Conservative leader Paul Weyrich has walked with a cane since breaking his back in an accident over a year ago. As a courtesy to Weyrich, the Senate sergeant-at-arms granted him the same privilege that is routinely accorded to members of Congress, dignitaries, and the disabled. Rather than having to get out of their car at the security barrier at the Capitol and walk a few hundred feet to the entrance, they can drive to the door nearest to their meeting.
Weyrich’s office called last Wednesday to routinely clear Weyrich’s car and driver through for a meeting with a senator the next day. But Weyrich’s office was told that the Senate majority leader’s office had ordered his privilege revoked. So to keep his appointment on Thursday, Weyrich had to make his way with difficulty from the security perimeter to the Capitol Building.
In recent weeks, Weyrich has been a severe critic of the Republican congressional leadership, and of Trent Lott in particular. The majority leader doesn’t like criticism and apparently wanted to show Weyrich that there would be a price to pay for his outspokenness. It seems Lott found a remarkably petty way to make the point.
What next? Will Weyrich file suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Stay tuned.
