union address should be delayed, if the Senate proceedings were still in progress!

Joseph Biden ( D ). Predictably, Biden towed the ' Whitehouse/DNC love it or leave it ' line. He proudly proclaimed that there is no impeachable offense present. He didn't believe the Senate should even hold a trial, saying, " It does not require a vote of guilty or not guilty ". He obviously would support Clinton at all costs. Remember, he viciously attacked Scott Ritter, when Ritter was coming clean with the truth about the Whitehouse stopping UNSCOM inspections in Iraq. You may not find a more bitter partisan Democrat, than Biden!

Joseph Lieberman ( D ). This Senator is either spinning at above Mach one, or he may be the closest thing that Democrats get to non-partisan. He favors a short preliminary presentation of both sides of the case and a vote similar to a court considering a ' motion of summary judgment '. He said, " Allow both sides to go forward and present their arguements. Assume all the facts...do you see cause. " This vote on seeing ' cause for impeachment ', if unsuccessful, would short circuit the trail at that point. When asked about the Whitehouse/DNC Clinton post-impeachment Rose Garden party, he said, he was " disenheartened by the Rose Garden love-fest ".

Phil Gramm ( R ). Probably the most partisan Republican on the panel, he didn't opine Clinton's guilt or innocence. He hoped the Senate would be non-partisan, saying, " provide us the backbone to do the right thing ". He urged his colleagues in the Senate to be objective. He wasn't so sure that it could happen, saying, " We are too preoccupied with what is good politics for the Senators ". He wants a final vote of " guilty or not guilty ". He is the most concerned with future generations, saying, " The Constitutional process of voting has to be preserved ". Finally, on the impeachment process as not being a punishment, he said, " impeachment is about protecting the Republic ".

Arlen Specter ( R ). He said, " The Constitution calls for a trial ". He wants to hear Clinton under oath, saying, " We are entitled to hear from him in a sensible straight forward way ". He would not volunteer the way he would vote.

Robert Torricelli ( D ). This guy is a real piece of work. He was a vicious partisan in the House and is continuing the DNC attack dog routine in the Senate. He opined that the Senate should " entertain a motion to dismiss ". He does not believe Clinton should testify. He repeated some of the old House attack lines on Republicans including, " This black page in history the President has, is shared by the Congress ". He called the whole process a " hijacking ". He said the House never did and the Senate must, " decide whether or not there is an impeachable offense ". He was quick to offer up his pre-made decision on the final Senate out come with, " We are going to vote censure ". It is a sad day for us all, when a Senator can have this complete and total lack of integrity, but have such a strong partisan DNC loyalty!

Slade Gorton ( R ). He has co-authored the preliminary trial and summary vote idea with Lieberman. He urged all the Senators to act impartially with, " reduce partisanship ". He refused to speculate on the final outcome.

*Wolf Blitzer had a couple of Senators among the guests on his show, to see what condition his DNC ' Berated Condition ' was in. Wading through his sticky pro-Clinton rhetoric, both Senators offered up some of their views.

Mike DeWine ( R ). He was against any censure, saying, " It is not our job to punish the President ". He wants to " let the House managers present their case ". He would not speculate on his vote, and urged a complete trial to go on with, " Have a trial to bring finality to the case...have a trial, listen to the evidence ".

Patrick Leahy ( D ). Talking about bi-partisanship out of one side of his mouth and attacking Republicans out of the other side, he chastised the House as " making it's mind up without hearing a single witness ". His DNC spinmeister training was showing, when he repeated the old Whitehouse talking point of a long drawn out trial hurting the nation with, " the concern we have is the length " of a trial. Okay, we all knew he was a Whitehouse lap-dog all along. He is obviously scared for the people to hear witnesses in a Clinton impeachment trial, saying, " It's the Senate's choice as to whether they have a trial or not ". Trying to sugar coat his reliance on the DNC and polliganda, he continued with, we must do " what is the best thing for the country...it is an awesome duty ". The choke chain marks were definately showing on his neck!

*On ' This Week's Geeks ', House managers Charles Canady and Asa Hutchinson were featured. They rehashed old arguements, and were not as interesting as the Senators.

Byron Dorgan ( D ). He couldn't understand why House managers want to call witnesses, when they didn't call any in the House. He supported the preliminary trial and vote proposal saying, " The Senate has the responsibility to convene a trial ". He started to sink into Whitehouse/DNC spinmeister robot mode with, " do these transgressions rise to the level of impeachment " and " the American people have a much better sense of what should happen, than the people in Washington ".

Mitch McConnell ( R ). He wants to " have a vote on the articles...hopefully with a stipulation on the facts ". He continued to opine a short trial with, " No one disputed the Ken Starr report in the House. No one called any witnesses. He ( Clinton ) had the opportunity to put on witnesses in the House and chose not to ". On the standard of proof Senators would use in a trial proceeding, the chairman-elect of the Rules Committee opined, " Senators are free to adopt any standard of proof ". On a motion of censure he said, " Censure should not be mixed with the impeachment process ". On the possibility of Clinton appearing in a Senate trial he said, " that would be up to him, he should have the opportunity ". Finally, when asked about how he would vote, he said that perjury in front of the Grand Jury and obstruction of justice were impeachable offenses.

Mercifully, George Step-on-all-of-us was absent from the Sam and Cokie led round table discussion. We can only hope they didn't renew his contract at ABC!

Man, I really want to see a trial in the Senate. I want there to be no doubt as to how each Senator votes and why. The American people should want to see witnesses cross examined, to put an end to the constant lies coming out of the current resident of the Whitehouse's paid political character assassination team. I really want to see if Betty Currie tries to weasle out of her Grand Jury testimony implicating Clinton in witness tampering. Most importantly, I want to see if Bruce Lindsey takes the fifth, because he can't claim Executive Privilege like he did in front of the Grand Jury!

- Bongo ( Honorary PHDs for all! )