The Weekly Standard, Volume 2, Number 18, January 20, 1997

38 Pages·0.72 MB·English

by  The Weekly Standard

Iss. 18/Jan. 20 cover 3/26/02 5:14 PM Page 1
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JANUARY 20, 1997 wwwaaarrr$2.95
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Iss. 18/Jan. 20 TofC 3/26/02 5:15 PM Page 1
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 18 • JANUARY 20, 1997
2 Scrapbook 11 Newt, Now more than Ever
The Timespursues Newt; Haley II, where are you?and more. They took their stand. Now don’t flinch.byWILLIAMKRISTOL
4 Casual 12 No retribution
David Brooks is lord—and victim—of his manor. The GOPers who left Gingrich won’t suffer. byFREDBARNES
6 Correspondence 14 Clinton’s Kind of general
Barry R. McCaffrey, drug czar. by CARLM. CANNON
9 EDITORIAL
40 Parody
Constitutional Suicide
17 The War on the
military culture
The presence of women in the armed forces raises unresolved problems. by JAMESWEBB
22 What China knows
that We don’t
The case for a strategy of containment. by ROBERTKAGAN
Cover by Kent Bain
&
Books Arts
29 “Mr. Fowler, He live”
In defense of the second greatest lost cause. by JOSEPHEPSTEIN
34 The Murray manifesto
A case for libertarianism elegantly argued. by DANIELCASSE
37 Diary of a moviegoer
’Tis a fine season at the multiplex. Rejoice! by JOHNPODHORETZ
William Kristol,Editor and Publisher Fred Barnes, Executive Editor John Podhoretz, Deputy Editor
David Tell, Opinion Editor David Brooks, Andrew Ferguson, Senior Editors Richard Starr, Claudia Winkler, Managing Editors
Christopher Caldwell, Books & Arts Editor Jay Nordlinger, Associate Editor
Tucker Carlson, Matt Labash, Matthew Rees, Staff Writers
Kent Bain, Art Director Jacqueline Goldberg, Assistant Art Director Pia Catton, Reporter
J. Bottum, John J. DiIulio, Jr., Joseph Epstein, David Frum, David Gelernter,
Brit Hume, Robert Kagan, Charles Krauthammer, P. J. O’Rourke, Contributing Editors
James L. Pitts, Deputy Publisher Jennifer L. Felten, Business Manager Francine M. McMahon, Advertising Director
Dianne S. Mace, Subscription Director Polly Coreth, Doris Ridley, Carolyn Wimmer, Executive Assistants Victorino Matus, Research Associate
Alison Maresco, Account Executive Kimberly Mackey, Staff Assistant Josephine DeLorenzo, Publicity
THEWEEKLYSTANDARD(ISSN 1083-3013) is published weekly, except for the first week of January and the third week of July, by News America Publishing Incorporated, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY,
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L I O S
ISTENING N N THE PEAKER
Give the New York Timessome with the ethics committee. The mer FBI agent, points out: "The 1986
credit: Its continuing efforts agreement stipulated in part that Electronic Communications Privacy
to pump up the Gingrich Gingrich would not orchestrate Act makes it illegal to intentionally
“scandals” verge on the heroic. attacks on the ethics committee. intercept cellular phone calls and to
Friday morning January 10, the Gray Clymer wrote the story so artfully possess or divulge the contents of any
Lady greeted its readers with the that casual readers might conclude intercepted conversation. The act of
headline “Gingrich Is Heard Urging Gingrich could be heard violating the forwarding a secretly taped private
Tactics in Ethics Case” over the agreement. In fact, the transcript conversation to a news organization
byline of Adam Clymer, the paper’s proved that Gingrich and his col- for publication is explicitly prohibit-
designated Gingrich hound. All the leagues were quite meticulously ed under federal law.”
non-verbal cues signaled a major rev- observing the agreement’s jots and Now here’s some news: That
elation. There was a boxed three-col- tittles. The story, in other words, was unnamed congressman—so friendly
umn spread on the front page, with a precisely the opposite of what the to Adam Clymer but so “hostile to
large picture of Gingrich, and almost Times said. But the larger cause of Mr. Gingrich”—was very likely vio-
a full page on the inside, complete toppling the speaker would have been lating federal law, something only
with side-bar. If only they’d had a ill served by an accurate headline: Gingrich’s frothiest critics accuse the
story to go with it! “Gingrich Heard Being Scrupulous speaker of doing. As a matter of fact,
Apparently a Democratic con- in Not Violating Ethics Agreement.” aides to Sen. Chuck Robb were actu-
gressman—“hostile to Mr. Gin- For that matter, in its huffing and ally convicted a few years back for
grich,” as Clymer delicately put it— puffing to inflate another Gingrich disseminating a similarly taped con-
passed along to the Timesa tape of a non-scandal, the Times may have versation in hopes of damaging a
phone call between Gingrich and the missed an even juicier story—one political enemy. This could get inter-
House leadership, made on the day that was literally handed to it. As esting. Hearings, anyone? Or better
Gingrich arrived at his agreement Ohio congressman Mike Oxley, a for- yet, how about a special prosecutor?
ACT LIKE DEMOCRATS nique. But just as he was conjuring up memories of his ill-
fated beach-volleyball metaphor in San Diego, the speaker
The morning meeting of House Republicans on the day managed to find his footing and go on to deliver a speech
of Newt Gingrich’s reelection as speaker was high- that was vintage Gingrich (1994 vintage, that is). In its cel-
lighted by pro-Gingrich speeches from two Democrat- ebration of the American spirit and its upbeat arguments
turned-Republicans—Billy Tauzin and Mike Parker. Both for serious conservative reforms such as the rollback of
argued that their old colleagues, under the same circum- affirmative action and the curbing of judicial activism, the
stances, would have unflinchingly put loyalty to their speech was an unanticipated triumph. Perhaps Gingrich
party above all other considerations. Other notable speech- remembered in time to stop himself that the high-jump
es came from a visibly shaken Tom Campbell, rising to innovation he was about to commend came to be known as
explain why he wouldn’t be voting for Gingrich, and fellow the Fosbury Flop.
moderate Marge Roukema, trying to extract from the lead-
ership some rules changes in exchange for her support. She GETTING TO 83
was rebuffed but supported the speaker anyway.
In contrast to the disciplined, hard-headed display of Don’t expect another Haley Barbour. That’s the mes-
old-fashioned political muscle that had just gotten him the sage to keep in mind when the 165 members of the
speaker’s job for a second term, Gingrich’s speech looked Republican National Committee convene on January 17 to
like it would take up where the maudlin San Diego con- select a new leader. “Most of the committee members are
vention left off last summer (you remember—the tear-jerk- looking for another Haley, but there’s not one in this race,”
ing show that oh so successfully boosted Bob Dole’s soc- says Tom Slade, chairman of the Florida GOP. So who’s
cer-mom vote). Gingrich last week launched into a misbe- going to be the next chairman? A Hotline/PoliticsNow poll
gotten parallel between the need to rethink race relations last week found David Norcross of New Jersey, former
and the resistance of Olympics bureaucrats thirty-some RNC counsel, nominally leading with 19 votes, but the
years ago to Dick Fosbury’s innovative high-jump tech- combined support for “Uncommitted” and “No answer”
2/ THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 1997
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Scrapppbook
an who has spent the last 20 years mired in
grassroots politics. He acknowledges, “While
I’m not necessarily people’s first choice, I am
their second choice.”
“LIBERAL GENTRY” UPDATE
Jane Amsterdam, the former Manhattan inc.
editor who dropped out of the media whirl to
drive horse carriages, has now been hired by
Tina Brown of the New Yorker as a part-time
editor. “At the moment, carriage driving is a
lot harder to do than editing,” Amsterdam
told the New York Observer, presumably while
sharpening her quill pen. Meanwhile, the
January 9 Home section of the New York Times
carried the vital article “A Vision of Simplicity
Is New Grist for the Mill,” which adds new
depth to the esthetic limned two weeks ago in
our article “The Liberal Gentry.”
Edward Wilson, a dentist, and Barry
Salzman, a management consultant, have ren-
ovated an 18th-century gristmill. The win-
dows have been enlarged to mammoth size.
Antique fence posts have been converted into
sconces. A 19th-century wood and iron shoe
rack has been turned into a wine rack. New
white parchment shades were soaked in water,
baked, dried, crushed, and ironed to give them
appropriate texture. New ceilings were made
from 100-year-old barnwood, while fresh
wood for the staircase was beaten with a ham-
mer, five-pound iron ball, ice pick, tiles, and
chains to give it the proper aged look. (The ice
was a more revealing 90 votes. In other words, the race is pick made fake wormholes.) No cliché has been left out. A
wide open. Steve Merrill, the early front-runner and popu- Liberal Gentry shrine.
lar governor of New Hampshire, never managed to pull
away from the field. And his home-state paper, the conser- ANNOUNCEMENTS!
vative Manchester Union-Leader, endorsed one of his oppo-
nents. A bigger problem may be that Merrill is seen by With this issue we give a name and an editor to our
many committee members as an ally of high-priced con- cultural pages. Books & Arts will be the rubric for
sultants. The large bloc of Christian Coalition-oriented our expanded coverage of literature, biography, philoso-
committee members—as many as 40, according to the phy, history, art, movies, television, etc. The section’s edi-
Coalition’s Ralph Reed—has expressed its reservations tor is Christopher Caldwell, who has been a senior writer
about Merrill on these grounds. It didn’t help that Merrill, here since the inception of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
along with his promotional video, distributed a slick 18- Among his many provocative articles were cover stories
page pamphlet advertising the Virginia consulting firm on the feminization of America and why O.J. Simpson
managing his race, Stevens, McAuliffe & Schriefer. continues to haunt us. (Plus Chris sits in his office and
If Merrill falters, Norcross will pick up more votes. But reads French novels—in French!)
his pro-choice position on abortion means he’s unlikely to We are also pleased to add Brit Hume to our roster of
find the 83 votes needed to win. Nor do most observers contributing editors. Now the Washington managing edi-
expect that the Right’s favored candidate, Tom Pauken, tor of Fox News, Brit began his career as a newspaperman
can get to 83, though he’s shown surprising strength. at the Hartford Timesand worked for Jack Andersonbefore
Emerging late last week as a favored compromise candi- joining ABC News in 1973. He has contributed articles to
date was Jim Nicholson, a conservative national commit- the American Spectator and the New Republicand writes a
tee member from Colorado. Nicholson is a Vietnam veter- widely syndicated column on personal computers.
JANUARY20, 1997 THEWEEKLYSTANDARD/ 3
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Casual
utes the halls resounded with gasps
of admiration as Miss Stewart
gushed over the piquant French
My Father’s Mansion Has Many Holes
furnishings, the graceful rococo set-
tees, and the witty yet elegant gash
in the dining-room wall (so ad-
mired by the curatorial staff of the
National Gallery at the recent fund-
It was dusk. Brooks flicked a family is forced to move out of this raiser hosted by the Brookses). The
speck of lint from his velvet house (bought in September, just wall had been breached accidental-
smoking jacket, poured himself three months before) and into a ly by a carpenter who was trying to
a finger of Chivas, and held out his dingy apartment. A smile swept install bookshelves in the adjacent
glass so that it could capture a few across Brooks’s face. If only! living room.
ounces of water leaking down from It was dusk. The cool gray of the It was dusk. Brooks wandered
the bathroom upstairs. Through winter’s evening permeated the into the kitchen and savored the
the hole in the ceiling that had abode; one of the painters had ear- rich aroma of homemade bread—
been cut by the plumber who had lier in the day detected water seep- the flour ground from the bones of
desperately tried to stem the leak, ing through the wall around the the realtor who had made a 6 per-
Brooks admired his wife as she circuit-breaker box, so the power cent commission selling him the
applied the last of her emeralds. had been shut off. The air was house. The kitchen wall, last paint-
“Shall we dine eight-ish?” he frosted with anticipation of the ed during the Coolidge administra-
asked. They were soon to host coming candlelit dinner. The brac- tion, was itself an edifying canvas
another of their glamorous Wash- ing winter’s wind whispered a dul- of 20th-century food stains.
ington dinner parties. Her reply cet tune through the holes around Twirling an elegant ’73 Merlot in
was drowned out by a sudden the window frames. Brooks preparation for its uncorking,
crash. It was the handiwork of the watched his breath cloud and drift Brooks could only admire the ener-
laborers outside, who were trying upwards, until crystalline drops of gy with which the home’s previous
to rebind the wall of the house to condensation mimicked the water owners had practiced their drilling
its foundation. stains on the ceiling. techniques on the kitchen walls.
It was dusk. Brooks retired to his It was dusk, and in the growing
sitting room and admired the way darkness the house was trans-
his two-year-old daughter had mas- It was dusk. The sounds of chil- formed into a symphony of melodi-
tered the power saw a carpenter had dren’s play resounded from the ous murmurings. From the base-
left on the floor between visits. kitchen, where Brooks’s six-year- ment came the gentle lapping of
Contractors had begun making old son was trapped under some of rain puddles brushing against the
such frequent visits to the house the cabinetry that had been shaken family book collection, still waiting
that many were leaving tools and loose when the dishwasher door for the shelves to be completed.
toothbrushes overnight. Many were again fell unaccountably to the The sump pump was doing its
having their mail forwarded. He floor. Halfway extricated, the boy work much as the legendary Sisy-
sipped meditatively on his cocktail, was able to motion to his mother phus did his, and with as much
trying to remember whether this upstairs through the other hole in effect. Brooks could hear the sound
was the night Oscar de la Renta was the ceiling, the one caused by the of shuffling feet outside the front
bringing Princess Stephanie. leaking pipes in the children’s door. The guests had arrived five
Regardless, it would—as it is every bathroom. minutes earlier, but Brooks had not
night at the Brooks salon—be an It was dusk. A sense of calm heard them because the doorbell
evening of glittering conversation, enveloped the Brooks household, didn’t work. Knocks followed. As
witty bons mots, and sensual ele- disturbed only by the twinkling of Brooks entered the foyer, he heard
gance, as each guest would outdo jackhammers as the landscapers the creaking of the ceiling above
the last in trying to explain why regraded the ground around the just before it came down on his
mud was mysteriously seeping up back room, where water had been head. As the paramedics lifted him
through the tiles of Brooks’s down- flooding into the basement. Martha onto the gurney he looked up
stairs bathroom. Ensconced in a Stewart had stopped by to pick up a where his roof had once been and
wing chair, Brooks drifted off into a few tips on gracious living, and beheld the infinite vastness of the
reverie: A bank official hands him Brooks put aside his collection of sky. It was dusk.
DDaavviidd BBrrooookkss
a foreclosure notice and the Brooks E.B. White essays. For a few min-
4/ THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 1997
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LLiibbeerraall GGeennttrryy,, hunt, shoot, and fish around their DDrr.. SSppoocckk’’ss GGoott tthhee SSccoooopp
BBeehhoolldd HHiissttoorryy ancient country houses replete with
creaky stairs, dilapidated sofas, and My wife and I enjoyed Claudia
primitive plumbing. Winkler’s “Dr.
David Brooks’s “The Liberal Gen- I do hope Brooks does not want to Spock...Neoconservative?” (Dec.
try” (Dec. 30/Jan. 6) was enor- consign the liberal gentry to the same, 30/Jan. 6). Winkler even helped settle a
mously entertaining reading. The sad fate that befell Marie Antoinette, family dispute. Upon the birth of our
piece was a brilliant mixture of Veblen- another devotee of rusticity, who son, we discovered that babies, unlike
ian analysis and acidulous description played the role of milkmaid at her play cars and cameras, do not come with
comparable to Tom Wolfe. There is, farm on the grounds of Versailles with owner’s manuals. We began avidly
however, one point I wish Brooks had her ladies-in-waiting. Ah, the bucolic searching for appropriate books on the
made. life! subject. A friend recommended Dr.
Isn’t the egregious bad taste of plu- William A. Weinrich Spock’s book, thus drawing a knowing
tocrats—those who have more money Tulsa, OK laugh from me given the man’s politics
than sense—as old as civilization and reputation. My wife, however, bold-
itself? In fact, when measured against ly began reading it. We’ve found the
MMiixxiinngg FFaacctt aanndd FFiiccttiioonn
the grossness of Imperial Rome, the book fairly useful, taken with a grain of
suffocating préciosité of France under salt. Your article helps explain why.
Louis XVI, or the hypertrophied con- Iwould like to commend Daniel Wat- William F. Connelly, Jr.
sumption of Gilded Age America, the tenberg for his reprimand of John Lexington, VA
inanities of the Liberal Gentry seem
harmless. One could even make the Iheard Dr. Spock speak in 1970 at the
case that the Liberal Gentry are actual- University of Miami’s Earth Day cel-
ly moving in a healthy direction. Com- ebration. He displayed what today we
pare them with their more recent pre- would call a real concern about the
decessors who lavished sums of money environment. He was soft-spoken and
that would have beggared Croesus on didn’t talk about child-rearing, but did
the daubings of Pollack, Warhol, and specify that we should take care of our
Lichtenstein. world for our children. He didn’t seem
That aside, I was particularly radical, just concerned.
appalled by Brooks’s vision of the good In the same way, his concern for chil-
life, as he describes it in the last sen- dren is at the fore of Baby and Child
tence of the piece. He bursts into song Care. Spock’s politics should take a sec-
about the joys of slaving away “in a ond place to his common sense
manic brokerage house, hunched over approach to one of life’s most difficult
a trading terminal, in a glitzy city endeavors. His book was at my side
amidst all the frantic and kaleidoscopic while I raised two children. I trusted his
activity of the real world.” I have to clear and concise answers, and it is clear
believe that only a former employee of that plenty of others did too, despite his
the Wall Street Journalcould romanti- politics.
cize a stock trading company in one of Donne Paine
America’s current Bosch-like urban Long Beach, CA
pestholes. If this is his idea of the sum-
mum bonum, he should take a break Berendt’s blatant disregard for the Claudia Winkler’s piece appears to
from his labors at THEWEEKLYSTAN- truth (“Midnight Fact and Fiction,” show how a few steps away from
DARD and spend a few weeks in the Dec30/Jan. 6). His article was most the Left does not a conservative (neo or
country getting some fresh air. refreshing at a time when society otherwise) make. Winkler suggests Dr.
Michael S. Burch applauds and rewards those who Spock no longer deserves the reputation
Alexandria, VA stretch the truth under the guise of of being a purveyor of permissiveness
artistic liberties. But what else can we and laissez-faire morality.
Regarding David Brooks’s piece: I expect from Berendt? We have made Without ever thoroughly denounc-
get a real kick out of observing the men like Oliver Stone famous and ing the teachings of his earlier books,
exotic habits of each rising generation wealthy. And for what? For making Dr. Spock found religion and strong
of nouveaux riches. Certainly the liberal films like Born on the Fourth of Julyand families—for others, that is. As Winkler
gentry’s communing with nature beats Nixon, which were supposedly true sto- points out, this took place around the
the vulgarity of our Mauve Decade ries and yet were full of stretched same time that he joined arms with the
tycoons with their horseback banquets truth. I hope that Wattenberg’s article antiwar movement, which did much to
in the old Waldorf ballroom. wakes up American viewers and read- discredit strong families. Spock’s half-
And who cannot but sympathize ers. blind understanding of what keeps fam-
with Jilly Cooper’s vivid description, Victoria Staten Ducharme ilies strong is a typical way of excluding
in Class, of the old English gentry, who Hilton Head, SC oneself from the rigor that makes other
6/ THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 1997
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Correspppondence
people’s lives moral. It is in this vein vehicle based on suspicion. That privileges are given to the woman, and
that he finds the chutzpah to say he sounds as much like police-state work age-old rights are taken away from the
“envies” other people’s faith. as it does good police work. man. The cornerstone of feminist law is
The book with some of the sharpest As a conservative public defender, I abuse. Abuse is a one-way street. A
lessons on raising children is simply see too many instances of elect- woman can be excused from any crime,
Rousseau’s much-overlooked Emile. ed judges’ making cowardly, if political- including the murder of children, on
The very first lesson Rousseau thinks a ly safe, decisions that do not make the account of abuse at any time in her life.
baby should learn is that he is not the headlines but do deprive defendants of Also, Caldwell might have noted the
master of the universe and that his par- their rights. Combine this with the sad most direct reason why politics has
ents will not be slaves to his whims. fact that some few prosecutors will been feminized. Women have built
Contrast this to the indulgent treatment attempt to win at all costs, rather than powerful political groups, most liberal,
of children today and one sees how seek justice, and the decisions that some conservative, while men refuse to
Rousseau was perhaps the cynic and Thomas decries are warranted. do the same. Society is becoming femi-
today’s parent the romantic—and Dr. Frank T. Pimentel nized because men won’t fight, so
Spock, the romantic’s teacher. Rochester, NY women win the battle by default.
While Dr. Spock recommends Men don’t get involved because
“ideals” and examples to “inspire” the politicians fail to give them reasons to
child, he neglects any hardheaded con- LLeett tthhee GGeennddeerr WWaarr BBeeggiinn do so. During the last election, both
ception of human nature. Thus he fails parties took turns trying to see who
to grasp the weakness of his wishy- Christopher Caldwell’s “The could pander to women the most.
washy teachings. Perhaps he still Feminization of America” (Dec. Neither side had anything to say to
deserves the label “permissive.” 23) began nicely by noting that women men, other than calling them deadbeat
David Skinner are “first among equals” and are the dads. As far as I’m concerned, there are
Washington, DC “dominant class.” Unfortunately the two feminist parties.
article went on chauvinistic tangents Russell Van Zandt
As a child of baby-boomers, I was and ended up avoiding the true mean- Northbrook, IL
particularly interested in Claudia ing and cause of these facts.
Winkler’s article. I’m always delighted Caldwell writes, “Cultural ideas
to hear about aging liberal icons’ recog- about female priorities are coming to a AAnnaatthheemmaa ttoo DDeemmooccrraaccyy
nizing the follies of their youth. remarkable convergence. Those who
Perhaps, if his name still inspires new would further ‘feminize’ society make Matthew Rees’s “The Judge Who
parents to seek guidance in raising chil- the same arguments as those who would Hates CCRI” (Dec. 16) presents
dren, Dr. Spock can also inspire new de-feminize it—that women and men an insightful personal and political pro-
parents to help reverse the slide toward are different and that those differences file of San Francisco’s chief U.S. district
a chaotic and uncivilized society. need to be respected.” judge Thelton E. Henderson—a Carter
Lance Beehler Come on. The feminists, and the appointee and the man who single-
Bluffton, SC general population, are not coming to handedly “stole” the votes of 54 percent
believe in traditional gender roles. of Californians by imperiously blocking
They talk about inequality as a tool to the implementation of Proposition 209.
CCrriimmee--SSoofftt CCoouurrttss
become, as Caldwell wrote, “primus Judge Henderson—obviously a man for
inter pares.” The differences feminists whom the democratically expressed
I normally enjoy Andrew Peyton believe in are the ones necessary to will of the people is an anathema—rep-
Thomas’s contributions, but “The make women win and men lose. resents the apex of judicial activism.
Soft-On-Crime Rehnquist Court” (Dec. I wish Caldwell had added a section Thomas M. Edwards
23) is a disappointing exception. I sus- about how women are the first sex San Francisco, CA
pect that Thomas would agree with the under the law. This situation leaves
maxim that the ends do not justify the men in the same predicament as blacks
means—except, it seems, when prose- in the 1950s. Men have become second-
cuting suspected criminals. class citizens, nominally equal, but sub- THEWEEKLYSTANDARD
Regarding the Ornelascase, Thomas ject to bigotry in the law. welcomes letters to the editor.
writes that the defendants “consented” One can look to the unequal enforce-
Letters will be edited for length and
to a search of their car. Consent, as ment of the laws for evidence. For many
clarity and must include the writer’s
Thomas is well aware, is an exception to crimes, men will receive years in jail,
name, address, and phone number.
the warrant requirement. Therefore, if but women get a slap on the wrist or are
All letters should be addressed:
the defendants truly had consented to a not even prosecuted. Look also to
Correspondence Editor
search, then no legal issue should divorce laws. Both political parties brag
remain to discuss. If, on the other hand, about hunting down “deadbeat dads” THEWEEKLYSTANDARD
1150 17th St., NW
they did not actually consent to the but ignore mothers who refuse to let the
Washington, DC 20036.
search, as must have been the case, then children see their fathers. Likewise,
what transpired by Thomas’s own when a man is expected to face a woman You may also fax letters: [phone].
description was the dismantling of a in court, all kinds of special courtroom
JANUARY20, 1997 THEWEEKLYSTANDARD/ 7
Iss. 18/Jan 20 log 3/26/02 5:12 PM Page 1
Constitutional
Suicide
Does the Fourteenth Amendment to the Consti- thing standing between current law and a regime of
tution guarantee a right to doctor-prescribed widespread, unregulated euthanasia in America is an
poison for mentally competent, terminally ill ad hoc edict by a handful of judges in Washington.
patients who want a speedier death? Last year, the Surely we can and must do better than this.
nation’s two largest federal circuit courts of appeals, Two possible constitutional rationales for physi-
the Second and the Ninth, answered yes and invalidat- cian-assisted suicide are at issue here. One involves the
ed felony prohibitions against physician-assisted sui- Fourteenth Amendment’s equal-protection clause,
cide in the states of New York and Washington. In cer- which requires state laws to treat similarly situated
tain circumstances, these courts people in a similar manner unless
said, assisted self-murder must now some legitimate public purpose can
be enshrined with life, liberty, and the only thing be cited to justify a difference. New
property as a protected right. standing between York’s criminal code makes aiding
If this whole idea appalls you— or promoting a suicide illegal. But
current law
as it certainly should—last Wednes- New York law also allows compe-
day morning’s Supreme Court ses- and widespread tent citizens the right to hasten
sion offers at least some atmospheric euthanasia their own demise by refusing med-
comfort. Attorneys for New York ical treatment and ordering the
is an ad hoc
and Washington, joined by solicitor removal of life-support systems. So
opinion
general Walter Dellinger on behalf New York doctors may assist com-
of the Clinton administration, were by a handful petent, terminally ill patients who
at the lectern to seek reversals of the have suicidal intent so long as
of judges
appeals court judgments. They did those patients are on a ventilator or
in washington.
okay. Lawyers on the opposing side feeding tube. But if those patients
had a very rough time of it. Seattle’s are not on a ventilator or feeding
Kathryn L. Tucker, counsel for the tube, they are denied comparable
Washington physician-assisted-suicide advocates, and assistance: a dose of lethal medication. The laws of all
Harvard’s Laurence H. Tribe, her counterpart in the 50 states now work roughly this way. And they violate
New York case, were both met with bluntly skeptical the equal protection clause, according to proponents of
and frequently sarcastic questioning from the bench. physician-assisted suicide.
Most of the justices are clearly eager to avoid entan- The risks states usually cite to justify criminaliza-
gling the Constitution in this matter. tion of doctor-provided poison—that it will damage
Good luck. Given its own misguided Fourteenth the integrity of the medical profession, that it will
Amendment rulings, there is no obvious way for the prove difficult to regulate, that it will be used unfairly
Supreme Court to decide that physician-assisted sui- against the poor and the handicapped—are as nothing
cide is notconstitutionally required. Yes, it seems like- to the “death with dignity” crowd. In a Supreme Court
ly that the justices, after fumbling around in their own brief filed on behalf of six self-described “moral and
precedential muck, will find a way to vacate the Sec- political philosophers,” Ronald Dworkin explains that
ond and Ninth circuit decisions and reinstate the anti- worrying over the possibility that vulnerable patients
suicide laws of New York and Washington. It will be a might ever be pressured into suicide is not just unnec-
welcome ruling. But it will also mean that the only essary, but wrong. “Even people who are dying have a
JANUARY20, 1997 THEWEEKLYSTANDARD/ 9
Iss. 18/Jan 20 log 3/26/02 5:12 PM Page 2
right to hear and, if they wish, act on what others izens, a right to physician-assisted suicide would be a
might wish to tell or suggest or even hint to them,” he right to nonvoluntary euthanasia.
writes, “and it would be dangerous to suppose that a This due process argument will not be so easy for
state may prevent this on the ground that it knows bet- the Supreme Court to dismiss. Laurence Tribe has
ter than its citizens when they should be moved by or informed the justices that if their Caseydecision “is to
yield to particular advice or suggestion.” remain defensible as a principled explication of pro-
Dworkin has elsewhere proposed that the govern- tected liberty,” they must uphold the circuit courts.
ment prevent its citizens, for their own good, from Rejecting a due-process-based right to assisted suicide,
hearing too much candidate-financed political debate Tribe insists, “would render this Court’s decision in
on television and radio. A 30-second ad is apparently Caseyitself vulnerable to repudiation.” He has a point.
more dangerous to your health, and less constitution- It is on Casey’s shoulders that the American abor-
ally protected, than an insurance agent’s request that tion right now rests. So which will it be, abortion and
you kill yourself. Dworkin is a fool. euthanasia—or neither? The Clinton administration
But the Second Circuit agrees with him. And were hopes to evade this choice, for plainly political reasons.
the Supreme Court ever to accept this interpretation of In his briefs to the Supreme Court, Walter Dellinger
the equal-protection clause, all manner of horrors was forced to acknowledge “a constitutionally cogniz-
would quickly ensue—as a direct and inevitable conse- able liberty interest in avoiding the kind of suffering”
quence of settled law. If there is no constitutionally experienced by people who want physician-assisted
significant difference between assist- suicide—an interest that must be
ed suicide and the withdrawal of life derived in large part from Casey.
support, a right to assisted suicide if there is no At the same time, to protect the
cannot be restricted to terminally ill difference abortion right from its own logi-
people. Throughout the United cal outgrowth—from the damage
between assisted
States, the doctrine of informed con- of public association with
suicide and the
sent grants anyone, not just the termi- euthanasia—Dellinger was forced
nally ill, a right to refuse life-saving withdrawal of to argue that states like New York
measures. The Second Circuit’s rea- and Washington may entirely ban
life support, a
soning would grant them an addi- the exercise of this newly identi-
right to assisted
tional right to poison. And not only fied liberty interest in assisted
them. Incompetent patients—infants, suicide cannot be suicide. It’s an odd sort of Ameri-
the retarded and mentally ill, people restricted to the can liberty that may never be
with Alzheimer’s—would gain simi- enjoyed. It’s a preposterous argu-
terminally ill.
lar new “benefits.” Most state laws ment.
give surrogates and guardians the To get out of this pickle, the
authority to end life support to Supreme Court may well adopt
incompetent individuals whether or not those individ- some version of Dellinger’s reasoning, to be sure. But
uals have ever expressed a desire to die in such circum- the increasingly hideous distortion of American law
stances. Poisoning these unfortunates would be quick- by “substantive due process” and the constitutional-
er. And legal. ized abortion right will remain. The solution? Eventu-
Exactly the same ghastly results would follow were ally, the abortion right must go. In the meantime, we
the Supreme Court to accept the second justification must fashion a federal judiciary that is not inclined to
for physician-assisted suicide it heard last Wednesday, use substantive due process against common logic, set-
this one based on the Fourteenth Amendment’s due tled tradition, and the democratic deliberations of
process clause. In its 1992 Planned Parenthoodv. Casey ordinary voters and their representatives.
decision, the Supreme Court used “substantive due How? Politicians in Washington like to decry the
process” theory in crafting a fundamental right to application of philosophical litmus tests to judicial
define “one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of nominees—litmus tests like the one that felled Robert
the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Last Bork’s appointment to the Supreme Court. “No more
year, without much intellectual trouble, the Ninth Cir- Borks,” we’re all supposed to say. Baloney. The Four-
cuit decided that this liberty includes the right to con- teenth Amendment is out of whack. Lives now depend
trol “the time and manner of one’s death”—and that a on its correct interpretation. A Republican Senate
ban on physician-assisted suicide could not survive reviewing Democratic judicial nominees must finally
constitutional scrutiny. Since state courts generally take off its dainty white gloves and press this point
establish that incompetent citizens, through their home hard. Bork away, gentlemen.
guardians, must have the same rights as competent cit- —David Tell, for the Editors
10/ THEWEEKLYSTANDARD JANUARY20, 1997
Iss. 18/Jan 20 log 3/26/02 5:12 PM Page 3
Newt, Now More Than Ever
bitterness at the Re-
publican refusal to
buckle under to the
by William Kristol
assault on the speak-
er reveals the terrible
ON NOVEMBER 8, 1994, Republicans under the truth: Tuesday’s vote was potentially a huge defeat for
leadership of Newt Gingrich ended decades of the American Left. Accustomed to winning through
Democratic congressional dominance. On the media and the “ethics process” what it has failed to
November 5, 1996, Republicans held on to Congress achieve at the ballot box, the Left finally met with
and so strengthened their claim to be the new majority resistance—and successful resistance at that. Andrew
party. And on January 7, 1997, Republicans overcame Sullivan in the London Sunday Times, who correctly
Democratic efforts—as well as their own fears—and denounced the anti-Gingrich scandal-mongers as a
reelected Gingrich speaker of the House. “lynch mob,” pointed out that it would be a “perfect
This last may yet prove to be the date that confirms irony” if Gingrich—“one of the least sleazy politicians
the significance of the first two. January 7 may be in America” and the man who bore on behalf of his
remembered as the moment when the Republican par- entire party the unpopularity that comes from trying
ty showed that it was a serious party, unintimidated by to achieve real reform—were to fall. Serious political
the opposition, uncowed by the media, willing to movements do not tolerate such irony. The fact that
stand the heat that radiates from any effort to reshape House Republicans were willing to stick with their
American politics. leader suggests that we may now have a serious politi-
Some in the GOP sought to talk primarily about cal movement on the right, and that we may indeed be
Gingrich’s merits as speaker, which missed the signifi- entering a new political era.
cance of last week’s vote. Thus, in an otherwise sound Or maybe not. If January 7 turns out to be a mere
defense of his old friend in the Wall Street Journal, Jack one-time rallying of the troops; if Republicans imme-
Kemp went out of his way to make the case for Gin- diately revert to psychological and political defensive-
grich as a “progressive conservative.” Kemp explained ness; if they wait with fear and trembling for the next
that supporting Gingrich was “not a matter of closing shoe to drop in the Gingrich case; if they dignify the
ranks,” but rather of selecting the best leader. Yet if “ethics process”with concern and treat false “revela-
your leader is under unfair and vicious attack, it is, tions” such as a tape recording leaked to, and dutifully
and ought to be, precisely a matter of closing ranks. made a front-page story by, the New York Timesas any-
That’s what House Republicans did last week. And it thing but comic—then last week’s impressive display
proved inspiriting. of spine will have been for naught. If they get rattled
It was hostile reporters, more than many Republi- when the special counsel’s report is unveiled and con-
cans, who understood this. Francis X. Clines of the tinue to dread the putative electoral cost of their sup-
New York Timescould not help but be impressed by the port for the speaker (in an election 22 months off),
whoop that went up from the victorious side after the then January 7 will turn out to have been merely a
votes were counted. He described it as “echoing all the delay in the “inevitable” downfall of Gingrich. We will
way from the tribal conflicts of prehistory with the then know that the Republican party is still, in its
true meaning of partisan zeal.” Clines waxed Homeric: heart, the party that knows it is bound to lose.
“On their feet, roaring with victory, the Republican The next few weeks are key. Here is what Republi-
majority of the 105th Congress successfully defended cans should do: They should treat the Gingrich case as
Newt Gingrich today as Speaker and saluted him with settled. They should repeat again and again the core
a joy that sounded visceral, as if he had routed a band truth that the premise of the ethics assault is ludi-
of bandits at the edge of the tribal water hole.” Gin- crous—that Gingrich’s course is no more partisan than
grich had. most college courses and that his alleged misrepresen-
Walter Shapiro described the vote in USA Todayas tations are trivial. They should treat the release of spe-
“the political equivalent of The Charge of the Light cial counsel James Cole’s report with insouciance and
Brigade. Cannon to the left of them, cannon to the the media’s agitation with disdain. They should insist
right of them—and still the Republicans stubbornly on a speedy disposition of the case and vote for a slap
marched into the 105th Congress with their banner on the wrist, without apology and without anguish. If
and their heads held high.” Exactly so. Except Repub- they do all this, they will find the crucible of the Gin-
licans, unlike the British in the Crimean War, can grich vote to have been a strengthening, rather than an
win—if they keep their nerve. enfeebling, experience.
Al Hunt of the Wall Street Journal contends wish- For the loyalty his troops showed him, Gingrich
fully that Gingrich’s victory was “Pyrrhic.” But his now owes something to them: leadership. A certain
JANUARY20, 1997 THEWEEKLYSTANDARD/ 11