Last Friday, in the waning hours of his tenure, Secretary of Defense William Cohen released a report effectively exonerating the Navy's chain of command, and the ship's commander, of responsibility in the terrorist attack on the USS Cole last October in Yemen. Lest this seem like old news, remember that 17 sailors were killed and 39 were wounded in the explosion and subsequent fire aboard the guided missile destroyer. Cohen's statement faulted the entire structure of command, including himself, but no one would be punished.
President Clinton pardoned 140 persons early on Saturday, including his brother, Roger, Patty Hearst, Henry Cisneros, Susan McDougal and one Norman Lyle Prouse who was convicted of FUI--flying under the influence--when he was a commercial airline pilot. Nearly 400 assorted criminals received pardons, from stock and commodity swindlers, inside traders and tax evaders, to crooked bankers and small time drug offenders. It was olly olly oxen free as the Clinton administration ended its occupation of the White House. It slithered away actually, given the reptilian nature of public behavior that has characterized the Clinton years. The snake is given short shrift in this unfortunate analogy, however, because after all, Jake Noshoulders is only looking for dinner as he hides in the grass. Democrats are usually not after just a single meal; they want a lifetime supply of pork.
Responsibility for one's actions. This vaguely Republican phrase is particularly resonant as we face a new administration while deluged by a flood of phony and politically expedient forgiveness. I'll not forget our recently elected friends, the Republicans, as I bemoan the loss of integrity that lies like crumbling mortar throughout the bulwark of our government. After all, we've apparently forgiven Dick Cheney for dodging the draft--as well as for his nickname--and George W. Bush has obviously been pardoned for being 33 years old, living at home and driving drunk. At least he wasn't flying. We've even forgiven Republicans the irony of their appealing to the Supreme Court in order to violate their cherished belief in state's rights so that they may have their man in the White House.
Choosing individual convicts to pardon while skulking about the White House for one last day is a hallowed tradition. George Bush pre granted amnesty to several political allies before he left office; the presidential pardon is an equal opportunity perk. However, the Department of Defense's perfidy in denying edgment of fault.
The fidelity and courage of Secretary Cohen have been lauded, and his tenure as a Republican in a resolutely Democratic cabinet has been a success. Until, that is, his dismal pronouncement on Friday at 4 p.m., shortly before the inhabitants of the Pentagon closed the door and scurried home for the day. That is a sad ending to an honorable tour of duty.
Not to be outdone in the amnesty game, Dubya's choice for attorney general, John Ashcroft, appears to be in the proactive pardoning business. Ashcroft's public avowal that Roe v. Wade is wholly against his system of personally held ethical, moral and religious beliefs on the sanctity of life place him squarely in the pre-forgiveness phase of political life. He'll be forgiving himself from the moment he cashes that first paycheck. How else can he enforce a law that he believes is wrong? Will he pardon himself if his Justice Department seeks the death penalty in future criminal cases such as the murder of abortion doctors? Perhaps there will be a blanket indulgence given to his attorneys while he is enforcing laws he doesn't think are right. Why does he want the job if every day it violates his personal standards of morality and faith? Well, that is another question and I've asked too many already.
The issuance of last-minute political favors couched as pardons, and the collective admittance of guilt for the death of innocents without punishment for their deaths, casts a pall over the inauguration. The time for grace is indeed upon us, but it is the forgiveness of political differences that our leaders must achieve, not such wholesale exculpation as was doled out to felons and incompetents by the outgoing President and his Secretary of Defense.
