Power doesn’t emanate from the courts, but from the barrel of a gun.
By Rich Lowry, NR Editor. National Review, 4/22/00 2:50 p.m.
hat Janet Reno — and, for that matter, the administration she so slavishly serves — has never understood is that governmental power is a dangerous thing, to be wielded always with a sense of restraint and judiciousness. It must never be used in a manner that seems arbitrary or
unaccountable, or the fragile sinews of democratic consent begin to fray. Saturday morning in Miami-just as at Waco and during the impeachment scandal-the administration has done its part to undermine public respect for American government and the nation’s laws. Shame on them.
Reno has made a farce of all her earnest arguments for returning Elian to Cuba-the rule of law, the psychological health of the boy — by snatching him away by force in the middle of the night. Instead of letting the courts unravel this complicated case and leaving the boy at peace in Miami
where he seemed to have bonded with his new makeshift family, Reno made a powerful statement: power doesn’t emanate from the courts, but from the barrel of a gun-literally. It was appropriate that men toting the guns this time had black jackets with yellow "INF" letters, so evocative
of the yellow "ATF" markings on the back of the men who raided Waco.
Reno struck an awesome blow for lack of governmental accountability when she apologized for the disaster at Waco and vowed "to take responsibility" without actually doing so, which would have meant resigning. It was all a pious show meant to help keep her in office. We should have
known then that she was the perfect attorney general for this administration. She has, of course, demonstrated that time after time, never more so than by doing President Clinton’s bidding in Miami. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that a whiff of the methods of the man the
administration seems to have made a tacit deal with in the Elian case were evident Saturday morning-it was a performance truly worthy of Fidel Castro.
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