What a magnificent speech the chairman of the House Judiciary committee delivered last Friday to begin the impeachment debate. A friend of ours was particularly struck by one passage. At a time when too much rhetoric reduces every issue to "the children," our friend pointed out that Hyde managed to strike a related note, only without the cliches:
"Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in the schools, seminaries, colleges. Let it be written in primers, spelling books, almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in the courts of justice."
We didn't have the heart to tell our friend that in this passage, Hyde was quoting, as he said, his fellow Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln.