THE WEEK

Madalyn Murray O’Hair has resigned as president of American Atheists with the thought that there should be a statue of herself “in every park in America.” There is a certain justice in turning her over to the pigeons, but defacing parks is a crime.

How many people living outside the Beltway care about Michael Deaver? A show of hands, please. No one? But they care inside the Beltway, deeply, for two reasons. Delayed gratification: By the middle of 1984, the Democrats, without much else to ride, were riding the “sleaze factor” hard. The Reagan Administration, they said, was a cesspool of corruption, stretching from the EPA to Ed Meese’s cufflinks. Then, Mondale went and picked Mrs. Zaccaro for Veep. End of the “sleaze factor.” Only now are we beginning to make up for lost time. Distraction: It is always easier to go after motes than timbers. What, really, is Deaverism, up against the barter that is built into American politics—Social Security, affirmative action, defense contracts, low-cost loans, whatever? Much better to run solemn, obsessive articles on “Ethics in Washington” that skirt civic ethics, and touch nothing fundamental about Washington.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

William Shakespeare

Madalyn Murray O’Hair has resigned as president of American Atheists with the thought that there should be a statue of herself “in every park in America.” There is a certain justice in turning her over to the pigeons, but defacing parks is a crime.

How many people living outside the Beltway care about Michael Deaver? A show of hands, please. No one? But they care inside the Beltway, deeply, for two reasons. Delayed gratification: By the middle of 1984, the Democrats, without much else to ride, were riding the “sleaze factor” hard. The Reagan Administration, they said, was a cesspool of corruption, stretching from the EPA to Ed Meese’s cufflinks. Then, Mondale went and picked Mrs. Zaccaro for Veep. End of the “sleaze factor.” Only now are we beginning to make up for lost time. Distraction: It is always easier to go after motes than timbers. What, really, is Deaverism, up against the barter that is built into American politics—Social Security, affirmative action, defense contracts, low-cost loans, whatever? Much better to run solemn, obsessive articles on “Ethics in Washington” that skirt civic ethics, and touch nothing fundamental about Washington.