With the impeachment trial over, America is ready to move on. And I'm ready to do the same with these commentaries, but allow me one last look back as we look forward. The person I want to look at is Jim Rogan.
Who is he, you might ask? He is a Los Angeles congressman who nearly lost his last election and is almost certain to lose his next election. Why? He was one of the house managers in the Senate impeachment trial. That would certainly be enough, since he now tops President Clinton's hit list. But he is also a Republican in a district that is becoming more Democratic each year. Most political commentators say "he's history."
So why did a Republican who narrowly won his last election put himself in harm's way and become a house manager? I think Jim Rogan would say he did it for principle. And he knows something about that.
He was born in San Francisco's gritty Mission District to an unmarried cocktail waitress who asked her parents to raise him. When Rogan was seven, his grandfather had a heart attack and died in his arms. Two years later he came home to find his grandmother dead. A great aunt stepped in to raise him until he moved in with his mother who married an alcoholic. By the way, his mother collected food stamps and worked two jobs until she was convicted of welfare fraud.
Well, you get the idea. Jim Rogan's early life wasn't idyllic. He spent most of his time reading political books and going to Bay Area political rallies. He moved to Los Angeles when he was eighteen and graduated from UCLA law school eight years later.
He made a success of himself, and wasn't going to back down from a fight. It may cost him his congressional seat, but I'm glad he stood on principle.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.
© 1998 Probe Ministries International