Editorial: Just who is behaving partisan here after all?

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, says that Sen. Richard Bryan and five other Democrats are acting partisan in President Clinton's impeachment trial. McConnell notes that Bryan, a Nevada Democrat, opposed the calling of witnesses in Clinton's trial, but favored the Senate calling witnesses when Bryan sought to have Sen. Bob Packwood, an Oregon Republican, removed from office.

But this is comparing apples to oranges. As Bryan pointed out Wednesday, outside of the Ethics Committee he was chairing at the time, the Senate didn't know the facts regarding the charges against Packwood. In contrast, a full record has been developed against Clinton, precluding the need for witnesses.

All some Republican senators are trying to do now is establish a smoke screen in an effort to distract attention from the fact that they are prolonging the impeachment trial. Despite McConnell's claim, ironically it is some Senate Republicans who are letting themselves be the dupes of the House managers, who brought partisanship to a new level during their proceedings against the president.