Why, Senator Leahy’s obstructionism is “an abuse of power,” weeps the War Street Journal, and “The only way to get them to move is to force them to pay a political price for their obstructionism.” So the American Conservative (sic) Union urges its mailing list to start smiting the evil malefactor for stalling on Bush’s judicial nominations.
Fat chance. Bush gave the voters “the Cheney” (made famous in Cheney’s vulgar remark to Leahy on the Senate floor), and Republicans lost the senate. Now Chairman Leahy returns the favor, well aware that the flaccid Bushies can inflict no political price at all.
But how about all those pro-life Catholic bishops? Can’t they tell Leahy a thing or two? After all, Leahy insists that he’s a Catholic, and his brother-in-law is actually a priest (his office was next to mine at Notre Dame years ago).
Sorry, folks, that isn’t gonna work either. Leahy is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Perhaps having in mind the (slight) possibility that he would be excommunicated by his bishop for supporting abortion rights, he leveled an outright threat to any bishop who dared mess with the guy who has subpoena power:
“ I’ve always thought also that those bishops and archbishops who for decades hid pederasts and are now being protected by the Vatican should be indicted,” he told the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill.
The reaction from the bishops? Utter silence. It looks like Leahy is pretty good at delivering “the Cheney” too.
2:05 pm on April 6, 2008
