# Henry Hyde: Clinton impeachment was payback for Nixon's **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 22, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600 "2005-04-22T14:41:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/1 "2005-04-22T14:41:45Z")
[Retirement frees one to tell the truth, apparently](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/042105_ns_hyde.html). Rep. Henry Hyde, chair of the committee that pressed the Clinton impeachment to the great embarrassment of themselves and the nation, acknowledges that the effort was at least in part simple payback for Nixon’s. > [@](#): > > The veteran DuPage County congressman acknowledged that Republicans went after Clinton in part to enact revenge against the Democrats for President Richard Nixon 25 years earlier. > > Andy Shaw asked Hyde if the Clinton proceedings were payback for Nixon’s impeachment. > > “I can’t say it wasn’t, but I also thought that the Republican party should stand for something, and if we walked away from this, no matter how difficult, we could be accused of shirking our duty, our responsibility,” said Hyde. What is it you thought your party \*was \* standing for, incidentally? Not sexual morality, obviously, not with your own marriage-wrecking “youthful indiscretion” of your forties, of course. And what’s this about not being able to walk away? Was it like the Kaiser claiming to be unable to stop the execution of the Schlieffen Plan once it started? Right, Henry. The totally bipartisan 1973 effort (when Cecil’s Fight Against Ignorance officially began here, btw) to investigate a systematic attempt to undermine the Constitution, use tools of the government to punish political opponents, and stonewall investigations was in fact simple partisan spite, totally comparable to humiliation over publicizing a blowjob. We can expect to see Hyde “clarify” his comments at about the same time DeLay does. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/2 "2005-04-22T14:48:20Z")
Uhh…Nixon was **not** impeached. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/3 "2005-04-22T14:53:05Z")
That’s a silly quibble, Biffy. The House Judiciary Committee held hearings and voted to recommend impeachment to the full House. Nixon did resign before the process could go to completion, but it’s the process under discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/4 "2005-04-22T14:54:49Z")
Um hum. You are aware, of course, that Clinton did all of those things as well. He stonewalled investigations and used agents of the government to punish political opponents and accusers. So why should he have escaped sanction for crimes similar in many ways to Nixon’s? Look, I have maintained for a long time here that Clinton’s sexual behavior in the Oval Office was unseemly but not criminal to the degree that it warranted impeachment. These associated matters, though, were far and away worse, and had to be answered for somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/5 "2005-04-22T14:57:49Z")
That article no longer exists, **Elvis**. And google turns up no other news stories with the relevant quote. From the quoted text, the closest it gets to Hyde saying it was payback is him saying, “I can’t say it wasn’t.” That’s hardly the same as an admission; it sounds to me as if he’s saying (PARAPHRASED!), “Some people may have done it as payback; I can’t say they didn’t. However, for me, it was a matter of fulfilling my duty and responsibility.” While I think his leading of the impeachment charge was horribly wrongheaded and foolish–especially for someone who so strenuously objected to investigating Reagan for the assistance he offered to Central American terrorists–this latest quote doesn’t seem like that big a deal. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/6 "2005-04-22T15:08:32Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > You are aware, of course, that Clinton did all of those things as well. He stonewalled investigations and used agents of the government to punish political opponents and accusers. I am aware, of course, that those memes were spread as gospel by the righties desperate to draw the same equivalence that Hyde is. Unfortunately they are not grounded in fact. Someday you might realize that. > [@](#): > > These associated matters, though, were far and away worse, and had to be answered for somehow. Perhaps there might have been some evidence presented to support those allegations, then. Oddly enough, there wasn’t. Hmm, thinkthinkthink … The article was there when I posted, **LHOD**. Let’s hold on and see if it was just another distortion by the liberal media, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/7 "2005-04-22T15:11:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The article was there when I posted, **LHOD**. Let’s hold on and see if it was just another distortion by the liberal media, huh? I’m certain it was–I’m not at all saying you’re making the article up. (FWIW, Google News points to the same page as you pointed to for the article). My WAG is that the article got taken down for a retooling of the sections you quoted, as Hyde’s words don’t seem to be reflected either in the headline or in the paragraph immediately preceding them. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/8 "2005-04-22T15:13:53Z")
Oh, they’re reflected all right - if he could have said “it wasn’t”, he wouldn’t have said “I can’t say it wasn’t”. Perhaps you could theorize for us what you think he thought his responsibility _was_? I agree the article is probably being reworked to tone down the commentary, but not to revise the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/9 "2005-04-22T15:19:56Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Oh, they’re reflected all right - if he could have said “it wasn’t”, he wouldn’t have said “I can’t say it wasn’t”. Perhaps you could theorize for us what you think he thought his responsibility _was_? Indeed. Not, however, having an accurate knowledge of the thoughts of every person who voted for impeachment, he couldn’t have said, “it wasn’t.” As for what he thought his responsibility **was** , I imagine he thought one of two things: 1. The honest, but absurd, idea that Clinton’s lying under oath (or at least gross distortion under oath) warranted his removal from office; or 2. The dishonest, but less absurd, idea that Clinton’s other skeevy dealings should lead to his removal from office, and that the trivial lie under oath would provide the means to accomplish this goal. (This, as I read it, seems to be **Mr. Moto’s** position). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/10 "2005-04-22T16:39:24Z")
I’m just glad he won’t be my congressman anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/11 "2005-04-22T16:53:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > That’s a silly quibble, Biffy. Nonetheless, it has now been corrected in the ABC article. It’s back online, and it has indeed been toned down (for example, it now says “ **may have been** in part political revenge…”). My quibble was not with the notion of Clinton’s impeachment being tit for tat, but with ABC’s reference to “Nixon’s impeachment,” which makes as much sense as referring to LBJ’s defeat in the 1968 election. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/12 "2005-04-22T17:32:24Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Uhh…Nixon was **not** impeached. What Nixon did easily eclipses lying about a consentual blowjob. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/13 "2005-04-22T17:45:49Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Um hum. > > You are aware, of course, that Clinton did all of those things as well. He stonewalled investigations and used agents of the government to punish political opponents and accusers. um…how about some cites for these ridiculous allegations. Especially for your accusation that Clinton “used agents of the government to to punish political enemies.” I think you’re confusing right wing radio demagoguery with historical facts. > [@](#): > > So why should he have escaped sanction for crimes similar in many ways to Nixon’s? What crimes? Be specific. What criminal laws were broken by Clinton? > [@](#): > > Look, I have maintained for a long time here that Clinton’s sexual behavior in the Oval Office was unseemly but not criminal to the degree that it warranted impeachment. These associated matters, though, were far and away worse, and had to be answered for somehow. You haven’t demonstrated that any “associated matters” existed. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/14 "2005-04-22T17:56:23Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > He stonewalled investigations and used agents of the government to punish political opponents and accusers. > > These associated matters, though, were far and away worse, and had to be answered for somehow. I do hope you’re going to fill us in someday on what those things you thing he did might actually have been - without getting into the drug-running and death list stuff, that is - I hope. Naturally even as loyal a partisan as you couldn’t have been fooled into swallowing a smear campaign so wholely that you still believe it today. Just couldn’t be. Right? The updated article does not change the Hyde quote at all, btw. Comments about that here are as valid as ever. He should get its own chapter in the next edition of _Profiles in Courage_, shouldn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/15 "2005-04-22T18:01:53Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > What Nixon did easily eclipses lying about a consentual blowjob. I hope you’re not expecting me to dispute this. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/16 "2005-04-22T18:43:17Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > I hope you’re not expecting me to dispute this. Don’t worry, I’m sure **Mr. Moto** will gladly step up to the plate for that one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/17 "2005-04-22T19:35:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > …Henry Hyde…acknowledges that the effort was at least in part simple payback for Nixon’s… > [@](#): > > Andy Shaw asked Hyde if the Clinton proceedings were payback for Nixon’s impeachment. > > “I can’t say it wasn’t”…said Hyde Nitpick: Blowjob or not, Hyde didn’t acknowledge a thing - Except that he couldn’t read the minds of his 200+ House GOP colleagues. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/18 "2005-04-22T19:41:13Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > What Nixon did easily eclipses lying about a consentual blowjob. Yes it does, but while murder eclipses perjury they are still both crimes with penalties. Perjury is a felony. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/19 "2005-04-22T19:41:55Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Uhh…Nixon was **not** impeached. Drawing on memories from over 30 years ago, the House committee, in a bipartisan vote approved the articles of impeachment and sent it to the House floor for a vote. Nixon resigned before the full house could vote on it. With Pres. Clinton’s impeachment, the vote in the House committee was along party lines. So was the vote for impeachment in the full House. The point of this being that Nixon’s impending impeachment was seen by all sides as an actual abuse of power by the president, not political spite. The impeachment of Clinton still looks like partisan politics, years after the event. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600/20 "2005-04-22T19:44:57Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Yes it does, but while murder eclipses perjury they are still both crimes with penalties. Perjury is a felony. That should be “murder, for example…”. I don’t want to get into whether Nixon had people killed. Although, now that I think about it, Nixon was going to win the election anyway, so as crimes go both were simple obstruction of justice, although Nixon never lied under oath. So really, Clinton’s was worse than Nixon’s crimes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-hyde-clinton-impeachment-was-payback-for-nixons/300600.md?page=2)