Another Roy Cohn

You know you have amoral behavior -- or worse -- when what you do lets Bill Clinton take the high ground. Spinmeister Arthur Finkelstein has managed to do that in spades.

The fellow who is starting a preemptive anti-Hillary-for-President site and campaign also was the brains behind the negative campaigning of Jesse Helms. He devised the campaigns to smear Democratic gubenatorial candidate Paul Cellucci as a free-spending, Dukakis liberal, and for North Carolina Senator Lauch Faircloth to attack John Edwards as a Bill-Clinton liberal.

He has earned his living for decades advising the worst of the hate-mongers. While he was outed as gay in 1996, he persisted in working for homophobic Republican right.

That shouldn't be a problem in this capitalist nation. He's from conservative North Shore Ipswich, Massachusetts. There according to Boston Herald columnist Margery Egan he's seen as by one neighbor as "'great with his kids and really well liked,' among the landed gentry, horsey, private school set." Again, no problem.

Oh, there is one other thing...last December he married his male partner of 40 years. According to the New York Times, his primary motivation was to get the capitalist benefits of insurance and healthcare, and to have the rights for hospital visitation.

So, we all need to wrap our minds around the arch-conservative professional political consultant acting out. He fosters homophobic legislation through his candidates. He trains and helps elect the anti-gay-marriage crowd. He takes what his guys deny to others.

The Globe was just one paper who had sources noting that Finkelstein is a hypocrite. They cite state Democratic Party chair Phillip Johnston as, "For years he's worked for right-wing candidates who demonize gays and lesbians, and who have tried to prevent gays and lesbians from being married."

Well, it's legal for gay men to marry in Massachusetts. As Finkelstein might say, "Don't blame me. The pie was on the windowsill."