Millions of Americans cringed when Starr ladled out far more graphic details than necessary in his Sept. 9 impeachment report. Both in polls and in interviews, the citizenry voiced concern that the spectacle was hurting America's standing in the world, at a time of new perils in Russia and elsewhere. As parents, many Americans also don't want their children exposed to any more salacious material. While Americans recoil, MS-NBC and CNN brag about blips in their ratings. But many Americans now are avoiding all news.
Polls place journalists at the bottom in public respect.
With the polls' coherent message of disgust, Clinton and the Democrats would seem to have little left to lose by forging that populist alliance. But Clinton, Gephardt and Daschle show little fight left in them. They seem to have judged that appeasement is smarter than confrontation. They apparently don't want to take the chance of reaching out to the voters with a comprehensive explanation of what all this ugliness means and the damage it is doing to democracy. Only the Congressional Black Caucus has chosen to stand with the president, out of an instinctive wariness about lynch mobs.