"Do As I Say, Not As I Did" Moderation

» Wash. Post: A courageous call for civility (EJ Dionne)

Dionne's hagiography for Jim Leach ...

The most surprising and disappointing aspect of our politics is how little pushback there has been against the vile, extremist rhetoric that has characterized such a large part of the anti-Obama movement.

President Obama's White House has largely ignored those accusing him of "fascism" and "communism," presumably believing that restraint in defense of dignity is no vice.

Republican politicians, worried about future primary fights, have been reluctant to pick a fight with a radical right that seems to be the most energized section of their party. Their "moderation" has consisted of a non-benign neglect of the extremists and of accusing the president merely of "socialism." And so it is that the first genuinely ringing call for moderation has come from a man who is effectively without a party and whose own demeanor and career define temperance.

Jim Leach spent 30 years as a Republican member of Congress who went his own way. If this meant standing almost alone against his caucus, he was content to do so.

But he was never bombastic about it, as befits an extravagantly understated guy. The characteristic Leach look is a comfortable sweater worn under a tweed jacket, in season and out. That's about as fashionable as the persona of old Mr. Chips, the warmhearted and mildly Victorian headmaster who was the hero of James Hilton's 1934 novel.

I know Dionne is older than me. And I'm already old enough to remember a very different Jim Leach. The one who professed to have a smoking gun to pin Whitewater malfeasance on the Clintons. He didn't seem to have much to say about that in his speech, which gives Dionne the launching pad to write his column.

Now, I'm glad to know that Jim Leach is all for civility these days. Honestly. But a bit more introspection about his own role, a bit more repentance about his own willingness to be the lead blocker for the GOP's 1995 putsch to investigate Whitewater, alleged drug smuggling at the Mena airport ... those things might have meant more than a scholarly lecture. I'm just really curious to know how the man rationalizes his past actions against his latest statements.