New York Times writer Ginger Thompson on January 25, 1999 went so far as to compare the Clinton impeachment — in the first sentence of a front page story — to Nazi Germany: “As she watches Republicans in Congress push ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, Ellen Mendel of Manhattan says she feels the same despair that she did as a girl in Nazi Germany when the efforts of a stubborn group of leaders snowballed, crushing the will of the people.”