New York, April 29—A while ago, in all innocence, HHS chief Richard Schweiker nominated Warren Richardson for a post as one of his assistants. Said Richardson had been for four years (1969-1973) the chief lobbyist for an outfit called the Liberty Lobby. Said outfit is a hotbed of antisemitism and name-calling centered around the mysterious Willis Carto, who regularly poisons the wells of polemical discourse. Mr. Richardson said that his association with the Liberty Lobby was forced on him by economic hardship, and one must be charitable to such cases, whether dealing with a Richardson or an Abscam defendant. Moreover, since Richard Schweiker is a man of splendid character one is disinclined to believe that he would consciously surround himself with such persons as had been associated with Carto. Perhaps in the interval since 1973 Warren Richardson traversed the road to Damascus. But if he did so, he was silent about it. There is no public record wherein he pointed to the iniquities of his former associates—until it became convenient to do so during his hearings.
Anyway, recognizing that he would never get a Senate confirmation, last weekend Richardson withdrew, and the case will be forgotten by next weekend. Which brings to mind the interesting difference between the way association with the Liberty Lobby is treated in Washington, and the way association with the Institute for Policy Studies is treated.
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