Republican legislators, as a rule, generally oppose assisted suicide. So why they are, along straight party lines, pursuing impeachment charges in the House of Representatives against William Jefferson Clinton, is anyone's guess. It's political death.

The U.S. public's mind seems fairly clearly made up on the issue of Clinton's trangsgressions. With the exception of the vocal minority that has always, and somewhat inexplicably, given his conservatism, viewed Clinton as the anti-Christ, few care enough about Clinton's misdeeds to want him out of office on perjury grounds. There are, mind you, plenty of reasons to turn the guy out of office for his personal or political behavior--but lying is commonly and correctly assumed by most folks to be a job requirement for a U.S. President, something Clinton, Bush, Reagan, and each of their predecessors did as naturally and unthinkingly as breathing. It's despicable, but hardly an impeachable offense--especially on an issue that had nothing to do with Clinton's daily responsibilities as leader of the capitalist universe.

Reaction to last week's Judiciary Committee recommendations for impeachment was fairly predictable--lots of ordinary folks, sick of the whole dismal affair, can't believe these ****ers are dragging it out still further. For once, media coverage reflected the popular sentiment--for all of the warbling about this "historic moment," surprisingly few column inches and camera minutes were devoted to it. The salacious details and cigar jokes exhausted, there is nothing left but partisan political bickering, which most folks hate passionately. And it's breathtakingly obvious that such positioning--not decorous statements about honoring the rule of law--are at the heart of this matter.

Put bluntly, we're in all probability stuck with this story for months to come, and it's going to piss people off. It's also going to permanently alienate a lot of folks from politics, which cannot be good for the democratic process that impeachment is supposed be the last resort to protect.

Once pissed off, who are they going to blame? Either all politicians as a class, or the Republicans specifically. Not that the Democrats are likely to benefit much from this hara-kiri; under Clinton's influence, they've spent most of the '90s so busy trying to be moderate Republicans that they don't stand for anything in particular. Otherwise they might be able to take advantage of 1999, which is likely to see an awful lot of popular anger over a protracted, pointless, and ultimately destructive effort to bring down a lame duck President. As with any circus, the important thing to remember is to keep an eye on the side shows: schemes like privatizing Social Security stand a good chance of slipping by a populace that's distracted and alienated by the daily headlines from D.C.