Barron's Shoots Down Snoopy

Barron’s is owned by the Wall Street Journal and of all publications printed this Thomas Donlan's Barron's Editorial on Impeachment on Monday December 26, 2005.  This is the rough equivalent of Sports Illustrated running an article that says Americans spend far too much time talking about football and leering at young women in bikinis or People magazine coming out against the cult of celebrity, diets, and the over importance of glamour and physical attractiveness in our society.  Sports Illustrated does actually do that sort of thing, but it’s always in the wake of steroid scandals, riots at NBA games, or recruiting trips at the University of Colorado.  People tends to do it after suicides, drug rehabs, or some epidemic connected to extreme diets or surgery.  Barron’s reasoning is simple enough- the constitution and its balance of powers still matters.   and the administration’s surveillance program broke with both.In short, the business community believes in the rule of law too.   

This is that moment in the Karate Kid where the students turn on the bad sensei and realize that they shouldn’t be cheating against Daniel San because it’s not karate anymore.  It’s the scene at the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest after Macmurphy gets lobotomized when all the voluntaries start checking themselves out now that they see who Nurse Ratched really is.  
It’s the point in Katrina where the President says “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job!” or lands on an aircraft carrier and points to a sign that says "Mission Accomplished". Whoops, I forgot, real Americans aren’t quite as sensible as the ones at the end of movies.

I don’t have a lot to add to the Donlan editorial.  It’s one thing when Harpers says a Republican president has committed an impeachable offense, it’s at a whole different level when the financial mainstream starts telling a Republican president that he’s been a bad boy. I can only imagine the calls between the White House and the Wall Street Journal this week.  Who will the administration pay to write the rebuttal to this one? (in the meantime, I'm curious to see what strange stuff the right wing blogs will dig up on Donlan and the Wall Street Journal's Publications)