On Point: A man of his word

Published January 16, 2007 at midnight

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Sen. Wayne Allard is the sort of politician you actually tend to believe when he insists there was never any question as to whether he'd fulfill his pledge of serving only two terms.

You don't just tend to believe him. You want to believe him. Because if this unpretentious veterinarian from northern Colorado had to agonize over whether to go back on his word, then power and status are more morally corrosive than even cynics like to admit.

Allard was his familiar self at Monday's press conference: mangling at least one name, misusing a word ("legislature" when he meant "legislator," although he caught himself as he was about to do it again), calling on someone who wasn't there, and in general confirming that he will never be associated with the word "polished" no matter how long he spends in public life.

But the genuine, direct and likable personality that helped elect him to Congress was also on display. Coloradans got what was advertised when they elected him twice: a somewhat plodding but reliable vote for Republican policies.

Also, it appears, a man of his word.

Vulnerable, but now gone

ProgressNowAction, which proclaims itself "Colorado's largest progressive organization," must be ecstatic today given Allard's announcement that he won't seek re-election. This is a group, after all, that launched an online petition last year calling on Allard "to keep his pledge not to run for a third term," such was its concern that he might indeed do the opposite.

Not that ProgressNowAction cares a speck about whether the senator preserves his integrity. As a knee-jerk leftist outfit, it would be delighted if Allard spent the next two years breaking every single pledge he'd ever made regarding taxes, for example, or national security. No, presumably ProgressNowAction thinks Allard's retirement beefs up the chances for a Democrat to triumph in 2008.

Now, far be it for me to minimize the powers of incumbency. For that matter, Allard has made a career confounding critics and political opponents who underestimated his popular appeal. But if any sitting senator would have been vulnerable to the challenge of a serious, seasoned opponent such as Rep. Mark Udall, surely it might be Allard - whose image does not exactly tower over the Colorado landscape even after a decade in the Senate.

"Be careful what you wish for" is an old refrain that progressives might ponder now that Allard has indeed bowed out.

Were Muslim radicals right?

Talk about playing into radical Muslims' hands: Germany wants to extend a version of its own ban on Holocaust denial to all 27 European Union nations. "Under the German proposal," reports The New York Times, "those who deny the Nazi slaughter of Jews could face up to three years in prison."

This is awful public policy for multiple reasons. The most obvious is that it would further cripple freedom of speech in Europe, where it is not always robust to begin with.

But the proposal, if enacted, would also reinforce what radical Muslims often claimed during the uproar a year ago over Danish cartoons poking fun at the prophet Muhammad: They called Westerners hypocrites who enforced their own taboos on speech - and mentioned Holocaust denial as the main example.

And in a perverse sense, the Muslim radicals are right: The most credible opponents of any specific taboo on political speech are those who consistently battle against all of them.

Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes On Point several times a week. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.

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