A few days after being declared "persona non grata" by the NAACP, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman suggested in a speech to the group that its leader, Kweisi Mfume, would make a good Supreme Court justice, the New Republic reported.

Mfume, however, has never been to law school.

You do not have a right to education.

You do not have a right to good food, though welfare is attempting to take care of that.

In the midst of problems in the economy, we hear from politicians who speak of a "right" to employment. There is no right to a good job.

What is the common problem with all of these so-called "rights"? Each one requires that the government facilitate and provide for these "rights" – something that is not the government's role.

The issue is not that providing food, health care, employment and education is a problem, except for it being unconstitutional. The issue is that if a government were to provide these social services, it brings everyone down to the lowest common denominator in quality.

Just look at health care in Britain and Canada – it's a wreck. Looking at the quality of the rest of our government, I somehow don't see how food and government-funded nutrition would be any better.

Additionally, it's insane to say that we all have a right to employment unless you want to open up the possibility that everyone work for federal and state governments. FDR took a stab at it, but our government was never intended to create and retain programs that employ millions.

Lastly, America is already an example of what happens when we look at education as a human right – our government educational system is in shambles.

07.17.03

LIEBERMAN GOES TOO FAR
by Jason Zengerle

Candidate: Joe Lieberman
Category: Political Courage
Grade: F

Joe Lieberman obviously made a mistake when he skipped the July 13 candidate forum the NAACP held at its annual convention--a move that prompted NAACP president Kweisi Mfume to declare him (along with fellow no-shows Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich) "persona non grata" in the black community. It therefore made sense for Lieberman to try to make amends by calling Mfume the next day to apologize and then, two days after that, to travel to Miami to give a make-up speech to the convention.

But Lieberman's actual speech took things way too far. After offering the NAACP another apology for skipping the candidates' forum and then ticking off his own civil rights credentials, Lieberman praised the NAACP for its work during the Florida recount. That's when things became absurd. "We didn't realize at the time, Al Gore and I, that we not only needed Kweisi Mfume fighting for justice here in Florida counting votes," Lieberman said, "we need him on the Supreme Court where the votes really counted. Maybe that'll happen some day."

So Lieberman--a man who once questioned affirmative action--is now saying that he'll put Kweisi Mfume--a man who, according to his biography on the NAACP website, has not even attended law school--on the Supreme Court? Nothing like compounding an initial mistake.

posted 2:33 p.m.

07.18.03

LIEBERMAN'S CAMPAIGN RESPONDS
by Jonathan Sallet, Communications Director
in response to: LIEBERMAN GOES TOO FAR by Jason Zengerle

The Lieberman Campaign appreciates Jason Zengerle's appreciation of Joe Lieberman's public acknowledgment he made a mistake in not attending the NAACP conference. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, Joe Lieberman has no problem accepting responsibility for his actions.

We did not appreciate, however, Zengerle's lack of appreciation of the joke Lieberman told about having Kweisi Mfume on the Supreme Court. It's a shame Zengerle was not in the room--he would have clearly seen that this was no effort of overcompensation, but a nod to the unfairness of the Supreme Court's decision in 2000 that was delivered in jest and received as such.

In fact, if Zengerle had bothered to check, he would have found that this is a joke that Lieberman has frequently used in the past--most recently at the Human Rights Campaign forum on Tuesday, with Elizabeth Birch as the mock justice.

In light of this, we humbly suggest that TNR put out an APB for its funny bone.

posted 11:39 a.m.