On October 7, a delegation of freshmen House members came to see me in the White House. Once again, we met in the Yellow Oval Room as sunlight streamed through the windows. They were worried that the Republicans would force an impeachment vote before the midterm election. I gave the best pep talk I could. "We can't let them hound the President out of office," I said. "Not like this. You're members of Congress. Your job is to protect the Constitution and do what's right for the country. So let's walk through this."
10月7号,白宫实习生代表团来白宫见我。再一次,当阳光透过窗户静静流淌的时候,我和他们来到了黄色椭圆厅。他们担心共和党会在中期选举之前强制进行一次弹劾投票。我尽可能给他们讲了一段鼓气的话,我说,“我们不能看着他们用这种方式把总统逼下台,你们是国会的一部分,你们的工作就是保护宪法的权威,做对这个国家有益的事情。所以,让我们齐心协力走过这次难关。”
The consensus among Democrats and the few remaining moderate Republicans on the Hill was that censure―a vote of reprimand―would be the most appropriate response to Bill's behavior. But powerful Republicans were adamantly opposed to the compromise. Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, derided the notion of censure as "impeachment lite."
民主党和少数的共和党温和派在国会上达成的马不停蹄共识是谴责,来一次投票谴责,这是对比尔行为的最合适的回应方法。但是有权势的共和党人坚决反对这一折中方法,司法委员会主席亨利·海德嘲讽谴责的概念是“精简版的弹劾”。
He blamed the White House for a September 16 piece in Salon, an Internet magazine, that reported that he had carried on a lengthy love affair during the 1960s, while he was married to his late wife. Hyde called his infidelity, which took place when he was in his forties, a "youthful indiscretion."
海德曾因为网络杂志《Salon》9月16期的一篇文章指责白宫,那篇文章报道称海德在20世纪60年代期间,和他后来去世的妻子还是婚姻状态的时候,他有着一段长时间的婚外情。海德辩解他的出轨行为是发生在他四十岁的时候,是“年少轻狂”惹的祸。
Despite my many political and ideological differences with Hyde, I was sympathetic to his distress, although mystified that he didn't see the double standard in his reaction.
尽管我和海德在政治和思想上有很多的不同,我对他的那次危难还是深表同情得。然而,他对类似事件所持的双重标准的反应实在令我困惑不解。