c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Andrew M. Greeley is a Roman Catholic priest, best-selling novelist and a sociologist at the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center. Check out his home page at http://www.agreeley.com or contact him via e-mail at agreel(at)aol.com.)

UNDATED _ After the media orgy last weekend about”Judge”Starr’s salacious report and the minimal impact on the American public created by either the orgy or the report, it is clear there won’t be an impeachment.

There are four reasons for this conclusion:

First: the American people don’t want impeachment.

Only 10 percent support the idea. Some two-thirds of the public approve of the president’s job performance, disapprove of the Starr report, are convinced the president should serve out his term, and want the whole folly to end.

This proportion has not changed since January.

Despite media predictions that it might change, it never has changed and is unlikely to change. Even Republicans are smart enough to understand that they have been handed a hot potato and even Democrats are smart enough to eventually figure out that if they run against impeachment or even against dragging out the process, they will win the November election.

This solid loyalty to Clinton of two out of three Americans despite the media attacks on him is a remarkable, indeed, an absolutely unique phenomenon in the history of recent American politics. I cannot for the life of me understand why politicians have not figured that out yet.

Second: The stock market, which now includes a quarter of the population as investors, has decided there will not be an impeachment.

If the Republicans drag their feet, the market will go down and the GOP will be blamed. Even Republicans are smart enough to figure that out.

Third: Republicans are also smart enough to figure out the skeletons in their closets will be exposed to the cold light of day. Already two Clinton bashers have been revealed as hypocrites. Others stories will surely follow, such as that of the extramarital affair of House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill.

Fourth: The only charge that might stick against the president is his denial in the Paula Jones deposition. But this is perjury in a civil deposition, which is almost never prosecuted. It would be pretty hard to persuade anyone it is a”high crime and misdemeanor.” So what will have been accomplished by the Ken Starr episode in American history?

A lot of money has been spent, a lot of people’s lives and reputations have been damaged, the nation has been distracted from its serious agenda, the Clinton haters have had great good times, America looks ridiculous and hypocritical to the rest of the world _ and it all comes to nothing.

The Starr story is the O.J. trial of 1998, sleazy public soap opera provided by the media for a bored populace, bread and circus served up to the masses. Every time there is a new development the media”experts”look at the crowd to see if it has yet turned its thumbs down. Disappointed that they have not, the media experts plunge ahead, hoping for yet another”revelation.” The media, from the crummiest local paper to The New York Times, will calm down only when the president is driven from office. They have yet to realize it is Starr and they themselves who are under judgment. And the thumbs already point down.

Naturally the media hope for impeachment because that will keep their story running.

So, too, the clergy who are filling up the television screens these days with their condemnations of the president. Hypocrites _ all shiny and righteous on the outside and inside filled with dead men’s bones. God judges, as the scriptures make clear, we don’t. And we don’t because we can’t. Only God knows the state of an individual human soul.

I am no great fan of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, but I am proud of them for keeping their mouths shut on this issue. I am proud of Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York for saying he was praying.

Let it be clear to everyone that this is an evangelical attack on the president, not a Catholic attack. Please God, it will all be over by election day. Then we can begin to worry about health care, tobacco, alcohol, guns, the world economy, and things of more importance than the undergarments of a White House intern.

DEA END GREELEY