Censure Bill Clinton.

Progressives and Democrats have plenty of reason to be disgusted with Bill Clinton, but we don't believe he should resign or be impeached.

His offenses do not rise to the level of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors." Our founders did not have lying about sex in mind when they wrote Article II, Section 4, of our Constitution, which is entitled: "All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes." It specifies two of those crimes: treason and bribery. Both are of the utmost gravity and relate directly to public, political abuse. Lying under oath about sex or getting others to lie about it does not come close to "Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors."

If Ken Starr had used the discretion most prosecutors in America routinely exercise, this whole scandal would have gone away a long time ago. Very few people in America are prosecuted for lying about sex in a civil suit, especially after the suit is dismissed. And while the perjury charges against Clinton are the most serious part of this case, they may not be that easy to prove.

First, there are David Kendall's questions as to whether Clinton literally lied, though he hardly told the whole truth. Then there's the question as to whether the particular lie was even material to the Paula Jones case.

Ken Starr argues that each and every sexual detail in this report is necessary to show that Clinton lied when he testified that he did not touch Monica Lewinsky's breasts or genitals. The case turns on these most intimate details, and on the lawyers' dispute over whether oral sex and masturbation count as "sexual relations."

You couldn't get much further from matters of public policy.

This case is not about usurping power.

It is not about using the Executive Branch to go after political enemies, as Nixon did when he ordered the IRS to audit Democrats, or when he sent the Plumbers to break into the Brookings Institute, or when he ordered the CIA to tell the FBI to back off on the Watergate investigation.

It is not about disregarding the specific policies Congress enacted, as Reagan did when he violated the Boland Amendments and when he traded arms for hostages.

Nothing in the Starr Report comes anywhere near these kinds of public, political abuses.

Instead, we have a case of public humiliation: a report, distributed everywhere, that provides a detailed account of a series of sexual liaisons between the President and Lewinsky. These details violate the privacy rights both of Clinton and Lewinsky: No one deserves to have his or her own sex life laid bare before 265 million people,

Most Americans are rightfully disgusted with the whole investigation.

The American people elected Clinton. The American people, if the polls are accurate, want him to stay as President by a large margin. Start should not be able to force him to leave office.

If Clinton were to resign right now, it would set a terrible precedent. It would invite political enemies of the next President to concoct some civil suit against him and make him jump through hoops until he got so exhausted he quit. Clinton should stay on, in part to set an example to future Presidents not to bow to this kind of pressure.

Clinton is responsible for his own sexual acts, but it's not up to Congress to pass judgment on what he does in a private, consensual relationship. That's a matter for Clinton and his wife and daughter to discuss--not the country.

We do not condone Bill Clinton's behavior. Any way you slice it, his shenanigans have been abominable. Clinton lied to the American people, he lied to his Cabinet, he lied to his staff, and he may have perjured himself. He also appears to have tried to influence Betty Currie's testimony, and he may have encouraged Lewinsky to give false testimony.

These are not insignificant actions. They are deeply troublesome. The Bill Clinton who emerges from this scandal is nothing less than a scoundrel.

Congress should rebuke him for his appalling behavior. And the most appropriate punishment would be censure.

Censure would reflect the belief that his dishonorable actions fall somewhere south of impeachable but that they are still serious.

Censure would spare the country a draining, low, and lurid excursion into impeachment hearings in the House and a potential trial in the Senate.

And censure would allow the people of this country to focus on more urgent matters: a collapsing world economy, disarray in Russia, proliferation of nuclear weapons in India and Pakistan, hunger, homelessness, poverty, unequal education, lack of health care, and a reckless U.S. military policy.

Every one of those is more important than Bill Clinton's contacts with Monica Lewinsky.