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The Right Thing To Do
By Tim Siggia
January 13, 2004
The crimes and misdemeanors which get elected officials in trouble are often in and of themselves inconsequential. It's the attempts to cover them up which when, exposed to the light of day, tend to end political careers. So it is with the governorship of John Grosvenor Rowland. Had Mr. Rowland come clean from the beginning about having accepted gifts from contractors employed by the state, most reasonable Connecticut residents would have forgiven him. It was the fact that he lied about these transgressions that sparked the outrage among Connecticut citizenry, and prompted calls for his resignation.
Most promient Democrats have joined the chorus in calling upon Gov. Rowland to resign his office, and impeachment is being seriously considered. Republican Congressman Rob Simmons has now added his voice to those growing numbers of both Republicans and Democrats asking Mr. Rowland to step down.
Overall, John Rowland has been a good governor, perhaps not as conservative as some would have liked, definitely not as liberal as most Democrats would have been. If not one of the best in terms of competence and fiscal responsibility, he was certainly not one of the worst, either. His stewardship on the whole has been average, good enough to get him elected to three consecutive terms. But then came the scandals.
It is all reminiscent of the Nixon and Clinton presidencies, and how two different presidents reacted to essentially the same situation, that is, scandal in office deemed serious enough to warrant impeachment. Initially, both adamantly vowed never to resign. As the evidence against him mounted, however, Richard Nixon finally realized, after a visit from a cadre of Republican senators, that he faced certain impeachment and removal from office if he remained. At long last, Mr. Nixon swallowed the bitter pill, and did the right thing: he put the good of his country ahead of his own ego and desire for power, and resigned the presidency.
Bill Clinton, on the other hand, refused to step down despite calls to do so from media all over the country, including our own Hartford Courant. Even after the overwhelming evidence of Clinton's misconduct in office produced by Kenneth Starr's investigation, Mr. Clinton would not relinquish his office, thus forcing the hand of his Republican accusers and making impeachment necessary. Predictably, the Senate acquitted him, but Clinton's presidency was an impotent one from that time forward, and ended most ignobly in the "Pardongate" scandal.
Mr. Rowland, already being called "Connecticut's Clinton" in more than a few quarters, should follow the example of Richard Nixon. He has lost the trust and confidence of Connecticut, and can accomplish nothing positive by remaining in office any longer. His transgressions, however seemingly minor at the outset, can no longer be excused by the old political saw, "Everybody does it, he just got caught." Lying about those transgressions is neither a Republican nor a Democratic matter, but rather, one that calls for active accountability, not mere rhetoric. By remaining in office, Mr. Rowland does a disservice to his state, his party, and himself. It is time for John Rowland to do the right thing, and exit the stage.
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