Will Jim Leach call Vice President Joe Biden on the carpet?

By Henry Benjamin Winkler

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What ever happened to our mild-mannered, always civil, long-serving congressman, Jim Leach, who represented us here in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District?

When he lost the 2006 election to Dave Loebsack, it was time for Iowa's son to finally come home. And so he did - to Iowa City. And to Princeton University. And to Washington, D.C.

This moderate Republican resurfaced on the national stage in 2008, when he endorsed the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for president. We know what happened to Obama. But what happened afterward to Leach?

Well, you may be surprised to know that Leach made the cover of the Aug. 8 issue of The Weekly Standard. Going on two years this month, Leach has served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, having been appointed by President Obama.

According to Andrew Ferguson, author of the cover story, Leach has traded in his old civility for “the new civility,” or, as The Weekly Standard titled the article, “Civility, Obama Style.” And, as chairman, Leach has appeared in 80 cities, including Des Moines, preaching the gospel of civility.

In his usual snarky style, Ferguson has, in so many words, accused Leach of being a political hack. This is not how I remember Leach. But let's keep an open mind about Ferguson's train of thought.

First, the cover art, although cartoonlike, is not unflattering to Leach's features. He is drawn smiling and sitting in his chairman's chair, holding a mug with an Obama logo on it, as if welcoming us to join him. Alas, there is one disturbing feature in the picture: In Leach's other hand, the artist has depicted a set of brass knuckles.

And this symbolizes the difference between civility and the “new civility.” Ferguson writes that, “The old civility is social, a matter of behaving the right way: speaking softly, listening quietly, keeping your temper in check. The new civility is psychological, a matter of thinking the right thoughts: thinking, as it happens, like Jim Leach and his boss.”

Some examples of the “new civility” come from the recent heated debate on the debt ceiling:

l “Unfortunately, all the chambers seem to be loaded on the House side. They want to shoot every bullet they have at the president.” - House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

l Republicans have “acted like terrorists.” - Vice President Joe Biden.

Terrorists? Because they disagree with you? Calling fellow elected officeholders terrorists certainly doesn't seem civil. At least according to the old civility.

It seems that the “earnest, soft-spoken, impeccably honest “ (in Ferguson's words) Chairman Leach has an 81st city to visit to preach civility: Washington D.C.

Leach used to do this. In the 1990s, serving on the House Banking Committee, he upbraided a colleague who indiscriminately accused opponents of McCarthyism by saying that that kind of incivility was, itself, a kind of McCarthyism.

This good old Jim Leach is the one to call Joe Biden on the carpet and teach him this old civility. That is, unless Leach has changed into the political hack Ferguson has accused him of being and put his hope in the “new civility.”

Which one is it, Jim?

Henry Benjamin Winkler of Fairfield is a retired filmmaker, writer and public relations specialist who now is a freelance writer. Comments: HBWink@gmail.com