WHY IS CLINTON SO AFRAID OF PROTECTORS?

Who's above the law?

The question has proven to be the downfall of many government officials and television evangelists.

No one should be above the law. That goes for all of us -- and the president of the United States.

A federal appeals court panel has ruled that Secret Service employees must answer grand jury questions. The three-judge panel rightly rejected the ridiculous argument that agents' testimony would imperil presidents.

The Clinton administration now has decided to appeal, asking the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., Circuit to set aside the decision by the three judges.

Special Whitewater Prosecutor Kenneth Starr is investigating whether Clinton lied under oath about a sexual affair and whether the president asked others to testify falsely. This is a question of perjury and obstruction of justice, not sex.

The administration has suggested that compelling Secret Service agents to tell what they observed while protecting the president could ruin confidences and put the president at increased risk of assassination.

Character assassination seems the president's only risk -- brought on by his own actions.

In the past, Secret Service agents have given testimony about the function of the tape-recording system in the Oval Office. Not long after, the court ordered President Nixon to surrender secret White House tapes. Those tapes led to Nixon's resignation just a few weeks later. Some agents have also disclosed observations from their protective experiences in tell-all books, apparently without causing presidents to distance themselves from the Secret Service.

Let's face it: People with nothing to hide have no fear of the truth. It's not as if Secret Service agents are going to turn into government snitches.

Four former U.S. attorneys general told the appeals court there is no basis for Secret Service agents to avoid testifying. Former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter agreed that officers should give testimony in criminal cases. The key word here is criminal.

The Secret Service is supposed to protect our presidents from danger, not from compromising situations. Perhaps the fact that agents could testify would help leaders think twice before doing something stupid. Consider it another check and balance to make sure that no one operates as if he is above the law.