WHATEVER else happens, the difficulties the Senate had in setting up a simple impeachment trial are troubling. Events seem headed toward a straight partisan vote. Hard-core Republicans would like to see President Clinton hanged.

Two ideas keep emerging as irritants. The first is the What Will We Tell Our Children Factor. What we tell our children, it seems to me, is none of the Senate's or House's business. I can mislead my heirs without the help of some congressional windbag.

The second is the repeated assertion that "The Senate is the greatest deliberative body in the world." Who says? Now that we've seen the Senate actually deliberate on the tube, we know its opinions are every bit as various and as lame-brained as any of the rest of us.

Arnold Rosenfeld is editor-in-chief of the Cox Newspapers. His e-mail address: arnold.rosenfeld@cox.com.

Pub Date: 1/11/99