The Party of Kick You When You're Down

[Update below.]

There's an old story about Charlie Lederer the writer, standing next to his Waspy/anti-semitic hostess, beside her highboy full of priceless China. "Admit it," said Charlie, "you don't really have a good reason for hating Jews, do you?" No, his hostess admitted, she really did not. Whereupon Charlie pushed over the highboy and said "now you do."

I have often wondered why I dislike Mitt Romney so much. Maybe now I know. But first, let me tell you a story about Dean Acheson and Alger Hiss.

I’ve lived long enough that I now believe—as I did not once believe—that Alger Hiss was indeed probably guilty of spying for the Soviets. But I remember few parts of the story more vividly than his relationship with Dean Acheson. Time Magazine recounts (link):

Hiss scarcely had time to post $10,000 bail and file an appeal before Secretary of State Dean Acheson set off the storm. At a crowded press conference in Washington, Acheson went to the defense of the former top State Department official whom a federal jury had convicted of perjury and thus found, guilty of stealing State documents to be sent to Russia.

"Whatever the outcome of any appeal which Mr. Hiss or his lawyer may take," said the Secretary of State. "I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss."

By His Own Standards. Dean Acheson spoke in a voice weighted with emotion. "I think every person who has known Alger Hiss . . . has upon his conscience the very serious task of deciding what his attitude is and what his conduct should be," he said. "That must be done by each person in the light of his own standards and his own principles. For me, there is very little doubt about these standards or these principles. They were stated for us a very long time ago ... on the Mount of Olives."

In terms of sheer tactics, it was an epic blunder. Acheson met with near-universal denunciation, and established himself irrevocably in the pantheon of traitors. Less obviously, but no less truly, it established him as one who would not trade away his personal integrity for momentary political advantage.

Back to Mitt Romney. Today someone asked him what he thinks of his former Senate liaison, Larry Craig (link):

Once again, we’ve found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence. Very disappointing. He’s no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine… I’m sorry to see that he has fallen short.

Shorter Mitt Romney: Larry who?

I used to wonder why I disliked Romney so much. I think I’m beginning to catch on.

Update: The Wichita bureau brings me current on news I had missed:

Romney's munchkins went back and altered previous information on his website to delete any reference to Craig being associated with the Romney campaign. ... Don’t know that they tried to edit him out of pictures, however.

Via a friend, Wichita adds:

The restroom in which [Craig] was arrested is outside security--so he had to leave and re-enter through security to make his connection (no pun intended) for Idaho.

Craig Followup: Tallulah

Since everyone else is trotting out their favorite bathroom-stall joke today, allow me to add mine. Attributed to Tallulah Bankhead:

--Any paper in there?
--No, sorry, none.

[Long pause]

--Got two tens for a 20?

Update:Underbelly scoops Dish (link).

Is Lingering Nothing? Is Tapping Toe to Toe?

The blogosphere is having a conniption fit this morning over Senator Larry (“Wide Stance”) Craig and his bust in an airport men’s room. The best and most useful thing I’ve seen so far is Glen Greenwald’s piece on how the wingnuts have turned on a dime on this one—ferocious against any questions about Craig’s, ahem, “lifestyle” before the election, out for his scalp today (link). And I have to admit I believe that every time a hypocrite is outed, an angel gets its wings.

But read the charge sheet, and you certainly wonder what, if anything, this guy was really guilty of. As TPM says (link):

Leering stares, foot tapping, a lingering presence. Are any of those, even taken together, what most reasonable people would call criminal? Is it because they happened in a bathroom? God knows they happen every night in bars and other public spaces, among gays and straights.

Must the Cop was reading Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale:

Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career
Of laughing with a sigh?--a note infallible
Of breaking honesty--horsing foot on foot?
Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift?
Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked? is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that's in't is nothing;
The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing;
My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.

--but if so, he ought to read the rest of the play where we learn that Leontes was calamatously wrong.

Fn.: Okay, okay, I also read on the blog that Craig felt he couldn’t risk a trial because it would have outed his previous gay life style—works for me. I’m also persuaded that the wingers are willing to forgive Sen. David (“DC Madam”) Vitter of Louisiana while trashing Craig because Louisiana has a Democratic governor (link).

Update: What Matt said (link).