The Divided States of America: The Polarization of United States by Hillary and Bill Clinton

Amos Ajo, Ph.D

America has gone through challenging times such as the civil war and the great depression but through all these challenges America overcame and grew stronger. However, one thing that has happened to America so subtle that most Americans have not taken time understand is the polarization of America by Hillary and Bill Clinton.

The reader must be cautioned here that there has been and will be political differences but what has created the divided states of America by Hillary and Bill Clinton is very unique. It all started by the charges from the investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Originally dealing with the failed land deal years earlier known as Whitewater, Starr, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, expanded his investigation into Clinton's conduct during the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas government employee, Paula Jones. In a sworn deposition for this case, Clinton denied having a "sexual affair" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. At the deposition, the judge ordered a precise legal definition of the term "sexual relations" that Clinton claims to have construed to mean only vaginal intercourse. A much-quoted statement from Clinton's grand jury testimony showed him questioning the precise use of the word "is." Clinton said, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the—if he—if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none that was a completely true statement". Linda Tripp, one of Lewinsky's confidantes, provided Starr with taped phone conversations in which Lewinsky discussed having oral sex with Clinton. Based on these tapes, Starr concluded that Clinton had committed perjury.

After rumors of the scandal reached the news, Clinton publicly stated, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." In his Paula Jones deposition, he swore, "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I've never had an affair with her." Months later, Clinton admitted that his relationship with Lewinsky was "wrong" and "not appropriate." In fact, Clinton engaged in oral sex with Ms. Lewinsky on several occasions.

The House Judiciary Committee conducted no investigations of its own into Clinton's alleged wrongdoing and for impeachment. Republicans were for it, and the Democrats were against it. This was the beginning of the polarization of America. Impeachment proceedings were initiated during the post-election, "lame duck" session of the outgoing 105th Congress. The committee hearings were perfunctory, but the floor debate in the whole House was spirited on both sides. The Speaker-designate Representative Bob Livingston, chosen by the Republican Party Conference to replace outgoing Speaker Newt Gingrich, announced the end of his candidacy for Speaker and his resignation from Congress from the floor of the house after Livingston's own marital infidelity came to light. Livingston, in that same speech, encouraged Clinton to resign as well. Clinton chose to remain in office and encouraged Livingston to reconsider resigning. House manager Henry Hyde's marital infidelity was also revealed during the Clinton impeachment. This was perhaps the worst period in the American history. I call this the worst period because these well respected men and women in the Congress were no longer behaving like human beings. For the most part the goal was to get at each other. The Clinton team went after every Republican with vengeance. Newt Gingrich bright political future was destroyed; Livingston and Henry Hyde were all executed politically.

Upon the passage of H. Res. 611, Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998, by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228-206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221-212 vote). Two other articles of impeachment failed — a second count of perjury in the Jones case (by a 205-229 vote) and one accusing Clinton of abuse of power (by a 148-285 vote). Upon passage of H. Res. 611, Clinton became the first elected U.S. president and the second U.S. president to be impeached, following Andrew Johnson in 1868. For the most part these votes were based on party line. Those voting for impeachment now officially pulled out of the United States and created their state called the Red States. Those who voted against also pulled out the United States and created their states called the Blue States.
In April 1999, about two months after being acquitted by the Senate, Clinton was cited by Federal District Judge Susan Webber Wright for civil contempt of court for his "willful failure" to obey her repeated orders to testify truthfully in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. For this citation, Clinton was assessed a $90,000 fine, and the matter was referred to the Arkansas Supreme Court to see if disciplinary action would be appropriate.[5] In January 2001, on the day before leaving office, Clinton agreed to a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license as part of an agreement with the independent counsel to end the investigation. Based on this suspension, Clinton was automatically suspended from the United States Supreme Court bar, from which he then chose to resign.

Understandably, as a result of the divide or polarization that was created during the impeachment process of Bill Clinton, two nations within a nation were created (Red States and Blue States). Red States and Blue States refer to those states whose residents predominantly vote for the Republican Party or Democratic Party presidential candidates, respectively. The names of these countries within the United States were officially adopted in the mainstream political discussion following the 2000 presidential election. However, the term gained ubiquitous status after the 2004 presidential elections. Since then, usage of the term has been expanded to differentiate between states being perceived as liberal and those perceived as conservatives. A blue state may thereby be any state leaning towards the Democratic ticket while a red state may be any state leaning towards the Republican ticket.

The division between red states and blue states has created feelings of cultural and political polarization, which have gained increased media attention since the 2004 election, have led to increased mutual feelings of alienation and enmity. These attitudes have led to the often jocular suggestion that a red state-blue state secession is in order. The Jesusland map is one such joke, a satirical map that redraws the U.S.-Canada border to reflect this sociopolitical schism. Unless something is done to correct this, it will be too late for America to fight the war on terrorism and be prepared to deal with potential problem from China. The biggest problem America has now is to deal with this divide within. Unfortunately, the way things are going if Hillary Clinton ever became president of the Blue States, it will be almost impossible for America to recover.