Yesterday morning, the choreographed circus came to an end. Five Republican weaklings were apparently either so frightened of King Willie's tirade against Republicans the day before or so afraid of the disapproval of their constituencies that they bent the knee to the Liar-in-Chief (including Arlen Specter's 'non-vote'; leave it to a Senator to come up with a 'none of the above' answer). Another five at least gave the nod to Clinton's guilt by voting Guilty on Article II after voting Not Guilty on Article I. At least there are only five Republicans who are duplicitous in the Democrats' successful attack on the Constitution.

In full lockstep, every Democratic Senator voted Not Guilty on both Articles. Not that that was any great surprise; you could tell from the beginning of the House Judiciary Committee hearings that this was the way it'd be. Democrats have trashed any possible appearance of morality that their party might have had; the quality of Democrat hot air after the votes gave off a decidedly putrid stink. You expect people like Tom Harkin to throw more lies in the face of the people; but then again, it looks like you'll have to expect that from every Democrass in Congress.

Meanwhile, back at the Oval Office, Slick Willie was just getting out of his chair after a particularly satisfying interlude with the new Intern of the Week to make his statement to the American people. He was in such a mellow mood that he expressed his regret at what he's done (but, of course, he never broke the law, or so he has said, according to various media sources). And he wants Americans (including those in Washington) to just pitch back in and support him again.

Well, there are people that that line won't work on. Chris Cannon is one of them; he expressed his own anger at the childish antics of the First Defendant the day before, when he and his advisers broadcast the Democrassic Jihad against all things GOP. 'OK, Mr. president. We'll work with you, we'll be as cooperative as your Democrass trained attack dogs. And we'll do it with the knowledge that you're planning on campaigning heavily against certain Republicans because they stood up for the right.' Sure. And pigs will fly.

"This can be and this must be a time of reconciliation and renewal for America," Slick Willie says. Must it? I don't think so. You've just introduced a schism into American society that you will never understand. You have singlehandedly managed to cause serious erosion of the moral base of the American public, not to mention stuffed cement overshoes onto future sexual harassment cases, and encouraged perjury and/or obstruction of justice. And all of this was with the duplicitous politicking of Democratic Congressmen, from Maxine Waters to Jerrold Nadler to Tom Harkin and Barbara Boxer. There will be no reconciliation or renewal until you're out of office. Period.

You're already known as a man who frequently doesn't keep his promises and flies into towering rages (witness the eleventh-hour attack on the House managers in particular). Do you really think that it's all over? Uh-uh, baby. You have not yet begun to pay, King Willie. But you will. Why would you possibly expect a single Republican to buy your line, even if Trent Lott, of all people, seemed to accept this by his statement to the media following the impeachment vote? 'Business as usual' will never be usual again.

No one will ever forget the slimy tactics you and your attack dogs have used, or that no one will ever again be able to trust a word that you say. Your foreign policy, a sorry joke over the last year, is now nonexistent. Now you'll turn your attention to converting the U.S. even more into a Marxist state with your plan to trample on the stock market by funneling Social Security funds into it. It's a damned good thing that you alienated so many Republicans; you've pretty much guaranteed yourself a lame-duck future for what's left of your administration.

-The Watcher (The Constitution of the United States is on life support.)