Inside Politics

Beginning of article

Byline: Greg Pierce

ESCAPING CHASTISEMENT

"Outrage really is a matter for a sliding scale. Case in point: Mary Frances Berry, the pugnacious chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights," United Press International's Peter Roff writes.

"After spending months on point for Democrats seeking to delegitimize Bush's win in Florida and, by extension, the entire Bush presidency, Berry has recently been trumpeting her commission's controversial report on election procedures in the Sunshine State," Mr. Roff said.

"Speaking to the NAACP convention in New Orleans [the weekend before last], Berry revealed herself to be militantly anti-Republican as she shared her joy at the takeover by the Democrats of the United States Senate. Before the switch by Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, she told the assembled delegates, `I was just wondering when [Sen.] Strom Thurmond was gonna die.'

"The remark was received with laughter and applause, and Berry received a standing ovation at the conclusion of her talk.

"Thurmond, a South Carolina Republican, is 98. Such ghoulish oratory, had it come from a Republican appointee within the U.S. government, …