"William J. Clinton, perhaps the most selfish man ever to disgrace our presidency, will not resign. I therefore risk my commission, as our generals will not, to urge this of Congress: Remove this stain from our White House. Banish him from further office . . . do your duty."
The above quote is the concluding paragraph of an article that appeared on the editorial pages of The Washington Times on Nov. 9 under the headline, "Please, impeach my commander in chief."I don't know Daniel J. Rabil, a major in the Marine Corps Reserve, who is the author of those words. He obviously is courageous. As a military man, publicly calling for the removal of your commander in chief is career suicide.
That's evident by a footnote accompanying his story: "Maj. Rabil is now under investigation for advocating the impeachment of President Clinton in this article." (Rabil's article is reprinted below with permission from the Washington Times.)
What led him to take this bold yet precarious step?
That was one of the questions I posed to Rabil, who resides in Chandler, Ariz., during a phone interview.
"It seemed like the right thing to do. I thought about it for a long time. I hoped it would put some people on the spot, particularly in Congress. I think what's going on in the White House now is a dis-grace."
Unfortunately, based on the initial sessions of the House Judiciary Committee inquiry, Congress seems to be more interested in political expediency than principle.
Despite Congress' lack of resolve, Rabil has no regrets about what he did, even though one day after his article appeared he was contacted by his superiors and is now the subject of an inquiry. Punishment could range from nothing to a court martial.
"I didn't want to look back 20 years from now and realize I didn't do anything when I knew how bad things were," he said.
While Rabil hopes a high-ranking military official - "somebody who has a little more presence than a reserve major in Phoenix" - will take a similar stand, he is hardly alone in his distasteful feelings for Clinton. Such sentiments are widespread in the military.
In a letter to the editor supporting Rabil, Russ Hummel, who retired from the Army in September after 26 years as a commissioned officer, states:
"I have never seen the morale of the Army as low as it is today . . . During my last assignment, I knew of only one officer among a hundred who did not openly hold the president in utter contempt . . . I could have stayed a few more years (in the Army), but I refused to serve another day under a man who has sold our security to the highest bidder, who has no concept of U.S. sovereignty, who habitually brings dishonor to the office of commander and chief. . . ."
As reported in the Nov. 18 issue of USA Today, another Marine, Maj. Shane Sellers, zinged the president in a Navy Times column headlined "Time to send Clinton to the Showers."
Sellers urged Congress to "Hold Clinton accountable to the law he swore to uphold and defend - then quickly punish him." (What is it about the Marine Corps? It was yet another Marine, Scott Ritter, who resigned his post in disgust as a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq.)
In October, I wrote a column about visiting the Ronald Reagan Pres-idential Library, praising Reagan for getting America to stand tall again. Shortly thereafter, I received this e-mail from a retired Air Force officer, John Stone, who lives in Utah County:
"He (Clinton) should resign. Ronald Reagan made me and all of us proud of who we were. He has the core values that not only the kids of today can look up to, but the rest of us.
"I am retired Air Force and Ronald Reagan was one of my several commanders in chief during a 20-year career. I went to serve in foreign nations knowing I had a rock solid moral president who wouldn't let me down. I am still proud of my country, but recent presidential hi-jinks have left a void."
It's those hi-jinks (low-jinks?) that have left a void in a lot of people, in-cluding Rabil, who attended the University of North Carolina the same time as Michael Jordan and was on active duty in the Marine Corps from 1986 to 1990.
Rabil also longs for the days of a commander in chief he can respect. "I felt strongly compelled to write to Mr. Reagan a few months ago and had the subsequent honor of meeting him in L.A. in September. Even hampered by Alz-heimer's, the man radiates more character in a two-minute photo session than Mr. Clinton will in his entire lifetime."
Rabil's message may not be resonating in the corridors of Congress, but it is in the hallways of many Americans.
Tod Lindberg, editorial page editor of the Washington Times, said, "I know of no piece that has generated anything like the am-ount of response as Maj. Rabil's article. It's virtually all sup-portive."
The Arizona Republic reprinted Rabil's article last week. The day it ran, Rabil got 40 phone calls.
He had the courage to say what a lot of people both in and out of the military are thinking.
Major, from afar, I salute you.