Wendy Koch
Contributing: Judy Keen November 20, 1998

WASHINGTON -- As independent counsel Ken Starr talked soberly about duty to truth, outside the hearing room a man walked the hallways dressed as Thomas Jefferson and a bagpiper piped a tune near a placard that read "Fire the Liar."

Rogue filmmaker Michael Moore, in jeans and a green baseball cap, roamed about, gathering material for his cable-TV satire show, "The Awful Truth". And Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay Massachusetts Democrat who talks faster than anyone with a Boston accent should, wore a small microphone so a New York documentary maker could record his every word. The topic? The gay perspective on a heterosexual affair.

History was happening Thursday, but so too was a bit of absurd political theater.

Republicans, heavy with the burden of leading only the third presidential impeachment hearings in U.S. history, sought to keep the mood dignified. But within seconds of the opening gavel, Democrats lambasted the proceedings as unfair, repeatedly interrupting House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde to argue that they were being "railroaded" and "gagged."

So, though the topic once again was impeaching a president and the room was the same used for the 1974 Watergate hearings, the tenor of the day was testy and prickly.

When Starr began speaking, Hyde asked whether his microphone was on. Starr said someone told him to push it away. "Some Democrat told you to do that," Hyde quipped as the room broke up in laughter. Starr spoke in a courtly monotone, his voice hushed. His extensive rehearsals were evident; his tone was grave and oozing with sincerity. White House attorney David Kendall, on hand to question Starr, sat looking straight ahead, his face etched in a permanent scowl. He yawned a couple of times, but mostly seemed grim, even pained. Some Democratic members also looked pointedly away from Starr, others looked intently at him. Some Republicans encouraged the independent counsel silently, nodding and smiling.

While the day-long hearing continued inside, some of the most heartfelt exchanges occurred outside the committee room, where dozens of tourists waited hours to get a glimpse of history. "He didn't kill anybody," said Dorothy Martin, an assistant nutritionist and District of Columbia resident, arguing that Clinton doesn't deserve impeachment.

But Mike Nofs, a Michigan county commissioner standing next to her, said Clinton shouldn't have had an affair, especially with a sexual harassment lawsuit pending against him. "And he shouldn't have done this," he said, imitating Clinton's finger-wagging denial.

Down the hall, Gideon Evans -- dressed as Thomas Jefferson -- gate-crashed a news conference by South Carolina Republican Rep. Lindsey Graham. "I had an affair; impeach me," the Jefferson lookalike declared.

Evans was working with Moore, of "Roger and Me" fame, who stood with Democrats near the dais before Starr began and said Republicans are just out to get Clinton. "They're on their own personal road rage," he said.

But Susan Reitman, a registered nurse, viewed it differently as she and her husband, Fred, a retired Air Force colonel, held a sign at the building's entrance that called for Clinton's impeachment. Walking by her were members of a conservative group carrying placards that read "Thank You Judge Starr" and "Uphold the Truth."

George Forsythe, a New Yorker dressed in full Scottish gear, said he was playing his bagpipes to bring attention to the pro-Starr group. "Besides," he added, "they like the music."