On the Record

Hard knocks for the legal-beagle Left: A district judge found a suit filed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark against Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on behalf of 55 Libyans to be “frivolous.” Now District of Columbia federal appeals court (Justices Buckley, Ginsburg, and Sentelle) has ordered the judge to go one step further and fine Clark. The appeals court also ordered Clark to pay the fees for the lawyers who defended Mrs. Thatcher against complicity for damages allegedly suffered in the Tripoli raid. . . . In North Carolina, a federal judge has levied a $10,000 fine against William Kunstler and two other attorneys for filing a “frivolous suit” in the Christie Institute case against Gen. John Singlaub and others. Most of the Christie evidence, said the judge, was “self-serving and largely based on hearsay and speculation.” … In Washington, Sens. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) and John Kerry (D., Mass.)—the darlings of the Left—have fallen in bad graces of CISPES (Committee for Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). Their sin: they voted aid to El Salvador even though President Cristiani, who won the last election, is a right-winger. “People like John Kerry and Christopher Dodd,” says CISPES organizer Diane Greene, “are proving themselves to be death-squad Democrats.” In the pro-Salvador-aid vote, says another CISPES leader, John Hanna, Dodd “got into bed with fascists.” CISPES was formed in 1980 by the Salvadoran guerrilla FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front), the CPUSA, and the Cuban Mission to the UN. . . . Other Left items: The Better World Society (Ted Turner, co-founder) has awarded Mikhail Gorbachev its peace prize, presentation by Pepsico head Donald Kendall. . . . The radical Guardian reports that fifty thousand women joined National Organization for Women (NOW) in fortnight following Supreme Court’s Webster abortion decision.

U.S. News says President Bush thinks the Republicans might just win the Senate in 1990. Among vulnerable Democrats is Rhode Island’s Sen. Claiborne Pell (ACU 0), who took such a bashing over his handling of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is chairman, in front-page blast in Washington Post a week ago that it is said he may not run again. Another reason to back out: the strength and popularity of his probable opponent, Rep. Claudine Schneider (R.), who is not, incidentally, all that far to Pell’s right. . . . Carl Levin (ACU 0) is also weak in the odds, but a developing primary fight among Michigan conservatives might work to his advantage. Republican Rep. Bill Schuette has inside track, but longtime Michigan conservative leader W. Clark Durant has backing of Michigan Young Republicans and a number of party leaders. . . . Montana’s Max Baucus (ACU 8) would have more to worry about if Montana Republicans could find suitable candidate to run against him. First three they considered have backed down. . . . Sen. Paul Simon (ACU 0) was expected to have a hard time, but recent polls show him running comfortably ahead of Rep. Lynn Martin, first Illinois GOPer to enter race. . . . Most vulnerable Republican seats, according to Congressional Quarterly, are in Kentucky (Sen. Mitch McConnell); Indiana, where Daniel Coats was named to Dan Quayle’s seat; and Oregon, if Sen. Mark Hatfield decides not to run again. . . . Back in Massachusetts, where speculation is high on whether Barney Frank is through, Boston Globe says at least three Kennedys might be interested: graduate student Edward Kennedy, Teddy’s son, and either Kerry or Michael, both offspring of Bobby’s. Boston Conservatives Society nailed Barney Frank for his December 1987 remarks about Ed Meese. Meese should resign, said Frank, because he had been “extraordinarily careless in his associations.”

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Hard knocks for the legal-beagle Left: A district judge found a suit filed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark against Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher on behalf of 55 Libyans to be “frivolous.” Now District of Columbia federal appeals court (Justices Buckley, Ginsburg, and Sentelle) has ordered the judge to go one step further and fine Clark. The appeals court also ordered Clark to pay the fees for the lawyers who defended Mrs. Thatcher against complicity for damages allegedly suffered in the Tripoli raid. . . . In North Carolina, a federal judge has levied a $10,000 fine against William Kunstler and two other attorneys for filing a “frivolous suit” in the Christie Institute case against Gen. John Singlaub and others. Most of the Christie evidence, said the judge, was “self-serving and largely based on hearsay and speculation.” … In Washington, Sens. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) and John Kerry (D., Mass.)—the darlings of the Left—have fallen in bad graces of CISPES (Committee for Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). Their sin: they voted aid to El Salvador even though President Cristiani, who won the last election, is a right-winger. “People like John Kerry and Christopher Dodd,” says CISPES organizer Diane Greene, “are proving themselves to be death-squad Democrats.” In the pro-Salvador-aid vote, says another CISPES leader, John Hanna, Dodd “got into bed with fascists.” CISPES was formed in 1980 by the Salvadoran guerrilla FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front), the CPUSA, and the Cuban Mission to the UN. . . . Other Left items: The Better World Society (Ted Turner, co-founder) has awarded Mikhail Gorbachev its peace prize, presentation by Pepsico head Donald Kendall. . . . The radical Guardian reports that fifty thousand women joined National Organization for Women (NOW) in fortnight following Supreme Court’s Webster abortion decision.

U.S. News says President Bush thinks the Republicans might just win the Senate in 1990. Among vulnerable Democrats is Rhode Island’s Sen. Claiborne Pell (ACU 0), who took such a bashing over his handling of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is chairman, in front-page blast in Washington Post a week ago that it is said he may not run again. Another reason to back out: the strength and popularity of his probable opponent, Rep. Claudine Schneider (R.), who is not, incidentally, all that far to Pell’s right. . . . Carl Levin (ACU 0) is also weak in the odds, but a developing primary fight among Michigan conservatives might work to his advantage. Republican Rep. Bill Schuette has inside track, but longtime Michigan conservative leader W. Clark Durant has backing of Michigan Young Republicans and a number of party leaders. . . . Montana’s Max Baucus (ACU 8) would have more to worry about if Montana Republicans could find suitable candidate to run against him. First three they considered have backed down. . . . Sen. Paul Simon (ACU 0) was expected to have a hard time, but recent polls show him running comfortably ahead of Rep. Lynn Martin, first Illinois GOPer to enter race. . . . Most vulnerable Republican seats, according to Congressional Quarterly, are in Kentucky (Sen. Mitch McConnell); Indiana, where Daniel Coats was named to Dan Quayle’s seat; and Oregon, if Sen. Mark Hatfield decides not to run again. . . . Back in Massachusetts, where speculation is high on whether Barney Frank is through, Boston Globe says at least three Kennedys might be interested: graduate student Edward Kennedy, Teddy’s son, and either Kerry or Michael, both offspring of Bobby’s. Boston Conservatives Society nailed Barney Frank for his December 1987 remarks about Ed Meese. Meese should resign, said Frank, because he had been “extraordinarily careless in his associations.”