The HelmsWeld Show: Theater of the Absurd

THE ONGOING Jesse HelmsWilliam Weld snarling match over the
ambassadorship to Mexico has enlivened Washington's summer
dog days as an instructive political sideshow.

It is entertaining and sadly revealing of how the Senate
works, but it's time to bring the curtain down and start the
hearings on Weld. The former governor of Massachusetts is a
solid choice for that important and sensitive diplomatic
job.

But Helms, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, refuses to allow confirmation hearings. He claims
Weld is ``not ambassador quality'' because he is soft on
drugs and ``a little loose with his lips sometimes.''

Weld's major sin is that he supports medical use of
marijuana and needle exchange programs to reduce the spread
of AIDS, as do many responsible physicians.

Weld also supports abortion and gay rights and follows a
moderatelibertarian style of Republicanism that is anathema
to Helms' hard right philosophy.

For his part, Weld could use a few lessons in Washington
diplomacy. As soon as he was nominated by President Clinton,
Weld started mouthing off, insulting and challenging Helms,
a man with a prickly nature and a long memory.

Weld has accused Helms of ``ideological extortion,'' and
vowed to wage ``war'' against him in the hearings. As one
veteran lobbyist observed, ``The first rule of any
confirmation is don't anger the barracuda, and that's
exactly what Weld did.''

Finally, Senator Richard Lugar, second ranking Republican on
the Foreign Relations Committee, fed up with Helm's
autocratic obstructionism, joined the GOP dogfight on Weld's
side.

Lugar, chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee,
threatened to bottle up key farming issues that would have a
severe impact on North Carolina's economy if Helms continues
to obstruct.

``There are issues in the agriculture area that are of
interest to Senator Helms tobacco, for instance,
peanuts,'' said Lugar, a longtime tobacco foe.

Helms was unmoved.

President Clinton continues to support Weld, but he will not
challenge Helms' decision, the White House says.

Besides displaying the arrogance of power, the HelmsWeld
brouhaha demonstrates the need to reform Senate rules that
allow a single chowderhead with a personal grievance to defy
the will of the whole body.

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