Will the popularity of a most gifted president alter the very principles upon which this nation was founded? Has black and white and right and wrong succumbed to the grey haze of popular opinion?

It matters not how good a job we might think our president is doing. It matters not how intelligent he is. It matters not how contrite and repentant he is for past wrongs.

The fact is that President Clinton lied under oath before a grand jury. He has even failed to uphold is own oath of office.

What matters is that our children and their children will learn of the events revolving around President Clinton's "improper conduct" and decide:

1. You can do anything and get away with it, if you are smart enough and powerful enough to distort the truth or avoid telling the truth about your act/s or lack of action.OR

2. No one is above the law...

I have been more than impressed with President Clinton's apparent contrition and his recent efforts to finally put his family first. And it is amazing how he continues to go about the business of the nation and the world while under such personal stress. More than once I have been reminded of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" as I have watched this leader in past weeks and months. Perhaps he will be a man to be admired one day, a good man.

But, he is not there yet.

Today, he is a man who has done wrong and if popular opinion dictates the punishment, there will be none. Popular opinion would have us forget the laws of the land, and of God. Popular opinion supports the cover-up of truth, the distortion of it, even the attempted eradication of it.

Have our consciences become so dulled? Do we just grow bored too quickly? Why is there such eagerness for this issue to be behind us? Perhaps it is hitting too close to home. Maybe there are things/acts in all of our lives that we would not want exposed. Maybe we want to forgive him and get on with the business of living, with hope that, when it is our turn, we too will be forgiven.

Oh, well, forgiveness is one thing. Punishment is quite another.

What would happen to us if we forgave our children for every wrong they do and never punished them? It all comes back to the children, doesn't it. This country is in moral upheaval. Sin is largely without definition in many circles. Can the children see in black and white anymore? It's strange how so many issues facing America in recent decades have all come down to black and white versus grey.

God help us... I pray that our leaders in Congress will rise above the tide of popular opinion and do what is right again. Too many issues have become grey in this land and around the world. Too often we seek the easy way out.

President Clinton's refusal to resign from office is forcing this nation to