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her speech at Minnesota State University Janet Reno called for an
end to political rhetoric that "tears down people, and demeans
us all in the process." She then proceeded to spew forth political
rhetoric against her successor, Attorney General Ashcroft, that
was apparently intended to tear him down and demean us all in the
process.
Reno took Ashcroft
to task for questioning "the patriotism of anyone who has questioned
what has been done [with respect to post 9/11 law enforcement]."
Well, at least General Ashcroft had the decency not to question
her patriotism for failing to appoint an Independent Counsel to
investigate the relaxed national security and outflow of nuclear
intelligence to Red China that occurred under the Clinton-Reno watch
while that country filled the presidential campaign coffers with
illegal contributions.
But in her
defense, perhaps Reno has just taken a page out of her mentor's
playbook — rehabilitation of her legacy must take center stage.
What better way to rehabilitate oneself than to attack your successor,
all the while denouncing those who engage in the politics of personal
destruction?
Reno adopted
another Clinton tactic in decrying the current state of affairs
while conveniently ignoring her nearly eight-year opportunity to
do something about it. She said that false criminal convictions
were "the greatest travesty in our society today," including
more than 100 false death-penalty cases. "We cannot tolerate
it any longer," she chided, failing to add, "now that
I'm out of office."
In her defense,
it makes sense for her to divert attention from her ailing gubernatorial
campaign, which the UPI reports as "collapsing. "A few
weeks ago her primary opponent Bill McBride secured the endorsement
of the Florida teachers' association and is well on his way to landing
the state AFL-CIO nod. Plus, a recent Mason-Dixon poll had Jeb Bush
leading Reno 58 percent to 36 percent. Some Democratic party officials
lamented that the race "that once looked like the nation's
most compelling electoral contest of 2002 now doesn't appear competitive."
But there's
even worse news for Reno. An Orlando Sentinel voter survey
showed that 59 percent of those surveyed doubt that she can beat
Jeb Bush. And get this: "51 percent of the voters have a mostly
or very unfavorable impression of Reno." Note: Her negative
ratings have increased following her recent crisscrossing of the
state, as the Boston Globe reported, "like a rock star
on tour, appearing at the state capital, signing autographs and
posing for pictures." Commenting on the Mason-Dixon poll, University
of Florida analyst Susan McManus confirms the phenomenon of Janet's
shrinking — or at least flat — poll numbers being tied
to her increased visibility: "The poll is very telling. She's
done a lot of traveling around, and it hasn't really helped her
numbers." So we should sympathize with her wanting to avoid
the subject of her campaign. Maybe she should take it a step further
and just stay home for a while and give her unfavorable ratings
a chance to subside.
Reno also warned
"it is important that we bring people to justice according
to the principles of our Constitution." I'm embarrassed to
utter the obvious, but I suppose she's referring to the Waco-Elián
paradigm, the latter of those twin debacles even Harvard professors
Tribe and Dershowitz roundly condemned.
Finally, after
observing that "The day we start giving up our freedoms, the
bad guys have won," Reno waxed eloquent in advocating such
freedom-enhancing liberal programs as universal health care and
an ever-increasing federal role in education.
All in all,
from the Bush perspective, a great speech.
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