BCT Editorial – 11/2/05

This page was last updated on November 3, 2005.

Double standard; Editorial; Beaver County Times; November 2, 2005.

Yesterday the Times claimed to know the position of all conservatives. Today it speaks for Republicans. What a hoot!

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“For Republicans, nation apparently has two sets of laws

“Apparently, perjury is in the eye of the beholder.

“At least that’s what one can assume in light of the reaction in some high-ranking Republican quarters to the indictment of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide, for lying under oath and obstructing a federal probe.

“Libby defenders were quick to point out that he was not indicted on the incident that started the federal probe - the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame by someone in the Bush administration.”

[RWC] Gee, you’d think the author would know better. He should have written “alleged outing.” For more on this, see my critique of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial.

“But as Patrick Fitzgerald, the Republican-appointed prosecutor who led the investigation, stressed at his press conference on Friday, truth is the very basis of our criminal justice system, and that is why perjury is a crime in and of itself.

“That’s not a new argument. Think back just a few years ago. Republicans and their attack dogs in the media used the same rationale to go after President Bill Clinton for lying about having consensual sex with an adult woman.”

[RWC] As a reminder, the “consensual sex with an adult woman” was with a White House intern young enough to be Bill Clinton’s daughter and occurred in the Oval Office. People have been convicted of sexual harassment for doing a lot less.

“Like the charges against Libby, Clinton’s perjury had nothing to do with the root cause of the investigation, the Whitewater land deal. When it came to that GOP-manufactured scandal, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr came up empty when trying to make a case against the Clintons.”

[RWC] The author should know better than to lie to protect former President Clinton. Mr. Clinton’s perjury wasn’t associated with Whitewater at all. The perjury came during Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton. The questioning about Monica Lewinsky was the result of an attempt by Jones’ lawyers to show a pattern of sexual harassment behavior by Clinton. The Clintons eventually settled ($850,000) with Ms. Jones to make the case go away.

Whitewater was a “GOP-manufactured scandal” and “special prosecutor Kenneth Starr came up empty?” According to the Washington Times, there were at least 12 individuals convicted for various felonies in this “manufactured scandal,” including the Clintons’ business partners and the governor of Arkansas for fraud. Clinton pardoned one of those business partners (Susan McDougal) on his last day in office.

“But as Americans were told at the time, by congressional Republicans and their media network, that didn’t matter. The lie was the thing, and that was the basis - other than politics - for Clinton’s impeachment and trial.”

[RWC] I’d like to know what media network congressional Republicans had.

“The reaction to the Libby indictment shows Republicans apparently believe the nation has two sets of laws, one for themselves and another for their enemies. If they are allowed to impose their double standard on the nation, the rule of law won’t be worth the paper it is written on.”

[RWC] The author must be writing about how he would react. While a lot of people have pointed out that no one has been indicted yet for the alleged underlying crime, I’ve heard no one claim Libby’s alleged lying wasn’t serious. If a trial jury eventually determines the charges in the indictment are true, Mr. Libby should receive appropriate punishment.

At least the author didn’t try to portray Joe Wilson as some kind of truth teller. With any luck, that’ll come in a future editorial.

While we’re on the topic of a double standard, let’s look at how prosecutors Fitzgerald and Starr were treated. At every turn, liberal leaders and the press portrayed Mr. Starr as a hack, pervert, et cetera. To date, Mr. Fitzgerald has received no such treatment from Republicans. Frankly, everything I’ve seen indicates Mr. Fitzgerald is doing a responsible job. While we’re looking at Mr. Fitzgerald’s treatment, it’s interesting to recall what Democrats were saying the week before they thought (hoped?) Mr. Fitzgerald was going to throw indictments all over the place. In an apparent attempt to inoculate Mr. Fitzgerald from criticism, Democrats and their allies in the media issued comments like “he’s a prosecutor’s prosecutor.”