SENSENBRENNER IS GOING FROM BIZARRE TO BONKERS

Wisconsin Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., in a highly visible
national role as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is doing a
great impression of anchorman Howard Beale going stark, raving mad in
public.

Beale, played by actor Peter Finch in the film "Network," became a
media hero for suddenly flipping out on the air and rambling
incoherently that he was "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it
anymore!"

Sensenbrenner is much too boorish and pompous ever to become a folk
hero.

But even though media all over the country have taken notice of
Sensenbrenner's seriously bizarre behavior, a kowtowing local press
has gone to great lengths either to justify or to ignore the surly
congressman's overbearing excesses.

One of the stranger scenes even for the deeply strange Sensenbrenner
was replayed repeatedly not only on national news channels but also on
comedy shows.

That was on June 10 when he brusquely adjourned his committee in the
middle of testimony against extending provisions of the Patriot Act
because he didn't like what Democratic witnesses were saying about
torture and abuse of prisoners being held by the U.S. without charges
at Guantanamo Bay.

Not only did Sensenbrenner take his gavel and go home like a petulant
third-grader, but he shut off the microphones and lights on one
witness mid-sentence.

Sensenbrenner's brazen abuse of his power as chairman to cut off
political debate he didn't want to hear was too much even for the
chummy old boys' club of Congress that would prefer to overlook
embarrassing public behavior by members who are drunk with power or
just plain drunk.

Democrats took the rare step of introducing a resolution of
condemnation against Sensenbrenner for his loutish manners and
undemocratic (small d) behavior.

Even though the unusual resolution forced Sensenbrenner to defend his
ham-handed tactics on the floor of the House and make a limited
non-apology to his colleagues, the daily newspaper in Milwaukee
ignored the controversy swirling around Sensenbrenner for weeks.

A month later, a story by Journal-Sentinel Washington bureau chief
Craig Gilbert finally recapped a lot of what the newspaper missed, but
glossed over Sensenbrenner's crude, bully-boy tactics using euphemisms
such as "tenacity," "bluster" and "prickliness." (The latter is at
least partially right.)

Unfortunately, the story was published the same day the Chicago
Tribune exposed another example of Sensenbrenner's improper and
arrogant abuse of power as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

It seems Sensenbrenner, whose committee has power over the budget of
the federal court system, became incensed because a low-level drug
courier in a Chicago drug case was given a sentence of only eight
years in prison instead of 10 years, which Sensenbrenner thought she
deserved.

In his self-appointed position as tin god over the federal court
system, Sensenbrenner wrote a five-page letter to the chief judge of
the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago demanding that the
court promptly increase the prison sentence to what Sensenbrenner
thought it should be.

It makes you wonder why there's all this controversy over President
Bush's court appointments. Apparently, the entire legal process of
appealing court decisions to be settled by the highest court in the
land can be suspended at any time.

The ultimate authority in all cases is some two-bit Republican
congressman from Menomonee Falls.

Not only did Sensenbrenner unethically insert himself into an ongoing
federal court case to try influence the judges, but he also violated
court rules by failing to inform defense attorneys of his attempt to
intimidate the court into increasing the sentence.

You have to wonder what business is it of the chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee whether a low-level drug courier goes to prison
for eight years or 10 years.

Sensenbrenner claimed he was demanding that the court follow Supreme
Court decisions on minimum sentencing, but he cited a Supreme Court
case that had been modified by a later ruling. Apparently, the court
was right on the law, and Sensenbrenner was wrong. Whoops.

The defendant, who had no prior criminal record, had a Latino surname.
Perhaps, this was a continuation of Sensenbrenner's ugly campaign
against immigrants living in this country.

Last year, Sensenbrenner held up reform of the nation's intelligence
agencies until he got an agreement to pass a law prohibiting Wisconsin
and other states from issuing drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants.

The effect of Sensenbrenner's vindictive measure has been to reduce
the access of immigrants to many jobs and to increase the number of
unlicensed drivers on the road.

Before he started going publicly berserk, Sensenbrenner actually tried
to rein in some of the worst fascist tendencies of former Attorney
General John Ashcroft when the USA Patriot Act was passed.

Now Sensenbrenner is starting to make Ashcroft look like a piker at
being wild-eyed and trampling the rights of others.

Joel McNally of Milwaukee writes a weekly column for The Capital
Times.