IS JAMES F. SENSENBRENNER SANE?

The issue: Sensenbrenner and Congress

Our view: His bid to repeal the 22nd amendment should be rebuked.

What's in the water up there in Wisconsin? House Judiciary Chairman
James F. Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, already one of the looniest
members of Congress, has outdone himself by proposing a bill that
would repeal the 22nd amendment barring presidents from serving more
than two terms.

Sensenbrenner's been on a roll of late - his REAL ID act, essentially
mandating creation of a national ID card, has drawn fire from both
sides of the aisle, and many states.

And then there's the Patriot Act. Even those Republicans who support
the act's renewal have balked at strengthening it while eliminating
what little judicial oversight existed in this Orwellian policy. But
during a recent Judicial Committee hearing on the Patriot Act,
Sensenbrenner simply gaveled the meeting to a close when he didn't
like what witnesses had to say about it, in violation of Senate
protocol for the conduct of committee meetings. In response, those in
attendance kept going without him, even after staffers tried to turn
out the lights and kick out C-SPAN. Responding to the Supreme Court's
rejection of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, Sensenbrenner earlier
this year proposed even more draconian laws that would punish
citizens for, among other things, failing to snitch on minor drug
deals; and send all those medical marijuana patients to prison for as
long as five years. He's also sought to establish a judicial
oversight committee to further intimidate the judiciary.

Now he wants to start repealing amendments to the Constitution.
Sensenbrenner's contempt for our system of checks and balances - not
to mention basic common sense - would be appalling if it weren't so laughable.