Stuck in the 1960s. (Notes & Comments: January 2003).(liberal attacks on Henry Kissinger's appointment to a bipartisan committee investigation September 11, 2001 )

Back when the Vietnam War was raging, perhaps the only person more reviled than Richard Nixon by the radical Left was Henry Kissinger. The former National Security advisor and Secretary of State has served his adopted country with intelligence and indefatigable energy on and off for some five decades. He has, in one capacity or another, labored under six presidents. In return, he has been consistently abused by the Left. Old habits die hard. For no sooner had President Bush announced that he was appointing Mr. Kissinger to chair an independent, bipartisan inquiry into government actions prior to September 11 than the establishment Left accused Mr. Kissinger of--what? Financial peculation? Suspicious campaign contributions from hostile foreign powers? Lying? Obstructing the course of justice? No, no, we are not talking about the Bill and Hillary show. Henry Kissinger stood accused of consulting for corporate clients--and he would not tell us which ones.

Gosh. Of course, Mr. Kissinger runs a corporate consulting firm, so it might seem only natural that his clients would, in fact, be corporations. He refused to name those clients for the very sensible reasons that it was private information, that he had confidentiality agreements with many clients, and that the publicity would undoubtedly hurt his business. As the volume of criticism began ...