Impeachment Proceedings

* Bruce J. Schulman (“Forget the Founding Fathers, Lower the Bar on Impeachment,” Opinion, Jan. 3) is engaging in sophistry to suggest that it should be made easier to impeach sinning presidents. If we lower the standard on impeachment to get rid of presidents who, according to Schulman, have lost “the authority” and “the influence to govern effectively,” what’s to stop Congress from getting rid of political opponents by declaring that they no longer have Congress’ confidence and then start looking for evidence to justify their declaration. Isn’t this basically what has happened to President Clinton?

Not only would this not strengthen the republic as Schulman claims, but polarizing the two parties would immobilize government. Contrary to Schulman’s opinion, the founding fathers got it exactly right. They understood that lowering the bar on impeachment would invite anarchy.

BAILLIE KRIVEL

Rancho Mirage

* Schulman’s argument that the Republican House was trying to make government more responsive to the American people by ignoring the explicit wishes of 66% of those same people is both absurd and obtuse. And it reminded me of the logic of the unnamed U.S. officer who explained he was required to burn the village in order to save it. That logic produced an endless war.

And Schulman’s argument has produced the endless investigation and now the endless impeachment.

KIMIT A. MUSTON

North Hollywood

* Neal Gabler (“The Deconstruction of Clinton,” Opinion, Jan. 3) is quite right about the seriousness of the implications of deconstruction. Left to their own devices, these people and other relativists will cheat us of the certainty of meaning of language, then law and finally, reality itself. We deserve better. We need to know that the plain, simple meanings of contracts, promises, law and basic morality will be there when we need their protections. We cannot allow ourselves to be robbed of truth by an eloquent argument that these things have changed because the world has changed.

RICK SMETS

West Hollywood

* There are few problems the most expensive legislative body in the world can’t render into a crisis by just legislating, and one positive unintended consequence of extended impeachment proceedings in Congress could be that of diminished legislation by Congress.

BERNARD BOURDON

San Diego