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Jewish World Review August 9, 2001 / 20 Menachem-Av, 5761
Michael Ledeen
But Lieberman trails other Democrats in the championship
competition. Thus far, the frontrunner for biggest drooler of
the month is Sen. Patrick Leahy. Just a few days ago, Leahy
attracted attention by refusing to use the final clause "so help
me G-d" while swearing in a government official. This sort of
thing is reserved for the severely demented, who either think
that America is peopled with atheists (when in fact we are the
most religious people in the world), or never outgrew some
adolescent irritation with the Almighty. Leahy is the Chairthing
of the Judiciary Committee, and thus sits in judgment on
nominees for the Justice Department, and for federal courts.
He is probably one of those silly Democrats who thinks that
"separation of church and state" is somewhere in the
Constitution, and was written there by Thomas Jefferson to
save schoolchildren from the predations of the Religious
Right. Maybe he should be forced to memorize the First
Amendment before Congress reconvenes later this month.
Leahy's antireligious gesture was just a warm-up for his
world-class drool over the weekend, when he unloaded on
the FBI, and its late director, Louis Freeh. Harking back to
the Ruby Ridge affair, in which an FBI sharpshooter killed the
wife of an FBI target, Leahy bemoaned the presence of an
"old boy network" inside the Bureau, which, he said,
protected top officials when they acted improperly.
I'm all for punishing malefactors, but Leahy's choice of target
shows the nation a feeble mind at ease. Of all the top officials
during the recent unpleasantness, Freeh was one of the most
virtuous (a truly endangered species in those dark years), and
the bravest. He called for the nomination of a special
prosecutor for illegal campaign contributions, an investigation
that would have imperiled the president and First Lady. He
was turned down flat by the real leader of the "old boy
network," the corrupt Janet Reno, who never met a
Democrat scandal she couldn't ignore. No doubt the FBI
became corrupt during the dark years, as did the rest of
official Washington, but to blame Freeh for it is like blaming
the little Dutch boy for the rising tide outside his dike.
Nonetheless, Leahy drones on. And since he's in a mood to
talk about corruption, and the need for steely-eyed oversight,
let's ask him a few questions about his own performance
during Louis Freeh's tenure. Let's ask the senator why he
didn't demand punishment for the Ruby Ridge killing at the
time it happened, when his party controlled the Senate and
the White House. Let's ask him why he failed to support
Freeh in the matter of electoral corruption. Let's ask him why
he didn't demand an investigation of Freeh's boss, the
attorney general. And while we're at it, let's ask him why he,
the very archetype of Democrat justice, didn't vote to
impeach a perjured president.
Sen. Leahy can address these fascinating matters when he
receives his Drooler of the Month
08/02/01: Delirious Dems
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