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right ear, The

DEM HYPOCRISY. In a not-so-rare example of Democratic hypocrisy, it turns out that the chairman of South Carolina's Democratic Party, Dick Harpootlian, gave the maximum legal limit to the Palmetto League in October 1998. Why does this $3,500 matter? Because Harpootlian has made a big deal out of the Confederate flag flying atop the state capitol, and the Palmetto League ran the "Keep the Flag, Dump Beasley" campaign that helped toss anti-flag David Beasley from the governorship. Harpootlian said that he wanted to help defeat Republican Beasley, that's alL "Ibey were creating dissention in the right wing of the Republican Party," he said. "If I could stir that pot up, it was good for the Democratic Party." Not only that, perhaps, but gambling interests gave most of the Palmetto League's preelection money, and Harpootlian represents video gambling interests as a lawyer.

ALBRIGHT FOR PRESIDENT? After seriously entertaining the idea for several months, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright now says-reluctantly-that she does not intend to run for the presidency of her native Czech Republic once she leaves the Clinton cabinet. Not all Czechs were enthusiastic about her candidacy in any case. Two young anarchists threw eggs at her during a visit to Tomas Masaryk University in Bmo on March 6. Czech President Vaclav Havel, however, said he likes the idea of Albright as a successor. "I personally would consider it excellent because, into this rather stale provincial environment, this would bring an international spirit, someone who knows the world well, understands it, and would be able to act" Ix tAURA VS. SODOMY- The homosexual lobby will not back off its vicious attacks on radio counselor Dr. Laura Schlessinger for upholding traditional morality. Paramount plans to produce a new syndicated TV show featuring Dr. Laura, and this has homosexual militants outraged, even though every week at least one network TV show promotes the acceptance of homosexuality and none ever condemns it. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a powerful force in Hollywood, wants Dr. Laura kept off the syndicated airwaves for having the politically incorrect view on sodomy. Dr. Laura is Jewish and has the traditional Jewish view of homosexual relations derived from Leviticus, which calls them "an abomination:' Dr. Laura has said on the air that sodomy is "deviant" and that homosexuals can undergo therapy to change their orientation.

PINOCHET FREE: Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet flew home March 2, finally freed from Great Britain because of his failing health. The 84-year-old general had, contrary to international law, been arrested because of a Spanish magistrate's accusations of atrocities during Pinochet's overthrowing of a Communist regime. There was no evidence that Pinochet ordered or even knew of the killings and tortures. But far-left British Home Secretary Jack Straw noted that, now, governments can arrest former heads of state they do not like as long as someone accuses them of something.

DEM HYPOCRISY II: BIB Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, thought it hypocritical for congressional Democrats to introduce a resolution condemning Bob Jones University for anti-Catholicism. "It was the Democrats who gave us Dr. Jocelyn Elders in 1993 as surgeon general and it was the Democrats who gave us James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg in 1999," he said. Both are antiCatholic. For example, "in 1996, in San Francisco, Hormel laughed approvingly at the anti-Catholic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as they mocked nuns in the Gay Pride Parade," said Donohue. "He did so while doing commentary for KOFY-TV When given an opportunity to repudiate his behavior, he refused.."

PRO-LIFE PROGRESS: On February 24, the Illinois House voted, 64 to 51, to restrict state funding for abortion to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Currently, the state pays for abortion for lower-income women when their health is "at risk," which is usually interpreted by doctors and the courts to mean anything, even the risk of depression if a woman is turned down for an abortion. The Republican-controlled Senate, and Republican Gov. George Ryan, will probably support the measure, but proabortion activists claim that poor women have a constitutional right to have taxpayers pay for their abortions.