| THE SARGENT, THE COMMANDER-IN CHIEF AND THE SCALES OF
JUSTICE © 1998 Joe Murray "The king is not above the law" has been a foundation of our legal system that predates the beginning of our nation. Since at least the Middle Ages, our English forefathers followed this principle and it was passed down to America from the time the first settlers landed at Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. One of the reasons for the American Revolution was that the patriots felt that King George the III was ignoring there rights and placing himself above the law. Russell Kirk, in his book The Roots of the American Order, describes our belief in the primacy of law. "The law is not merely the creation of kings and parliaments, but rather the source of their authority. At heart, the law is the expression of natural justice and the ancient ways of a people." (Kirk, 184) Another phrase that we all know says that "justice is blind." This proved to be true in 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency when it became clear that he had violated the law and would be impeached. Less than a quarter of a decade later, I don’t know that America still believes that no one is above the law. If one looks objectively at the difference between the way the law and public opinion is treating the Commander-in Chief versus the Sergeant Major of the Army, one can not logically come to any other conclusion. President Clinton has been accused of committing adultery, improper sexual advances, lying, perjury, obstruction of justice and subordination of perjury. What happens? His popularity increases and the officials investigating the allegations are attacked and falsely accused of some mysterious politically motivated "X Files" conspiracy to get the president. It is irrelevant that there is no evidence of any questionable activity except by the president or his aids. In fact, other than Ken Starr himself, most of the investigators are members of the president’s own political party. Then there is Sargent Major Gene McKinney. He was the highest ranking non-commissioned officer in United States Army until he was accused of making improper sexual advances. He was relieved of his duty and the trial to court martial him began this week. He faces 19 charges that range from indecent assault and adultery to obstructing justice. If convicted, he could receive up to 55 years in prison. What makes the difference? Bill Clinton is a good old boy southern white boy. McKinney is black. Bill Clinton apparently is more persuasive because only one accuser that we know about rejected his advances while McKinney had several who objected. Also, as McKinney’s commander and chief, Bill Clinton decided to make the army the example of political correctness and social tinkering. Soldiers are being held to a higher standard than the rest of society or to at least those that reside in Washington D.C. In addition, Bill Clinton is the most powerful man in the world so he can always wag that old dog, Saddam Hussein, and have a little war to divert attention away from his problems at home. The reality is that there is very little difference as to the substance of the allegations against either Sargent Major McKinney or Commander-in Chief Bill Clinton. However, it seems that a majority of people don’t care anymore about justice or morality. As long as the Dow Jones keeps rising, Many are perfectly willing to abdicate our power and responsibility as free citizens and allow Bill Clinton to place himself above the law no matter what arose between him, Paula Jones or Monica Lewinsky. If we learned anything from Watergate, it is that our principles of law, justice and government are bigger than one person. It caused a lot of pain and bitterness, but we remained a strong nation because we held true to the ideas and traditions that lead us to greatness. Our wealth comes from the freedom that we enjoy because we have a limited government that places law ahead of the desires of one individual and the balance in our checkbook. It is time to wake up to the facts and demand that everyone including the president abide by the law. The scales of justice should give equal weight to both a Sargent and the Commander-in Chief.
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