I can’t help pondering their similarities. Essentially, they got left behind by history and by democracy. Law grew up in a church that was never challenged, that existed beyond serious criticism, that could get away with almost anything behind closed doors, its sins and peccadilloes hidden, above all, by loyal and deferent Catholics. Lott grew up in a culture in which segregation was eagerly embraced and rose through the Republican ranks without ever having to explicitly break with his past and its gentle blurring of cruel bigotry. Both men gained enormous power without much accountability. And they liked the club. They enjoyed its privileges. They came to feel affronted by the need even to explain.
THE WORLD MOVES ON: And then events conspired to tear the veil of civility and privilege from them and they found that no words, no apologies, no euphemisms could disguise what they had once believed and done. Law once believed that molesting children was no big deal. It could be covered up, hidden, its perpetrators treated as victims, its real victims treated as nuisances. Lott once believed that blacks could be kept legally separated from whites; he later saw this as a debatable proposition; he subsequently believed that he could somehow maintain this ancient conviction, wrap it in the gauze of collective amnesia, and refer to it obliquely in friendly contexts as a political signal to his base. But by the time Law and Lott had reached the heights of ecclesiastical and political power, the world had changed. The Church could not withstand the revelation that it had acquiesced in the rape of minors. It was too hideous a crime, too awful a betrayal of the Gospel for the hierarchy to deploy its now-tattered authority to deflect the criticism. Law couldn’t get around this simple, obvious unavoidable fact: that he was indirectly responsible for allowing the lives of countless children to be destroyed. Nothing could. Similarly, Lott couldn’t spin or finesse himself out of the stunningly obvious fact that he had once believed that blacks were simply inferior to whites, that they owed their rights to white forbearance, that they should be forever second-class citizens. He may, in his heart of hearts, have come to disbelieve this, as Law must surely now understand the horror of child abuse. Yet somehow their psyches and souls couldn’t move fast enough. They could say the right words, but their records showed something else. Soon, they became symbols of something deeply wrong with two institutions – the Catholic Church and the Republican Party. And their removal became essential for both institutions to recover. But both didn’t go easily. Law clung to power until he was the leader of no-one, and the servant of an ailing pontiff alone. Lott is still clinging. But he is politically dead. This is therefore not the time for gloating or personal condemnation. We cannot judge the heart of either man. But we can hope that the causes they represented – the body of Christ and the party of Lincoln – will be the stronger for their departure.
GORE MAKES THE RIGHT CALL: What a relief. Sometimes I’ve felt that, throughout Al Gore’s career, he found politics a duty rather than a love. And then ambition brought its own demands. His decision to get out now is not just personally sane, it’s politically smart. We all know he would have lost. Now he’s spared us the agony of watching it happen all over again. John Ellis reviews the future prospects for the Democratic field here. By the way, Adam Nagourney of the Times completely owned this scoop. When left alone by Raines, he always produces great stuff.
THE BEST TIMES CORRECTION YET: I’m sorry, but this one is straight out of Monty Python. I found it via the blogger, Powerline. Here it is:
An article on Nov. 10 about animal rights referred erroneously to an island in the Indian Ocean and to events there involving goats and endangered giant sea sparrows that could possibly lead to the killing of goats by environmental groups. Wrightson Island does not exist; both the island and the events are hypothetical figments from a book (also mentioned in the article), ”Beginning Again,” by David Ehrenfeld. No giant sea sparrow is known to be endangered by the eating habits of goats.
Well, that’s a relief.
PLEDGE WEEK UPDATE: Robert tells me it’s been a huge success, but it will take till mid-week to arrive at a final accounting. As soon as we have it nailed down, I’ll let you know exactly how much we raised.
The Dish 