Bill Frist, Tom DeLay Speak Out on Impeachment: "No Man Is Above the Law"

When pursuing impeachment for President Clinton over marital infidelity, Republican members of Congress moralized endlessly over their profound shock at Mr. Clinton's alleged reckless disregard of the law.

Blogger Bulldog Manifesto at liberal blog community DailyKos unearthed some of the more memorable Republican uttterances of that 1990s period....quotes that take on new meaning in light of President Bush's persistent circumvention of the US legal system when the law doesn't suit his political purposes.

Here's a small sampling of Republican leaders feigning moral superiority in the 1990s on impeachment of Bill Clinton. (Take the time to to savor the complete quotes at DailyKos.)

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) : "I will have no part in the creation of a constitutional double-standard to benefit the President. He is not above the law. If an ordinary citizen committed these crimes, he would go to jail."

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE): "....I find that the President abused his sacred power by lying and obstructing justice. How can parents instill values and morality in their children? How can educators teach our children? How can the rule of law for every American be applied equally if we have two standards of justice in America--one for the powerful and the other for the rest of us?"

Rep. James Sensebrenner (R-WI): "What is on trial here is the truth and the rule of law."

And my personal favorite, from indicted and temporarily-deposed Speaker of the House Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX): "This nation sits at a crossroads. One direction points to the higher road of the rule of law. Sometimes hard, sometimes unpleasant, this path relies on truth, justice and the rigorous application of the principle that no man is above the law.....No man is above the law, and no man is below the law. That's the principle that we all hold very dear in this country."

As talk of impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney heats up in 2006, it will be fascinating to see if these conservatives still hold the rule of law in such sacred regard.
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