How Will Media Report Tenth Anniversary of Clinton Impeachment?

Photo of Noel Sheppard.

Ten years ago, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President William Jefferson Clinton.

Ten years later, how will the very media that helped sway public opinion in order to prevent a guilty verdict in the Senate report this anniversary?

As a preview of what we should expect, here's how CNN's Frank Sesno recounted the tawdry details during Thursday's "American Morning" (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That William Jefferson Clinton, president of the United States is impeached for high crimes and Misdemeanors.

FRANK SESNO, CNN (voice-over): It was 10 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perjuries, misleading and untruthful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, this is wrong, wrong, wrong.

SESNO: The impeachment of a president. It had been tawdry and tortured, this becoming this.

W. CLINTON: I did not have sexual relations with that woman -- Miss Lewinsky.

SESNO: But it was really about truth and consequences.

W. CLINTON: I never told anybody to lie. Not a single time. Never. These allegations are false.

SESNO: But they weren't.

Monica Lewinsky, a young White House intern and the president had what was politely called inappropriate contact. He got into trouble for what he told investigators.

W. CLINTON: It depends upon what the meaning of the word is is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence suggests that the president repeatedly used the machinery of government and the powers of his high office to conceal his relationship.

SESNO: The scandal divided the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A nation of laws cannot be ruled by a person who breaks the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When this will mindless cannibalism end? How many good public officials must be destroyed because of their private sins and human imperfections?

SESNO: It paralyzed the presidency and made their private lives and foibles painfully public. It became about survival so the Clintons circled the wagons and went on the offensive.

HILLARY CLINTON, WIFE OF WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON: The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it, is this vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.

SESNO: The impeachment hearings live and graphic detail captured a year of this. The House voted to impeach, but the Senate did not convey. He's worked ever since to reclaim his reputation. She's run the marathon and has gained influence. But there will always be that history. And private lives will always be the quick sand of American politics.

Is this what we can expect today? Is this how the anniversary would be reported if Clinton was a Republican?

Maybe more important, will any media outlet delve into the press's role of misreporting the impeachment as merely about sex in the White House instead of what was truly at the heart of the matter: perjury and the suborning of perjury?

As a potentially humorous aside, will press members notice the delicious irony of this anniversary coming coincident with the death of Deep Throat

Stay tuned.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.


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How will they report it?

As a republican scandal - if at all.

How will they cover it?

Scuba

Funny!

The MSM will not report on this at all.  It would ruin their reputation if they actually printed a factual report on a liberal or Democrat.  

 

"If we conservatives moved to those seven non-existent States, the government couldn’t find us and tax us to death!" 

Deep Throat

What wonderful irony. (Almost said delicious irony)

Perjury, Perjury, Perjury!!!!!

But not to the MSM!

With a B/CDS fabrication of their own...

Let's face it...the MSM wants to do the same to President Bush and Vice-President Cheney...with some kind of trumped up charge on torture and lies. Tough sh*t I say...no one is listening to them.

Ciao,

B.Boccone

"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate." -D.Alighieri

They'll cover it like this:

Today is the 10 year anniversary of a great Republican scandal. President Bill Clinton was attempting to hire an out of work Monica Lewinsky as a cigar delivery person/combination shoe shine lady. As he was packing the cigars and she was giving him a shine, Dick Cheney was spying through the window, while sitting on George Bush's shoulders.

They decided to contact Haliburton's evil spies to maintain surveilance on Ms. Lewinsky and steal the dress she was wearing; turning it over to Donald Rumsfeld who in turn gave it to the United States Marines to soil it at Guantanamo Bay where they have imprisoned all the gay people of San Fransisco.

THAT"S ENOUGH!

cvgbuckeye

OMG! ROFL!
I'm speechless, simply speechless.

In order to be pro-choice, one must first be born. Ah, the irony.

LA Times today - Impeachment anniversary? missing

Reporting from Los Angeles. Quick check of the LA Times today - search results? natta.

(;~> gary  

 

Linda Tripp also fingered Poppy Bush

Clinton accuser LindaTripp also pushed the story that Poppy Bush was cheating on his wife, but for some reason the media declined to investigate that story.

In my opinion, this is where the Right went wrong and hardened many Americans against them.

Are you telling me that you would have impeached George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Rossevelt and John F. Kennedy, amongst others?

Bashing Clinton for having an affair doesn't win the Right any fans, especially now with the recent spate of Repub philanderers and the Foley/Craig types.

Is my memory failing me?

I didn't think he was impeached for having an affair but for lying about it when he was questioned.

Huh?

Huh? At least Foley resigned.

Oxycon

PERJURY!, Suborning PERJURY! resulting in the loss of his license to practice Law!

Oxy..

As most will remind you .. he was impeached for lying under oath. There's a long list of Democratic leaders who were at no loss of words over the disgrace.. for the record.

I might note, he should have been investigated and perhaps impeached for lying about a genocide in Kosovo in his effor to hype up the need for that war (which so many famous world liberal leaders condemned - with the entire press ignoring the outcry). He might have been tried and impeached over James Riady and fellow crooks who spent so much time in the Clinton white house, and who all were convicted and sentenced.

But back to Monica. A young unpaid intern - there, doing volunteer work for the office of the most powerful man in the world - in the people's house. And he was having her do him favors as he did the nation's business - talking on the phone to world leaders, etc. Cigars anyone?

He disgraced the office of the President of the United States.

Clinton lied under

Clinton lied under oath in response to a sexual harrassment lawsuit filed against him by a democrat - Paula Jones. 

The phony and false notion that republicans were "bashing him over an affair" was created by liberals for the specific purpose of covering for Bill while smearing republicans...

You have either fallen for their propaganda or are participating in it.

Revisionist history teacher?

Clinton was impeached for lying under oath in a deposition. Perjury constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor. What made it even worse was that Clinton was a lawyer admitted to the bar of Arkansas. As such he was also an officer of the courts and under oath to uphold all of the laws. Arkansas agrees with me because William Jefferson Clinton was disbarred in Arkansas as a result of the same conduct for which he was impeached.

Having an affair is human (unfortunately). Lying about it is wrong and immoral when confronted. Lying about it under oath is impeachable for any elected office including the President of the US.

Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!

Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012

Friend?

Oxycon: We would assume that you are a friend of Mr. Foley. Oh, and I'm so glad that you are such an expert that "in my opinion, this is where the Right went wrong"

Actually, oxycon, nobody really cares what you think; probably along with your family.

So, Oxy, which government school do you teach in?

I bet you are one of those people who think we went into Iraq because of WMDs too, right?

BTW-WMD means Weapons of Mass Destruction.

-Dave

This nation is about to be brutally raped by the socialists, and the MSM will be a willing participant.

I would think...

the media would mark the anniversary by highlighting the unbelievable coincidence of Monica's recent passing! Oh, wait- that was W. Mark Felt. Sorry...

I doubt we will hear

I doubt we will hear anything at all about Clinton's felony from the MSM, as they are going to be rather busy blowing sunshine up everybody's skirt about the Anointed One, who is going to save us all from the eeeeeeevil W.

As for Deep Throat, I am sure we will hear plenty, as the MSM will never pass on a chance to further urinate upon Nixon's grave.

-Dave

This nation is about to be brutally raped by the socialists, and the MSM will be a willing participant.

Dave

My answer is still the same one I gave to you last year......Clinton was just concerned about Monica's health :-)

In all seriousness, it happened 10 years ago and we can always count on NB to bring us this news every year ;-)

He had my vote

shawn,

ROFL-I had forgotten all about that. 

-Dave

This nation is about to be brutally raped by the socialists, and the MSM will be a willing participant.

You have GOT to be kidding

You know, breastfeeding for a total of 2 years lowers breast cancer chances by over 30%.
I'll stick with that, thanks.
(I waited tables once and got into a conversation about Monica with a couple of the other girls. While on the topic it came out that I was a virgin (in every sense of the word) and one of the girls said "One day you and Jason will get married and men REALLY like that. You're just going to have to"..she paused, looking for the right word, and I said "Suck it up?")
Thought you'd appreciate that story Dave. ;-)

In order to be pro-choice, one must first be born. Ah, the irony.

shawn, are you suggesting

 that we should forget things like presidential impeachments because they happened waaay back 10yrs ago?  granted, slick willy did not end up being impeached...doesn't mean he didn't do anything illegal OR immoral.  hey, your not one of those "hey, OJ was found innocent of murder" guys are you?

"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason"  Ben Franklin

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left

pboy... He was

pboy...

He was Impeached...he wasn't convicted by the gutless Senate.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

sorry bt, i stand

 corrected.  i would still like to know why shawn apparantly thinks it is something to be forgotten since it is such "old" news.

"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason"  Ben Franklin

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left

Hello ppb

I believe OJ was very guilty. I just believe it was no big deal, a far smaller deal than when Reagan told Gorby to "tear down this wall" far smaller deal than the when Reagan was shot, far smaller deal than the Iran Contra hearings.

I do not see annual reminders of any of these events. I am just saying I can count on good ol' NB to remind of this yearly ;-)

He had my vote

sure shawn

 the fact that the previous democrat "the one" was impeached is no big deal.  we'll just forget about it &  let it become a never mentioned tidbit.

"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason"  Ben Franklin

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left

PPB

I'm not saying forget about or mention it. Heck I heard a reference to it daily on NB from either a poster or author until Obama replaced Slick Willy for the object of their affection.

I'm saying it is not worthy of its own anniversery date. Tearing down a wall is bigger  news and job than getting a job :-)

He had my vote

I think the media might be willing to finally pile on WJ Clinton

I think most of the liberal media see Bill Clinton as irrelevant to their current agenda.  As long as it doesn't hurt Hillary, or Democrats in general, I think most of them (including Senso, it appears from the story) are probably ready to throw Bill Clinton under the bus.

Until the Obama election, the Democrats still needed to try to keep the Clinton legacy as untarnished as they could spin it to appear, to preserve the image of an apparently successful Democratic administration.  That consideration has changed, and the media realize it.

I think different liberal reporters will treat this differently, most will finally let the truth through, that Clinton was impeached for the same things for which the Republican leadership had told Nixon he had to resign.  Other reporters will avoid any mention of the historical anniversary, preferring to hold onto their personal vision of Clinton as a great president who fell victim to an unjust Republican attack machine.  I suspect that few reporters will actually go on the air this year to try to continue this "impeached for sex" fabrication.

Of course, in telling what really happened, and posting stories critical of Bill Clinton, the media can provide an appearance of balance, and begin to restore some of the credibility that they sacrificed during the presidential campaign.  That improved credibility, in turn, will allow them to better spin stories in favor of Obama and the congressional Democrats.

   Rover

 

of course

With CIGARS for everyone!

One Last Time

Ok, for the last time, Bill Clinton was NOT impeached, they attempted an impeachment but they were unable to get a 2/3 majority so it failed.   He should have been arrested for lying under oath but of course no one had the balls to slap the cuffs on him.

 

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you"

Wrong

He was impeached.  (emphasis mine)

Articles of Impeachment:

RESOLVED that William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE NAME OF ITSELF AND OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AGAINST WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF ITS IMPEACHMENT AGAINST HIM FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS.

→ Utherpend

It's embarrassing to see someone so emphatically mistaken.

That's gonna leave a mark.  Better put some ice on that.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

I'm confused how the press

I'm confused how the press "misreport[ed] the impeachment as merely about sex in the White House..." when the Congressional hearings and actual impeachment proceedings were completely, comprehensively, and ubiquitously televised.

And, yes, I'll endorse the view which will no doubt rankle most everyone at NewsBusters.  I believe impeachment was inappropriate, unnecessary, and overreaching.  And I say that although I fully believe Clinton's conduct was immoral, reckless, and reprehensible.  Still, it boiled down to evidence of consensual sexual indiscretions which had ended many months before, and Clinton's misguided and legally objectionable efforts to prevent those facts from coming to light in a meritless, politically motivated lawsuit.  A strong Congressional censure coupled with the imposition of serious judicial sanctions would have been proper and sufficient in my opinion.

Jer