By DAVE HAMRICK
Editor-at-large

A majority of Americans don't want President Clinton impeached even if he lied under oath about Monica Lewinsky.

It's a perfect example of what can be learned from polls... often nothing.

Clinton apologists in the national news media keep repeating such polls as proof that the American people are behind the president and approve of his performance.

If you put the question that way, I would be among the majority saying the president shouldn't be impeached. You certainly couldn't conclude from that statement that I am a supporter of the president. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There's a big IF involved. IF that's all there is. As the old song goes, "If that's all there is, then let's keep dancing."

There are steps Congress can and should take if the investigation shows beyond reasonable doubt that the president had a dalliance with a young intern. Reprimand or censure won't really punish him, but these steps would at least state the sense of Congress and the nation that presidents shouldn't fool around with employees and interns.

I know many of you want more than that. But let's look at the situation in the cold light of reality.

In reality, it's true that any corporate CEO in his place would probably face dismissal. But it's also true that the president is not hired by a board of directors that can have a quick meeting in the dead of night and fire him.

He is hired by the American people, and dismissing him is a painful public process that requires Congress to consider the severity of the crime.

If at some point in the process of investigation there is proof that Lewinsky is telling the truth, Clinton will go before us on television and apologize. He will say that he lied to protect his family, and he will ask our forgiveness.

Those of us who have always resented this president's cynicism and his view of the American people as just so many suckers to be fleeced in the carnival of life will find in that confession one more reason to be angry. But is it enough to make him the second president in history to be impeached? (The first was Andrew Johnson; he was impeached in the House but escaped conviction in the Senate by one vote.)

Take a mental journey back through history and I think the answer to that will be obvious.

True, lying under oath is perjury and it's against the law. But we can't show that lying in a civil trial about a personal matter has done great harm to the country.

This does not mean that Clinton is out of the woods when it comes to impeachment.

With the attention of the national media focused so tightly on the stains on Monica's dress, we forget that there are much broader issues that will be included in special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's report. The Lewinsky matter is a minor one, and if it's all Starr has, then this investigation has been a hollow one indeed.

Let's not forget that there is ample evidence that this president has used the power of public office to reward his friends and punish his enemies, and that Clinton, the First Lady or both were up to their elbows in illegal real estate deals. We don't have the final report on this, and it may not include proof of direct involvement, but it is certain to be damning.

Next, we have admitted violations of campaign laws. Starr's report will reveal more about the extent of those violations, but we know the president and others in his administration willfully violated those laws because they have not denied it. Instead, they keep calling for the writing of new laws to divert our attention from the fact that they violated the old ones.

We also know that the president took illegal campaign contributions from the Chinese and then turned over lethal nuclear technology to them, creating a direct threat to American security. I'm not sure we shouldn't be talking about a trial for treason on that one, not just impeachment.

I have heard and read enough to satisfy me that all of the above, plus more, is true. Whether Starr has sufficient proof to satisfy the requirements of impeachment is another matter. I don't know.

We'll all know more when the final report is released. May it be soon.