The Story That Wasn't

Clinton impeachment was retaliation for Nixon, says retiring congressman

This is the headline of a story detailing an interview with Henry Hyde on the website of ABC7 Chicago.

It certainly got my attention, which it was meant to do. However, upon reading the article, one discovers just how misleading the headline is.

By Andy Shaw
April 21, 2005 — Republican Congressman Henry Hyde made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton. He now says Republicans MAY have gone after Clinton to retaliate for the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Hyde is stepping down after this term.

Hyde's comments came as he talked with ABC7 political reporter Andy Shaw about his 30 year in Congress.

In an exclusive interview, Hyde delivered a big dose of candor and some reflective second guessing. He said, among other things, he might not try to impeach President Clinton if he had it to do all over again...

When asked if he would go through with the Clinton impeachment process again, Hyde said he wasn't sure. It turned into a personal and political embarrassment for Hyde when an extra-marital affair he had in the 1960's became public amid accusations of hypocrisy. He called the affair a youthful indiscretion.

"Accusations hurled at me to intimidate me were misplaced, and I regret having to deal with them, but they didn't intimidate me," Hyde said.

The veteran DuPage County congressman acknowledged that Republicans went after Clinton in part to enact revenge against the Democrats for impeaching 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.

Hyde's comments reflect what Democrats have been saying for years about the Clinton impeachment. It will be interesting to see what happens when Hyde's comments hit the national media.

Hyde's style will be missed in Washington, as well as his sense of civility, even though a lot of people will not miss his rigid ideology.
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Excuse me?

Hyde's words are being twisted. They don't reflect what Dems have been saying for years, that Clinton's impeachment was a "vast right wing conspiracy." He didn't say that.

While Hyde says it MAY have been done in retaliation for Nixon, he believed the Republican party had to take a stand and should not shirk its duty and responsiblity. I take his comments to mean he considers Clinton's impeachment to be about much more than revenge.

At NO time did Hyde say that the "Clinton impeachment WAS retaliation for Nixon," as the headline states.

Words have meaning. Shaw is misconstruing Hyde's words. Although Shaw is working from an ABC affiliate, he appears to be using the CBS method when it comes to CREATING a story.

Do you think Andy Shaw has a shrine to Jayson Blair in his home?