The State of the Union Speech Must Go On

WASHINGTON: For the second year in a row, Bill Clinton has decided that his show must go on. "The President looks forward to delivering the State of the Union address on January 19," said White House spokesman James Kennedy on Sunday, "and we have no intention of being diverted from addressing the issues that are important to the country." But Republicans and Democrats -- who were already squabbling over witnesses Sunday, just two days after their 100-0 love-in -- both warned, as New York's Sen. Chuck Schumer did, that Clinton would find himself before "partisan cheering sections, one side and another, overdoing it on both sides."

If Congress can't behave itself, that'll be just fine with Clinton; he knows whom the public will blame. Hyde knows too -- mindful that Democrat Tom Harkin already thinks their case is "a pile of dung," House managers are already promising to wrap up its opening arguments in eight to 10 hours instead of 24, hopeful to leave the jury wanting more instead of less. The White House shouldn't take much longer. In a formal response Monday to the Senate summons, the White House categorically denied that the charges rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, and say the President is in any event innocent of all charges. Wrong, responded House prosecutors late in the day with a note that said "Perjury warrants conviction and removal," and the lines are once more drawn. According to the Senate's recently firmed-up schedule, January 19 was to be the start of the President's defense. Now the speech could come considerably earlier in the trial –- an excellent time to remind those senators on jury duty that voting to hear from witnesses could add unpopular months to the impeachment saga.